#group b government jobs

[lallulalnews]

UPSSSC 2024: सहायक लेखाकार और लेखा परीक्षक के 1800 से अधिक पदों पर भर्ती, आवेदन कैसे करें

UPSSSC 2024: सहायक लेखाकार और लेखा परीक्षक के 1800 से अधिक पदों पर भर्ती, आवेदन कैसे करें UPSSSC 2024 Recruitment: उत्तर प्रदेश अधीनस्थ सेवा चयन आयोग UPSSSC 2024 ने सहायक लेखाकार और लेखा परीक्षक के पदों के लिए भर्ती की घोषणा की है। इसमें रुचि रखने वाले उम्मीदवार नीचे आवेदन करने के लिए आवश्यक पात्रता को जान सकते है���। उत्तर प्रदेश अधीनस्थ सेवा चयन आयोग UPSSSC 2024 ने सहायक लेखाकार और लेखा परीक्षक…

[jobtamizhan]

BSF Recruitment 2023 30 Group B & C Vacancy

BSF Recruitment 2023 30 Group B & C Vacancy #bsf

BSF – Border Security Force Recruitment 2023 » Apply 30 Group B & C Vacancies » Official Notification Released. Central Government Recruitment Interested & Eligible Candidate Please Must Check Full Notification Details, Education Details, Salary Details, Age Relaxation, Vacancies Details, Address Details Next Strat The Apply Process Eligible Candidate Apply Vacancies And Apply Online Starting…

[goodfish-bowl]

Bunker in White

Danny Phantom x Supernatural Crossover

Masterpost

DP Crossover Angst Week Day 1 - GIW Experimentation

Summary: Sam and Dean take up a job to go investigate a government base that had been attacked by vampires.

Warnings: vague descriptions of blood and gore

Notes: hmmm, I have never written anything for Supernatural before, but I've seen a good portion of it (years ago). Probably takes place earlier in the show.

Word Count: 2044

AO3 Link

Sam and Dean had gotten this particular lead from Bobby, who in turn got it passed onto him from someone else, so it wasn’t a surprise this particular job was a mess. 

Apparently, a group of vampire’s had decided a weird, underground, government bunker would be the perfect hideout, resulting in a bloodbath between the government goons and the vamps. It was a large group too, which was a point of concern among the hunter’s who turned down the job. No one really knew who’d won inside between the vampires and the government, but Dean had placed his money on the vampires. He honestly doubted that some government agency with an obsession for the color white had any idea what they were up against, much less the correct tools for the job. Dean got proved wrong when they came across the first dead vampire. 

The bunker’s fluorescent lights were harsh against the darkness outside. The entire base still seemed to have power despite not being connected to any sort of power grid or system. It had made it an absolute pain in the ass to find, but at least that meant Sam and Dean didn’t have to wander around in the dark. The harsh lighting and bleached interior revealed a slaughter inside, staining the white walls with both vampire and human blood, leaving very little to imagination. The humans, all agents in once-white suits, looked to have been mauled by the vamps, while the dead vampires had holes blasted through them and were covered in green-tinged burns. Dean kicked one, trying to make sure it was actually dead. Yep, dead vamp, the whole place unfortunately smelled like it too. 

Sam had found one of the more physically intact agents with a large bazooka-like weapon next to him at the back of the hallway. Rummaging through the agency's pocket’s Sam tossed the ID card over for Dean to read over, while Sam picked up the weapon. 

Dean flipped open the wallet, and huffed when the agent was only referred to by a letter and position. No personal information whatsoever. 

“This asshole is apparently ‘Agent B, senior heavy weapon specialist of the Ghost Investigation Ward’, which means shit to me,” Dean complained. 

“‘Ghost Investigation Ward’? Is that supposed to be some sort of knockoff hunter’s group? Because points for vampire killing, less points for dying,” Sam added. “Either way, they were messing around with something supernatural, and had weapons that could blast straight through a vampire. Think we could find something here?”

Dean shrugged, “I’m down to take their weapons at the least. New tactics are always appreciated.”

Sam took the bazooka, and Dean picked up any other weapons of interest, from weighted nets, to more guns, storing them in piles to collect and ferry to the car later. The ID got them access to a couple more rooms, including a security camera and file room, which Sam said he was going back to later. The deeper they descended into the base, the more spaced out the bodies were, and the more violently the agents had seemed to fight, like they were protecting something. 

“Do you think they actually managed to catch a ghost here?” Sam tossed out. 

Dean snorted, “Doubt it. Sure, you can blast a hole through a vamp, but you can’t blast a hole through a ghost. Just trapping one is a pain, let alone moving it to the middle of bumfuck nowhere, Illinois.” 

Hydraulic doors hissed as the brothers entered the next level, only to pause from the sudden change in pattern. This one opened up into a laboratory, partitioned off by thick glass walls, rather than the collection of offices and storage the upper floors had been.  

Dean’s eyes narrowed at the carnage inside the laboratories. 

“What the hell were they taking apart that bleed fucking green?” Dean cursed.

Dean completely ignored the bodies of who he assumed had been the scientists. There were tons of vials of various liquids, most of them being that same saturated, radioactive green. There were also jars, lots of jars, of what he assumed were the bits and pieces of whatever creature bled green. 

“Doesn’t look like whatever they were dissecting was dead while they were taking apart,” Sam commented, pointing out the restraints on the bloodied autopsy table. 

“Fuck, that’s sick. At least kill whatever you're taking apart first.” 

Dean watched as Sam went over to a stack of papers, filing through them quickly with a grimace on his face.

 “Well, they seem to believe they caught a ghost, at least. They definitely caught something before the vampires wiped them out. The reports refer to it as Subject P-1.”

“Think it’s still here?” Dean asked. 

“Maybe. This report is a few days old, and we know the vampires attacked within that same time frame, so it’s possible that ‘P-1’ is either still here, dead here, or managed to escape in the crossfire,” Sam guessed.

“I suppose we’ll find out. We only got one more level to go.”

Dean left the lab, going down the elevator to the last level. There was nothing there, except for a singular glass cell with what looked like a blast door as its entrance, all shining with some sort of green energy. There seemed to be automated weapons and cameras all pointing at the cell, and Dean considered it a bit extreme. But also down there was the biggest collection of dead vampires they had found so far. 

The weapons in the room had obviously activated for whatever reason, considering the number of vampires with holes blown through them compared to the agents, of which there only seemed to be two, who looked more like they had also been caught in the crossfire of the weapons, rather than becoming vampire food like most of the guys upstairs.  

“Dean…” Sam shoved him, and pointed to the cell. There was…something inside. 

Dean walked over, shoving bodies out of the way with his foot to stand in front of the cell. The green… whatever it was, shone along the glass and hummed with energy, reminding Dean vaguely of an electrified fence. The inside of the cell was a mess but in a different way than outside. It reminded Dean of a few of the cells he had seen monsters hold people in before. It was dirty, and covered in blood, both red and that unknown green. There was no cot, or toilet, or any other sort of accommodation. 

The only thing in the cell was a small figure, dressed in nothing but tattered scrubs, and covered in its own blood balled up in the corner, head between its legs. Dean could only make out pale, emancipated legs and feet, and a mess of matted, black hair. 

“Is it alive?” Dean asked, tapping on the glass, which surprisingly didn’t zapped him.

Sam had a grimace on his face. “I…think.”

“Hey!” Dean shouted. 

No reaction. 

Dean pounded more heavily on the glass with his fist, “Hey! Are you alive?”

No reaction. 

“Are you P-1?” Sam asked instead. 

This got a reaction. The figure picked up their head, placing empty, hollow, and frighteningly blue eyes on Sam. They seemed to be a young boy, face pale and thin, deep bags under his eyes. His eyes were glassy and distant, looking through Sam rather than at him. 

“Well, that’s unnerving,” Dean muttered, giving Sam a look before shoving his shoulder. “Tell him to do something else.”

Sam frowned, thinking for a moment before saying anything. “P-1, state your status,” Sam commanded. 

The boy, P-1, remained silent.

“I don’t think it talks, Sammy,” Dean snorted. 

Sam sputtered indignantly. “What do you want me to do then? We know he’s P-1 now, and that he’s still somehow alive.”

“Well, we know he ain’t human, and that he’s whatever these goons have been picking apart. No clue what he is, but in that state, I doubt he can do much. The lights are one but no one seems to be home, Sammy,” Dean said. 

It was a harsh suggestion but, “We could just put him down and be done with it. The vamps are all dead, there’s nothing here except braindead P-1 over there.”

Sam, apparently, very much disagreed with that idea. “He’s a kid, Dean! And he’s been tortured for who knows how long. We’re not putting him down!”

Dean groaned. “Do you want to take him with us or something?!” Dean asked incredulously. 

Sam was silent, apparently thinking over the idea like it was a legitimate suggestion. 

“No,” Dean immediately denied. “Nope, no way, Sammy. We’re not adopting whatever-the-fuck that kid is. He’s not a dog. We have no idea what he’s capable of, let alone if he’s dangerous!” 

 “Then we keep an eye on him! You said it yourself, in that state, I doubt he can barely move. We could even put him in Bobby’s panic room if he acts up, but honestly,” Sam glanced over to the boy, “I doubt he would even notice.”

Dean hated the idea. He didn’t want the kid to potentially go ballistic, and there had to be some reason he was locked up in the first place. But he couldn’t think of any other reasons to leave the kid there. If anything, they could figure out what the kid was so that they knew how to defeat anything like him in the future. 

“Fine!” Dean relented. “But you’re taking care of him.”

Sam seemed to untense and turned back to the boy. “P-1, move to the door,” he ordered, before more quietly adding, “We’re getting you out of here, kid.”

The boy stood up, swaying on his legs, before approaching the door, standing just outside of it. Dean watched as Sam fidgeted with the door, before eventually having to pull another ID from one of the nearby agents to get the door open. Sam led the kid out, who didn’t have much of a reaction at all. Dean frowned at how small the kid was, now that he could get a better estimate literally standing next to him. He couldn’t be older than 12. 

“Okay, we’re leaving. We got some cool things and you’ve adopted a weird kid. We can confirm the vampires all died here too. Anything else we need to grab before we go back?” Dean huffed. 

“I’m going to see what I can pull from the record room on the way back. Could you take him back to the car?” Sam asked. 

Dean looked at the kid again. Yep. No one home at all. He doubted the kid even knew what was going on. At least he wouldn’t complain about Dean’s music choices. 

“Fine, but you take too long and I’m leaving your ass here,” Dean stated. “Come-on, P-1.”

Dean took the elevator back up the entrance, still careful to check around if they had missed anything still-alive, only to have silence. The kid barely made any noise as he moved, Dean decided he didn’t like that after the third time he jumped at the kid standing directly behind him. 

“I’m getting you a bell,” he grumbled. 

Back at the car, Dean tossed his looted weapons into the trunk, glancing at the kid before rummaging into his and Sam’s duffles for some spare clothes. It looked really suspicious to have a bloodied kid in a medical gown walking around. It would be oversized, but Dean grabbed a flannel, jeans, and a belt. Bobby would probably have something from when he and Sam were that small. 

“Hey, kid, P-1, put these on,” Dean held the clothes out to the kid, who didn’t react. 

Dean groaned. “Oh come on! This is why Sam’s your caretaker. I don’t know how to dress a kid!” 

Dean approached. “Gotta fucking command him like a dog,” he muttered. “P-1, arms up.”

The boy raised his arms, and Dean untied the medical gown letting it fall to the ground. Dean froze, bile building in the back of his throat, fighting the urge to throw up. Images of the jars and vials passed behind his eyes. No wonder the kid was mentally gone, Dean couldn’t see anyone surviving, let alone living long enough to walk out.

God, they needed to get the kid to Bobby. 

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jay Kuo at The Status Kuo:

During his interview with Time Magazine, which once again named him “Person of the Year,” Donald Trump unsurprisingly said many startling things between his usual ramblings. Today I want to focus on one of them in particular: vaccines. Trump declared he is “going to do what’s good for the country.” When asked whether that includes getting rid of some vaccinations, Trump responded, “It could if I think it’s dangerous, if I think they are not beneficial,” but then added, “I don’t think it’s going to be very controversial in the end.” This is a stark departure from earlier assurances by anti-vax nut job RFK, Jr., who promised earlier that he would not take vaccines away from anyone who wants them. Now it seems the team he hopes to gather at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will propose a review of vaccine safety and, depending on the results, could possibly pull some critical ones from the market.

But could and would they really do something so crazy as ban life-saving shots like the Hepatitis B, measles mumps and rubella, and polio vaccines? Trump’s interview set off alarms among health experts, especially epidemiologists. And it raises many questions, not the least of which is exactly how vaccines might be reviewed by the government to confirm if they are “dangerous” or “not beneficial,” if and when RFK, Jr. is confirmed as head of HHS. Adding fuel to this dumpster fire is a report out this morning by the New York Times that RFK, Jr.’s lawyer, Aaron Siri, is an anti-vax crusader who has previously petitioned the FDA to revoke approval for polio and other vaccines. Trump’s statements imply that he really meant what he said on the campaign trail about letting RFK, Jr. go “wild on health.” And with zealots like Siri helping to shape national health policy, we are dangerously close to returning to an era where childhood diseases, once considered largely eradicated, could make a deadly comeback.

[...]

Anyone familiar with the way anti-vax groups regularly challenge FDA approvals, Covid mandates, scientists and drug manufacturers likely feels a rock in their gut reading this. First, it appears that Trump has taken up a dangerous and false claim that purports to link childhood vaccinations to autism. That theory has been widely debunked, but it has managed to produce mass hysteria for two decades. And now it has the bully pulpit of the Oval Office behind it. The fact that the president-elect agrees with this discredited theory, and is appointing someone to head HHS who actively pushes it, is troubling in the extreme.

[...]

An anti-vax zealot gets his shot

Aaron Siri probably can’t believe his good fortune. He has made his legal career out of representing anti-vax clients, including a group called the Informed Consent Action Network, an organization whose founder is also a close Kennedy ally. In that capacity, as the Times reports, as recently as 2022 Siri petitioned the FDA to revoke approval of the polio vaccine. That’s right, he wants to see the polio vaccine withdrawn, even though it has saved countless children from death or lifetime disability. Siri has gone after 13 other vaccines, too, including the Hepatitis B vaccine, and has crusaded around the country to lift Covid mandates. His tactic is to impugn the integrity of the scientists responsible for developing the vaccines and poke as many holes as he can into their product development, safety studies and approvals. He does this by playing on the preconceptions and fears of the conspiracy-minded, making otherwise harmless errors or oversights appear as massive and even intentional frauds upon the public. One critic of Siri’s crusades is Dr. Stanley Plotkin, the inventor of the vaccine that eliminated rubella in the 1960s. Before the vaccine, it was a disease that killed thousands of newborns. Siri deposed Plotkin in a lawsuit Siri had brought. After spending nine hours being grilled by Siri, Dr. Plotkin believes that putting Siri in any position of influence “would be a disaster.” Dr. Plotkin added, “I find him laughable in many ways — except, of course, that he’s a danger to public health.”

Siri still managed to put a target on Dr. Plotkin, however, by publishing snippets of that deposition online, along with those of one Dr. Kathryn Edwards, another noted inventor of vaccines. Siri had the help of an anti-vax documentary maker and podcaster, Del Bigtree—who is also RFK, Jr.’s former campaign communications director and founder of the Informed Consent Action Network. As a result, Drs. Plotkin and Edwards have been vilified by anti-vaxxers instead of celebrated for their stunning accomplishments.

“You’re taking the leaders in vaccinology,” Dr. Edwards told the Times, “the people that have spent their whole lives studying these vaccines and seeing their impact, you’re marginalizing and making them look like they are prostitutes of pharma.” Of great concern is how Siri is now working with RFK, Jr. to actively vet candidates for top positions at HHS. According to the Times, Siri has asked candidates about their view on vaccines, potentially setting up HHS to have a uniformly anti-vax agenda. RFK, Jr. and his advisors, like Siri and Bigtree, could succeed in having vaccines actually pulled from the market based on the “studies” they are demanding, the conclusions of which we can assume are pre-ordained. But even short of actually yanking important vaccines, the platforming of anti-vax conspiracies and disinformation will create widespread vaccine hesitancy, which could result in serious and deadly outbreaks.

History could repeat on a huge scale

We need only look at what RFK, Jr. did in Samoa to understand the extent of the damage and even death his views can cause. In 2019, the small island nation experienced a deadly outbreak of measles, with 5,700 infections out of a population of 200,000. Hospitals were full, and the country was in a state of emergency. In the end, 83 people died, most of them young children. But what had caused this outbreak? Childhood measles vaccinations rates plummeted from 90 percent in 2013 to just a third of all infants by 2019 due to a health scandal where nurses had improperly mixed the measles vaccine with the wrong liquid, resulting in two deaths. That incident opened the floodgates for vaccine misinformation driven by RFK, Jr. and his anti-vaccine non-profit, the Children’s Health Defense. At one point RFK, Jr. even sent the Samoan prime minister a letter suggesting the measles vaccine itself may have caused the outbreak. He falsely asserted that it had “failed to produce antibodies” in mothers sufficient to provide infants with immunity, that it perhaps provoked “the evolution of more virulent measles strains” and even that children who received the vaccine may have inadvertently spread the virus to other children.

[...]

There is still an opportunity to stop RFK’s confirmation, if the GOP-controlled Senate finds enough backbone and common sense. But time is running out to change minds and stand up to Trump. Meanwhile, RFK Jr.’s allies in the anti-vax movement, like Siri and Bigtree, are gearing up to unleash a true nightmare upon our health system.

This is very disturbing: the anti-vaxxer extremist movement is on the prowl, as both Donald Trump and RFK Jr. are making moves to potentially yank some vaccines off the market-- including the polio-- and champion the debunked lie that vaccines “cause” autism.

See Also:

Daily Kos: We got rid of polio with vaccines. RFK's lawyer wants to bring it back

[kickingitwithkirk]

Winchester's Folly

Summary: When Dean gets into trouble John decides to hide the truth for his family

Pairing: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader x Alpha!Sam

WC: 1828

Dark! Fic-don't continue if you are disturbed by the subject matter.

Warnings: A/B/O, dystopian au, canon elements, non/con, dub/con, incest, subjugation, pandemic, mentions of nudity, physical/mental abuse, mention of collaring/leashed, sexual/slavery, rut/heat, physical altercation, death/murder conviction, show level violence, parental dominance, trafficking, branding, panic attacks, bondage, forced mating, dated derogatory terms

*Additional warnings will be added

Square filled: @spnaubingo -Non-Traditional Alpha Traits @spnabobingo -Bed Sharing

A/N: This part has a couple of flashbacks in italics

A/N II: Still working on reigning myself in, keeping each part reader-friendly length, and have no clue how many parts this will end up being.

A/N III: a few notes about designations in A/O sub-genders for this story.

Alphas-Dominant (head of the pack/family) Subordinate (obey Dominant) Breeders (rare & highly coveted by the government. Can challenge Dominant for pack/family leadership)

Omegas -Domestic (mostly wiped out by plague, few natural born left) Feral (government-supplied breeders sold commonly called O's) House O’s (3rd generation+ Feral/Dominant breed. Used as servants/sex workers) Pack (rare & highly coveted by the government)

*Divider by @firefly-graphics

*No Beta-all mistakes are mine

PART IX

Partway down the drive, the car sputters and dies, rolling to a stop a few yards from the house. Bobby got up, mumbled idijits straightened his trucker cap, and heard the Impala’s squeaky doors simultaneously open; then Dean's voice was carrying on the night air, “If you’ve screwed up my car, I’m going to kick your ass!” 

Bobby marches towards the car and spits, “Stop giving your brother a hard time.” His rebuff dissipates when the elder brother's scarlet irises lock on him. Dean moves in front of a female sitting in the backseat like a predator protecting its kill and menacingly growls at him. 

****

Sam quickly rounds the car, blocking the Beta from his line of sight. “Dean, calm down, it’s Bobby. Remember when he'd play baseball with you instead of practicing with the shotguns?” Dean ignores Sam and tries to round-end his equally quick brother when a hand grabs his wrist. Dean halts and peers back at the O, who points to him, her ear, and Sam, who advises, “Listen to your Omega Dean."

Bobby’s jaw drops upon hearing the youngest Alphas' words. He sees the O wince as she holds her arms up and watches Dean quickly shift from aggression, something the younger man is prone to, to the gentleness he remembers from childhood. Once out, she scented the air before making the universal sign for Beta. “Yes, he is. Bobby, this is..," Dean strumbled over what to call her when she held up her hands and, with her fingers, indicated the number 4444968503.

“That’s a helluva lot of numbers for your name, little lady,” Bobby remarks, looking sternly at Dean. “Do I have to worry about you going for my throat while sleeping?” Thoroughly abashed by his reaction toward the man he considers a surrogate father, he responded No, Sir. “Good. We’ll discuss this," gesturing to Deans still scarlet-hued eyes, "later." Bobby peered around his darkened scrap yard. "Let's get inside. I feel like a crow waiting to be picked off here.”

Little did the seasoned hunter know how right he was as two celestial beings observed the group from the shadows.

"You know,” the one in a business suit said, “When they told me the apocalypse had gotten the green light and the job of watching over Michael and Lucifer's vessels to my department, I thought, this is it, this is what’s going to make me more than employee of the month for the fifth, no, sixth consecutive millennium. And I was this close," held two fingers centimeters apart, "To getting the key to the Axis Mundi and mano e mano with the big guy.” His features hardened, “Of course, that was before you. Care to explain why disregarded orders to get rid of that birth defect?”

The other looked across the yard at the parties retreating to the house while his unerring memory returned to the past. 

****

Castiel was assigned to watch over Dean from his conception. As his charge grew, he was in awe of the boy's perception of others' emotions and intuitive knowledge of how to comfort them.

Shortly before his fourth birthday, John and Mary told their son that he would be a big brother, showing him the ultrasound photograph and Dean got excited, saying he’d be the best big brother to his two siblings. His confused parents again explained there was only one pup but Dean skewed his little face into a fierce expression, continuing to insist there were two amused his father.

On the other hand, Mary felt apprehensive at her offspring's insistence, and the feeling grew throughout the pregnancy. A few months later, she was fixing lunch when Dean came running in and began talking to her middle, saying he would be the best brother in the world to them. He placed his tiny hands on opposite sides of her swollen belly, and Mary felt kicking directly under them.

Several weeks later, Deans bounced off the walls, saying his siblings would be here tomorrow. John and Mary reminded him it would be longer before his brother was ready for his debut, but in the wee hours of the following day, Mary’s water broke.

John found himself juggling a hospital bag, his son, and his mate to the car for the hospital. The angel sat in the backseat gazing at his excited charge and felt—regret, aware that fulfilling his orders to eliminate the extra pup would unduly distress the vessel.

But before Castiel could further analyze this sudden human emotion, he got distracted by the doctor saying there were complications with the pup. They needed John's permission for an emergency procedure. Not detecting any unnatural issue in the mother or pups, he quizzically followed to the delivery room where Mary, despite being drugged, had a quick delivery.

The angel watches the doctor evaluate the slightly sedated pups and deems them healthy before handing them to a nurse. But instead of taking them to the nursery, they detoured to the stairwell, and Castiel quickly realized they weren't a staff member but rather someone intent on stealing both pups. The angel intervenes and then finds him in a quandary. 

Saving Lucifer's vessel left him holding the baby—specifically, the unnecessary pup whose existence puzzled heaven. When the female gazes at him with disturbingly focused eyes, other emotions trigger in the angel, leaving him unable to complete his task. Momentarily searching, he transports her to another state and swaps her with another stillborn pup. 

****

"You disregard the plan that's been in place for eons because some reject made you feel?!" Zachariah barked out a laugh of disbelief and turned to his companion. “I’m going to ask and don’t lie. What made you grow a conscience this time? Strike that. I don't care. Now, who else knows about your screwup?"

"I told no one."

"Then we've got a mole within our midst." Zachariah is interrupted by the Winchester Alpha pulling into the yard. Pointing a finger at Castiel, the senior angel says, "This is your only chance to return to my good graces. Find out who is behind that thing's reappearance."

“Okay, thanks.” Bobby tossed the cordless on his desk. “Dr. Stevenson can get it, but it’ll take a day.”

“Good," John says, tossing back his third glass of whiskey. "The sooner that implants back in, the better.” Bobby sipped it on his glass, studying the other hunter he’d known for years. 

Bobby learned the day they meet that John Winchester was an obsessive bastard who’d do anything to get the demon that killed his mate, including dragging his two very young sons into the hunter life.

****

The first time the boys were left with him, Sam had just turned three and was curious about everything. Dean? Well, he found the seven-year-old rather odd. He would get out of sorts if his training schedule were changed but patient as Job with the toddler, answering every question, no matter how crazy they were, and caring for Sam as if he were his pup. 

One night, screaming woke him up. Rushing to the room the boys were sharing; Bobby stopped dead in his tracks. Dean was sitting on the edge of the bed, rocking a howling Sam, trying to comfort him with tears streaming down his face. When he saw Bobby, Dean panicked and began apologizing, babbling on that Sam didn't mean to do it and he’d clean up the mess, confusing the Beta before noticing Sam had wet himself and the bed.

Reassuring Dean it wasn’t a big deal, Bobby gathered some clean sleep clothes and rustled them into a warm bath. Leaving Dean to watch Sam, he stripped the soiled bedding and tossed it into the washer, making a mental note to get a bed protector, grabbed a lawn bag, split it open, and placed it under the spare bedding.

He had just finished remaking the bed when Dean, carrying his sleeping brother, entered with a weary expression that made Bobby sad and angry. 

Putting on his kindest smile, he helped them back into bed, left a small lamp he’d found on, and told Dean to wake him if they needed anything, no matter how trivial.

****

Bobby returns to the present when John drops the now-empty bottle on his desk. Reaching into a drawer, he pulls a fresh one. Topping off his glass he remarks, "You wanna tell me why you failed to mention Dean has a fresh claimed Omega, let alone one beat all to hell." He stares John straight in the eye while sliding the bottle toward him.

John suppressed snarling for such an impertinent question, knowing he needed to stay on good terms with the Beta until Dean finished his mandatory probation and told him about Helms's establishment, Sam witnessing the O fighting with his Alpha lugs—explaining why it looked like it went three rounds with a vengeful spirit—to purchasing it for a dollar.

However, John couldn't hide the flash of guilt in his eyes as he skimmed over what happened at the clinic before admitting the judge's enforcement of the claiming statute was his fault, but didn't sugarcoat the details of witnessing Dean's claiming horrified Bobby.

“If everything is like you say, what'd you need Frank's help for?"

John looked directly at him, saying he needed the state order to take Sam erased if Dean failed to fulfill his probation. Bobby knew the Alpha was lying through his teeth but didn't call him out. Instead, he threw his drink back and headed to bed.

Passing the room the boys still occupied when staying; Bobby could hear them talking before loudly closing his bedroom door, giving John time to finish that second bottle. When he reopened it later, he could hear the Alpha's loud snoring, and carefully snagged the keys from his jacket, slipped out the kitchen door, and took the scenic route to the Alpha’s truck.

Bobby knows whenever John is hiding won't be in the regular places, i.e., in the glove box, over the visor, ect; began examining the vehicle's exterior and, finding nothing, opens the weapons catch. Nothing stands out when he spots a curse box and recalls John inquiring about creating one some time ago.

Bobby fiddled around with the unfinished box when, bingo, it popped open, revealing a bunch of rolled papers inside. He crossed to the garage and fired up a printer, making copies of the documents then returned everything to its original position because John would notice if anything were misplaced. Heading back to his room, Bobby noticed light still coming from underneath the boy's door and lightly rapped it before opening it.

The elder brother was spooning his mate from behind, which made sense since Bobby knew from personal experience that lying on bruised ribs dulled the pain. However, it was difficult for the man to process why his brother was sleeping snugly against her front, his fingers twined with Dean's, resting on her hip.

PART X

SPN TAGS: @donnaintx  @lyarr24  @flamencodiva   @lassie-bird  @nancymcl   @spnbaby-67 @leigh70

Dean/Jensen: @thoughts-and-funnies @stoneyggirl2  @beabutterfly987 @smoothdogsgirl

WF: @slamminmine @ladysparkles78 @deans-spinster-witch @ilovetaquitosmmmm @strawblueberrys  @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @kazsrm67

Sam/Jared: @idreamofplaid

[qqueenofhades]

what gets me is whenever any of these people says not to vote, and you ask them what the alternative is, they usually throw some tantrum about how it shouldn't be their job to fix this country and they're not expected to know (or start calling you a neoliberal or a bootlicker lmao) and i just. i don't get that? not voting, especially in the current climate, is a big deal. i don't think it's unreasonable to ask anyone who advocates for that what the alternative is. i'm not expecting you, online leftist, to magically know how to fix everything. i am expecting something from you if you're gonna tell me not to vote, especially when we both know that helps the gop. like, how dare we ask them to defend this big choice they're telling us to make?

their position boils down to helping trump and the republicans but any time you remind them of that they get upset. what is the alternative? what plan do they have? it would be one thing if there was another option that they'd come up with, but they haven't and don't seem interested in doing so. mutual aid and organizing is only going to take us so far and it'll be a hell of a lot easier to do it with biden in office than trump

The whole "it doesn't matter who's president/in charge of the government because mutual aid and organizing is the only valid way to do community engagement" is the leftist version of the Brexit nutcases who, and I swear I am not making this up, argued that it was fine if the UK left the EU trading sphere/single market/customs union with nothing to replace it, because "Britain is a nation of farmers and can grow food in our back gardens!!!!" Yes, because you're so devoted to your stupid ideology that you think the large-scale collapse of society, a major world power, a western democracy, and everything else will have no effect, and you can just do your little Facebook mutual aid groups and happily shout on Twitter at anyone who disagrees with you. Never mind the fact that this would obviously and immediately harm vulnerable people the most and that nobody, not even the Online Leftists themselves, actually wants to live in the Violent Revolution Total Anarchy World they masturbate to. Maybe this makes me a neoliberal corporate shill, but I'd rather that the world got better, instead of worse. I would actually prefer that myself, my friends, my family, my whole life, the whole country, and the rest of the world wasn't sacrificed on the Great Revolution Altar, but I shouldn't worry. We have mutual aid. At least as long as a) you have never said anything the Online Leftists even slightly disagree with, since they're sure as hell not the kind of people I would trust to have my back in any large-scale societal collapse, and b) I guess they'll all be growing food in their back gardens too, rather than using any of those dirty "government" or "society" things to supply their basic needs. We're saved! No need to worry. Bring on the anarchy.

Aside from the fact that Online Leftists, as I have said before, think that moral action begins and ends with posting the Right Opinions on social media at the correct timeframe and any other action or engagement with a flawed system or basic reality is heresy, they don't like being challenged -- i.e. "if we don't vote, then what do we do?" -- because a) it questions their authority as supreme arbiters of morality, and b) it means that there should actually be an action in place of cutting out something so consequential as voting, which likewise clashes with their "everything will be fixed by Magical Thinking" viewpoint. They don't want to be asked what to do in place of voting, or in anything at all; they want to think their correct thoughts and judge anyone who doesn't, regardless of how logically incoherent these things are or the inevitable outcome of those decisions, because nothing bad is ever their fault, or even the Republicans' fault, or anyone else at all except for the Democrats and/or "the West." I mean, yeah, if they're going around to preach the Don't Vote Because It's Actually Evil gospel, it's the bare fucking minimum to expect that they have something to offer in return besides Ye Olde Bolshevik cosplay fantasies. Since they don't, they get tetchy when you point that out.

Also, while I know it's the social media fashion that everything has to be the worst thing ever and we have plenty of the "Biden is also a genocidal fascist but I guess vote for him or something" utterly-minimum-standard posts going around, I will point out why that rhetoric is a) wrong and b) unhelpful. (Not that I expect it will make a single difference to anyone who has to get their internet cred by yelling about how Biden is a fascist, but still.) No, Biden is not a fascist by any logical definition of the word, you would have to do a lot of work to convince me that he is personally genocidal beyond what is demanded of any post-1948 American president who exists in an extremely complicated international sphere with long-standing alliances (such as, yes, with Israel) and indeed not quite a bit more progressive than literally every one of his predecessors, and it makes those actual words useless. If you claim that "Biden and Trump are both genocidal fascists," you are utterly effacing those categories as any kind of critical or useful distinction. You can't argue for any difference, you can't point out policy essentials or nuances, you can't make the most basic of empirical observances or come to a judgment on whether any part of that statement is true, because language has been deliberately stripped of meaning and used to score Cool Internet Leftist points. How can we explain what fascism or genocide actually are and what to do about them, if it's just what you call everyone as a matter of course whenever they disagree with you? You can't. That's the point.

Once again: I strongly disagree with the idea of just giving Israel/Netanyahu a blank check to keep committing atrocities, but I also need to repeatedly point out that Biden isn't doing that. His initial unconditional support of Israel after October 7 (which at the time was the correct response) has shifted to a much more measured and conditional approach where he has muted the overtly pro-Israel statements and started talking about a two-state solution and the need to protect the lives of civilians and trying to keep a lid on what could become a REALLY bad situation with all kinds of war-hungry powers eager to jump into the Middle East and blow it completely to hell. As I have said in my other posts, Trump will not do this. Trump will do the exact opposite. Which is why Netanyahu, who doesn't like having his hands tied precisely in the way Biden is doing, is trying so hard to get Trump back in. This also extends to the people who think that the West/the U.S. is the source of all evil in the world, but they're somehow the only people that can make actual choices or have real agency. Everyone else is just an American puppet; everyone is being lied to or manipulated by America/the West; nobody ever chose anything of their own free will; America/the West could roll in and put a stop to everything bad if they "really wanted to," but choose not to because etc. etc., Evil. As such, this completely fact-free belief is basically the central starting point for Online Leftism, which as I have also said, is now beyond useless and verging on just as deranged and actively dangerous as the fascists, especially since they are 100% willing to enable far-right fascism however and whenever they can because something something, That Will Show Us.

Anyway. Yes. Whew.

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

Heroes and Their Reputations

Pairing: As of right now there isn't one- trying to decide if this is going to be more than this silly one shot lol

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: none really?

Genre: kinda fluff mostly... comedy I guess is accurate

Summary: The Avengers may be Earth's mightiest heroes but there's plenty of room for improvement especially in the public opinion category, so what happens when the team is given a PR manager?

***

"Listen, I can tell you right now, this transition will not be smooth." Fury warns you as you walk down the hall.

"Oh come on Fury how bad can they be?" You scoff.

"Most of them are- fine, I'm sure the reception will be overall positive but at least one of them will try to run you off and you need to prepared."

"I've got pretty thick skin so I think I'll manage. Plus I've got a few tricks up my sleeve to deal with that sort of thing believe it or not." You say.

"Alright. I'll call you in in a moment." Fury says. He enters the meeting room while you wait in the hall. It takes a while for his head to pop out to call you.

"You ready?" He asks.

"Sure." You say kicking off the wall and entering the room.

"Avengers. Meet your new manager." Fury announces to the room.

"Hey everyone, my name is y/n. Like Fury said I'll be your manager moving forward." You say.

"Sorry, what does having a manager entail exactly?" Bruce asks, adjusting his glasses.

"All of your missions, any official public appearances, interactions with civilians online or in person, that'll all go through me now. I'll also deal with government officials on your behalf and any legal situations you may end up in."

"So you're a lawyer?" Clint asks.

"No, we have lawyers. She's just here to oversee you all so that you can be held to a standard." Fury says.

"We don't need a manager." Tony scoffs.

"Oh yes, you do." Fury says.

"It can't hurt." Thor shrugs.

"Don't be ridiculous Thor. Look, sweetheart, we've managed just fine on our own so far so I see what they're trying to do here but it's pointless and I will not be answering to some random figurehead they've brought in to play babysitter." Tony says.

"Okay, let me make one thing clear, Anthony, sweetheart, we're playing my game now, so you play by my rules or you don't play at all." You say.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He narrows his eyes.

"How do I explain this? If I'm a coach, I'm not going to put players in the game that I know are just going to continually rack up penalties, that's a poor game plan. The public doesn't trust you, it's my job to change that. So if you make my job harder you will no longer go on missions or even leave the tower. It's pretty simple. Fall in line or Iron Man will effectively be out of commission until you can be trusted to behave."

"Nice try but you can't do that." He scoffs. You cock an eyebrow at him and snap. His body tenses to a halt for a moment before you unfreeze him.

"My game. Understood?" You ask.

"W-w-what t-th-the f-f-f-f-fuck w-w-was th-th-that?" Tony wraps his arms around himself, shivering in his seat.

"What did you just do to him?" Steve's eyes widen.

"You have powers?!" Wanda asks excitedly.

"Nothing deadly." You wink at Steve. "Yes." You smile at Wanda. Bruce's hand hesitantly raises as he speaks,

"When you say nothing deadly-"

"Mr. Stark's body temperature was briefly at 28.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Low enough to freeze his blood but not for long enough to kill him." Vision informs the group.

"You frozehis blood?!" Sam gasps.

"What the fuck kind of power is that?" Clint asks.

"Are you some sort of demigod?" Thor asks.

"Technically I control water. Vision darling can you get him a blanket or something? The shivering is... excessive." You say.

"Of course." Vision says with a nod.

"F-F-F-F-Fury d-did y-you know a-a-ab-b-bout th-th-this?"

"It's got nothing to do with my job so it's not like it's on my resume, but if anybody would do the extra research on me it'd be Fury." You say. Vision returns then and drapes a blanket over Tony who pulls it tight around himself.

"Just want to make it clear that I did not know you could do that. Why the fuck you ain't mention that before now?" Fury looks at you.

"I did say I had some tricks up my sleeve." You shrug.

"We'll discuss that later." He tells you.

"Am I the only one not understanding how water manipulation lets you freeze blood?" Sam asks.

"Blood is made up of mostly water. I can control the water within blood. Goes for other things too, clouds, mud- anything really."

"So you froze his blood?" Bruce asks with wide eyes.

"Just to prove my point. I wasn't gonna kill him." You reiterate.

"I like our manager." Natasha smirks.

"Thank you." You say. Fury pulls out his phone and sighs.

"Imma leave y'all to get acquainted. Don't turn anyone into an iceblock in the meantime." He warns.

"She's already done that." Clint says.

"Fine, don't turn anybody else into an iceblock. If you insist I get technical." Fury rolls his eyes.

"You aren't seriously going to leave us with her Fury." Tony says breathily, his body finally warming up enough to talk normally.

"Don't push her buttons and you should be fine Tony you're an adult."

"Only in theory." Steve mutters and you let out a small laugh at his dig.

"I've told her not to freeze anybody, don't piss her off and you'll be safe." Fury reiterates before leaving the room.

"So-" you take a seat at the table with everyone and rest your chin in one of your hands propped up at the elbow. "Questions?"

"So are you like our boss?" Natasha asks.

"When you say monitor our interactions online what does that mean?" Steve asks.

"You mentioned public appearances. Will we be doing press conferences? Because I don't really like the idea of having to sit and answer a bunch of questions on a panel." Bruce asks.

"Since when do we have a team of lawyers?" Clint scoffs.

"Also what do you mean when you say missions go through you?" Sam asks.

"So when I said questions I didn't mean everybody throw them all at once. Natasha, technically speaking kind of since you guys do have to answer to me. Steve, you all are an interesting bunch, I assume none of you do but if any of you had a social media presence at all I would be monitoring that to make sure the things you're engaging with don't make you look any worse. Bruce, you probably won't be doing press conferences exactly because I can't say I trust you all to answer questions live like that but we do need to do damage control on your image as a team so you'll be making strategic appearances over the next few months at events and such so that the public sees you in a better light. Clint, the first thing I told them when I was hired was that a group of superheroes needs a legal team especially if the government is poking their noses around here so I put one together. Sam, Fury will send your missions to me, and I'll decide who goes on which ones based on your skill set as individuals and cooperatively."

"How did you remember all of those questions?" Steve binks.

"Do you know our skill sets?" Clint asks.

"I've seen some of your- combat, clips go pretty viral of the big ones, so I have an idea but I'll be scheduling targeted trainings with each of you to observe more directly over the next two weeks." You say.

"So, what happens in the meantime? Until you know our strengths if there are missions then what?" Natasha asks.

"Steve seems the closest to a leader here. I'll take his suggestions regarding assignments and go from there." You say.

"Cap is not our leader." Tony scoffs.

"Well, it's certainly not you." You roll your eyes. "Does anyone else take issue with me consulting Steve for your mission assignments?" You ask, a hand up to stop Tony from whining more.

"Nope." Bruce says.

"No." Natasha says.

"I'd rather Steve than Tony." Clint says.

"I trust Steve more than Tony." Wanda says.

"I'm here because of Steve- so, only makes sense." Sam shrugs.

"Vision? Thoughts?" You ask.

"My vote sways nothing as everyone else has unanimously chosen Captain Steve Rogers."

"No Vision this isn't about statistics, I asked because you're part of the team and your opinion is as valuable as everyone else's." You tell him.

"In that case, I think the most reasonable choice for who you should consult would be Captain Rogers."

"All of you have betrayed me today." Tony says.

"Cut the drama Stark you are far too impulsive to be calling any shots here." You roll your eyes.

"Oh what do you know?" He scoffs.

"I know you're reckless and make decisions without considering those around you, I know you've created more problems than you've solved, I know that you need serious lessons in collaboration because you are by far the worst team player I've ever come across, and this is just from reading your file and studying public records, you struggle with addictive behaviors, you have narcissistic tendencies, abandonment issues, self-destructive habits and an overall lack of basic social awareness, you consider yourself generally above reproach, and things like empathy are often lost on you and it makes you nothing short of insufferable to be around. And that is putting it very lightly. Shall I continue?"

"Yes please!" Natasha laughs.

"I get the point." Tony grits out.

"Good! Glad we're on the same page! Now you can stop questioning me because as I'm sure you've realized by now in a game of who can be the bigger asshole, Tony, for once in your life, you will lose. I've dealt with egos 10 times the size of yours and if they couldn't break me neither will you. So fall in line, or say buh bye to the iron suit."

"Oh shit. Fury's a genius." Natasha chuckles.

"What, Nat?" Steve frowns.

"She's here to fix our reputation. I dunno about the rest of y'all but based on today I trust her to do the job gotta be honest." She shrugs.

"Good. Makes my job much easier if you trust me." You say. "Any more questions Avengers?" You ask the group.

"Will you be living here?" Wanda asks.

"No. I don't see a reason to, so I don't plan on it." You shrug.

"What if we need you when you're not here?" She asks.

"Honestly a lot of my job can be done remotely. Since PR has nothing to do with your day to day activities emergencies are unlikely. I'll only be here a few times a week and that's mostly because I don't trust some of you to pick up if I call."

"Uh- when does this observational training start?" Bruce asks.

"We'll start Monday. I'll send out a full schedule later but I'll be starting with you, Tony. 9 am."

"Oh come on! Why me?!" Tony groans.

"Because I know you'll give me the most trouble and everyone else will feel like a cakewalk after." You smile. "If there are no further questions, watch your phones, I'll be reaching out to each of you over the weekend, see you Monday. Try not to do any more damage before then." You say standing and leaving the room. Yeah, you're going to have one hell of a time with this team.

Monday morning you reach the tower early. You told Tony to meet you in the training room at 9 o'clock, so at 8:45 you find a meeting room and have your coffee.

"Friday?" You call out.

"Good morning y/n."

"Good morning. I want a view of the cameras in the training room, and please make sure nobody knows that I've arrived at the tower yet." You say.

"Aren't you meant to be meeting Mr. Stark shortly?"

"Mr. Stark will be experiencing a series of trials today. The first of which will be a test of patience. Which means he cannot know I'm already here. Okay?"

"Understood."

"Thank you." You settle in at the round table sipping your coffee and kicking your feet up as you prepare to hang out here for a while. You watch Tony enter the training room at 9 on the dot. For the first 10 minutes, he seems to just be idly waiting. He checks his watch a few times, paces the room, lets out the occasional impatient huff. After the twenty minute mark, he calls you, which you promptly ignore. He starts to do minor training stuff, jumping jax, hitting a punching bag, messing around with weights. He calls again at forty minutes. You still don't answer. You watch him for a full hour before you leave the meeting room and finally make your way to where he's surprisingly still waiting.

"Good morning Anthony." You say casually when you walk in.

"Good mor- where have you been? You told me we were meeting at 9 am it's not 10:07. I've been waiting for over an hour."

"Well technically I told you to be here at 9 am. Never said anything about me being here at 9 too. But I have been in the tower. I was in a meeting room. Watching you. Planning the rest of the morning."

"So- you've been here since 9 am and you just- what? Decided I could wait?"

"I've been here since 8:45 actually. I wanted to see if first of all you'd be punctual and secondly could you wait indefinitely without direction simply because I told you to be here at 9." You say.

"You're telling me I just wasted an hour of my time in here for your amusement?" He crosses his arms.

"You lack patience and discipline, so I'm testing you."

"By wasting my time?"

"By challenging your equanimity."

"Challenging my equanimity? Really? That's you're justification for wasting an hour of my day?"

"Friday please prepare Ironman's training simulation." You say rolling your eyes at Tony's complaints.

"Simulation loading, please wait." Friday responds.

"We're not done with this conversation." Tony says.

"Oh yes we are. I think you're still struggling to understand how this works, I don't answer to you Tony. Now if you at any point want to go on missions, I suggest you suit up and run the training simulation I've prepared for you." You say.

"You prepared?"

"Simulation complete. Ready to begin." Friday announces.

"It's what I've been up to since I got here an hour ago. Everyone's getting personalized simulations to assess their skills. Yours begins- now." You say stepping back.

"Beginning simulation round one." Friday says and that's the only warning Tony gets before it starts. The training begins with a set of drills, a combination of shooting still targets and dodging projectiles. It takes him most of the hour to finish the first round of tests, and the final sequence ends with him on the the floor.

"I fight in a suit. Why the hell am I running target practice without it?!" He huffs.

"You wanna be a hero you're gonna need more than your rich kid toys to qualify. If it powers down or is rendered useless somehow in the middle of a mission you can't simply become a liability to the team and if you are- I need to know that too."

"Friday." He grits out.

"Yes Mr. Stark?" The computerized voice fills the room.

"Tell Pepper I'll be later than expected coming in today."

"Friday, tell Pepper not to expect him until after lunch." You say checking your watch.

"Yes Miss y/n."

"After lunch?!" His eyes widen.

"Oh relax, I won't be keeping you here that long, it's only 11, but by the time we're done you'll probably want to get something to eat or at the very least change your clothes before going to work." You shrug. "Friday please load the second round of the Stark Training Simulation."

"Simulation loading. Please wait."

"S-second round?" He groans.

"I had four planned, but that first one took you forever so we'll have to consolidate. Put on your suit before she's finished loading, you won't have time to once it starts." You tell him.

"How were you even able to get Friday to do this?" He asks as he forces himself to his feet.

"Fury gave me access to everything on the grounds." You shrug.

"Loading complete. Ready to begin." Friday announces.

"Great. Please begin round two at an increase of five percent Friday."

"Beginning simulation round two at a five percent increase."

"Woah hang on a five percent increase what the hell does that me-" Tony is cut off by a projectile launching across the room. Round two is more combat based using mechanical dummies Friday was able to activate for you. With the speed increase Tony struggles to keep up with the attacks but at least it won't take him over an hour to do them. It takes 47 minutes for him to complete round two.

"Right, I think I've got enough information. I'm going to let you go. I'll save rounds 3 and 4 for another day. Friday please send me the footage from today's simulation runs." You say.

"Understood."

"You plan on being a tyrant your entire time here?" Tony asks.

"What's the matter Stark? Can't handle the heat?" You quirk an eyebrow at him.

"That wasn't just heat that was being thrown into a volcano."

"You know what they say, pressure makes diamonds. I'll be in touch." You say walking out of the training room, already preparing the simulations for your next session, you're thinking Steve.

"Take your time!" Tony shouts after you and you roll your eyes. Maybe Fury was onto something when he warned you it would not be easy with these guys.

***

A/N: should I continue this story? Do we add a love interest? If so who?

[ghostsoapwhore]

Fix the Unfixable Masterlist

Pairings: 141 x Reader Plot: Task Force 141 adjusts to the addition of an omega into their pack after the government rules every military group must have one omega per base. They try to adjust themselves to the new omega's presence, working to keep their secrets hidden and the omega safe. The job always comes first. Right?

Warnings: NSFW Content, eventual smut, angst, a/b/o, fingering, smut, oral, biting, claiming, knotting, angst, violence. Part One: Caught in the Crossfire

I was inspired by the fic Cherry Red, Crimson Blood! I recommend you read it by @soaps-mohawk!

[magpod-confessions]

I do not love Alice as much as most of yall seem to. I do not get the hype. On the contrary, i think Sam and Gwen get too much hate.

I come from a labour majority town. I live in a tarrace house. I have a single parent. I am not well to do. And Gwen, to me, is not the embodiment of nepo baby government kiss-ass you all interpret her as.

For one, i doubt her rich as all hell family would be vying for her to work at a suspicious, dingy work job. And i dont think Lena particularly cares for the Bouchard title. And Gwen seems to work as hard as she can, and actually seems to be the only one treating her work as WORK. I can imagine her situation [at the start of the series] was like working on a long-term group project with 1 person who Does Not Give A Fuck and is trying to teach the newbies of the group to do the same as her [Fuck all], which only puts more work and stress on HER.

And her whole "shes a lady" thing with me did not come off as classism. Well to do people tend to do their fucked up shit in private. Bonzo is an otherworldly creature who doesn't care what others think and will just kill you. The fact Mowbray's a Lady makes her seem more human, which is the trap Gwen fell into. It makes her seem like she would only do the atrocious acts in ways that would not damage her title. Whether she is right or wrong, we dont know.

And then there's sam. I never hear anyone really talk about sam in a way thats not

A] talking about him in a way that dumbs down his character.

B] Comparing him to Jon or other characters from TMA

C] only talking about his relationships.

It feels like people are actively resisting having Sam as an actual protagonist, instead trying to make Alice fit into that role. Theyre both complex characters, treat them the bloody same please.

.

[delicatebarness]

The Mercenary’s Daughter | Chapter One

Summary: Nick Fowler is tasked with the elimination of a well-protected weapons broked. He learns that the target may be connected to Lloyd Hansen.

Warning: Implied Violence/Assassination | Underground Dealings | Mention of Weapons | Organized Crime | Corruption

Word Count: 685

Support: Ko-FI

Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

A/N: The book club read the prologue of Cry Baby back to me today so out of embarrassment, I wrote another chapter of this. - Please feel free to leave feedback or let me know where and how you want the story to continue, this is just as much yours as mine. - B

The Mercenary's Daughter: Let me know if you'd like to be tagged | @soelstress | @that-one-fangirl69

Everything: @hallecarey1 | @pattiemac1 | @uhmellamoanna | @scraftsku35 | @ozwriterchick | @sapphirebarnes | @rach2602 | @thetorturedbuckydepartment | @lanabuckybarnes

Neon and noise filled the city, but Nick Fowler tuned it all out as she stood in the small, dimly lit bar on the edge of town. He hated meeting in a crowded area, but his handler insisted on meeting face-to-face for this mission. Nick wasn’t in the business of asking questions.

The door creaked open, and a man sat on the stool beside him—a middle-aged, cheap-suited, and slight-framed man—Nick’s handler, Elijah. He always had a way of blending into the background. No one would give Elijah a second glance, which was exactly why he was good at what he did. 

“Fowler,” Elijah greeted, placing a thick envelope on the bar with a nod. 

“Clarke,” Nick replied, side-eyeing the envelope. It was always business with the pair, no small talk or pleasantries. 

Sliding the envelope closer, Elijah tapped it once with his finger. “We need someone with your particular skill set. A high-profile target.” 

Nick flipped through the papers inside as he lifted the envelope. His blue gaze scanned the contents. It included a name, blurry surveillance photographs, and a list of recent movements– the standard information. He knew this target was protected, well protected, and heavily involved in the underground dealings overseas. 

“The weapon broker?” Nick asked, his voice flat as he paused on a few details in the file. 

“Among other things,” Elijah replied. “Supplying hardware to the groups we try not to speak of. And, other intel suggests there are plans of a major deal within the next month, and we want to intercept him… discreetly.” 

Already mapping the logistics in his mind, Nick nodded along. “Where is he?”

“France, there’s a private compound in Chantilly. Security is tight– high walls, and heavily armed guards. No one gets in or not without the right level of clearance.”

Nick took a sip of his drink, raising his brow with a smirk. “Sounds like my kind of job.” 

Elijah’s expression remained serious. “Fowler, this isn’t a typical job. A source says the broker is working closely with someone we’ve been watching– Lloyd Hansen.” 

Something shifted in Nick’s expression as he looked up. Lloyd Hansen was a whispered name within their circles and an air of mystery and menace. He was a dangerous man to cross– a former military contractor, rumored to have high-level contacts and a network of operatives. 

“Lloyd’s got a stake in this deal?” Nick asked, intrigued more than ever, now. 

“We aren’t sure for now,” Elijah retorted. “It is reported the broker is close to him. It’s believed that if we can take the broker out, it could disrupt any of Hansen’s plans and force him to make a move.” 

The pieces of the mission slotted into place in his mind as Nick processed the intelligence. He had heard all of the rumors, hundreds of times– the elite soldiers who were trained to move in shadows, their loyalty bound only to him. Most governments could only dream of the kind of network he had created, and Hansen was a master at wielding it like an empire. 

“So I go in, eliminate the broker, and see if Mustache rattles?” Nick questioned, more to himself than Elijah. 

“Exactly,” the man replied, his voice steady. “We hope that if Hansen is invested, he’ll come out of the shadows.” 

Closing the file, and placing it back in the envelope, Nick gave Elijah a brief nod. “Consider it done.” 

“Good.” Elijah narrowed his eyes. “And Fowler– watch your back with this one. Lloyd Hansen is not the kind of man to take such interference lightly.” 

A smile tugged at the corners of Nick’s mouth. “I’m counting on that.” 

Elijah rose, leaving the bar without another word and disappearing into the crowded city. Rubbing his hand down his face, Nick let the weight of the mission settle over him. France, a fortress compound, and a target tired to one of the most dangerous men. The job was risky, there was no denying that. But, that was what made Nick interested.

Pocketing the envelope, the agent finished his drink and slipped out. He had a flight to catch.

---

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[starlostlix]

Bungo Stray Dogs and the separateness of Childhood - a sociological view

[So a large portion of this is left over from when I was revising sociology for my alevels, which were done over a month ago now (wow). So I hope there's people out there who find this interesting, it's nice to post this since it goes back to my roots of what started me on tumblr in the first place (sociological analysis, but of MTP). Also this has Stormbringer spoilers.]

Sociologists agree that childhood is a social construct (a concept in society with no fixed definition). The definition of childhood changes depending on culture and time, so it is not universal or 'natural'. Bungo Stray Dogs portrays a definition of childhood much different to many of our own cultures, and part of its presentation is something I want to look into.

The main idea to look at is Jane Pilcher's idea of 'separateness' - childhood as a clear and distinct stage of life in which children are considered physically and psychologically incompetent and unable to run their own lives. This idea of separateness often leads to childhood being considered a 'golden age' of play and having a lack of responsibility. In BSD, the idea of childhood as a separate stage is not as clear - many children 16 or under are seen working in (or looking for) employment much like adults would do. For example, in Stormbringer Shirase (who is 16) works in a car factory, Yosano at age 11 is said to work in a confectionery store (we don't know if this was family owned or not though), and Ranpo in Untold Origins (aged 14) looking for a job when he meets Fukuzawa. With this information we can gather that children have to take the responsibility of work from a younger age than many cultures (for instance where I lived children have to be in education until 18) and that from as young as 11 they are able to employment.

Consider the other children present - the Akutagawa siblings living on the streets for many years without parents or financial support, Kyouka and Q (as well as teenagers like Dazai and Chuuya) being part of the mafia from a young age, Kenji in his village, Chuuya and Mary Wollstonecraft in Stormbringer, and Atsushi living in the orphanage. All of these have different notions of childhood attached to them.

The Akutagawa siblings learnt to support themselves from a young age. Their group of fellow homeless children act as proof of a wide child poverty issue, one which represent the effects of a lack of child welfare support by the government or the effects of the many casualties in the Great War (leaving many without parents). The lack of child welfare support may show a general lack of the idea of separateness, since specialist support for children is not available.

The abundance of children in the mafia, especially those who reach the higher ranks of executives like Dazai and Chuuya by the age of 16, show a distinct lack of recognition of childhood as a separate stage. Those who are children don't seem to be treated much differently to the adults, which is especially apparent in Q and Kyouka's missions (where Kyouka in her first mission we see being considered disposable by the mafia).

Kenji's childhood on paper seems the closest to many farming cultures in our world. He works on a farm from a young age, as many people in his village and in real life farming families do. The recruitment of him to the detective agency however, suggests that (despite his youth) his ability makes him fit for the job. This somewhat leads on to the idea that children with abilities are seen as more mature and subjected to more adult activities and topics from a younger age, with their allowance of separateness smaller than that of non-ability user children.

A few other Stormbringer examples - Mary Wollstonecraft is only 10 years old as of Stormbringer, and yet she is working for the European governments and making robot agents for them. Young children working for governments is a clear example of a lack of separation between child and adult. Another, and arguably much worse example, is Chuuya and Verlaine - both experimented on by scientists/the government and infused with singularities via force. Chuuya is also canonically cloned. Verlaine and Chuuya, in their experimentation, are not treated much differently, despite Verlaine being an adult and Chuuya being around 5 at the time of his kidnapping/start of experimentation. This suggests a lack of seperateness yet again. There is a lot more that could be said about the whole 'cloning/made into a weapon' part of their story, but this is not the post for that.

A more recent one - Teruko. Because of her unique ability to change her age means that within the first few months of her life she was forced to fight in war. She's actually forced to bypass her own childhood for the war effort, and therefore her childlike demeanour during the Decay of Angels arc may be to try and harness what she missed out on. Her ability in itself could also play into the 'old age is a social construct' argument too maybe but again, not the post.

Atsushi's childhood in an orphanage at first seems to match the ideas of childhood as a separate stage dependent on others. The purpose of orphanages is to raise children without parents and help them prepare for the world, but Atsushi's experiences of abuse shows that his ability, to the orphanage director, makes him undeserving of this separate stage. Instead he is abused and eventually kicked out with no real support. This being able to go on unchecked alongside the other examples brings me to my conclusion about the definition of childhood in Yokohama/the surrrounding villages/possibly the world are not being considered a separate 'golden age' to the same standards as our world.

As mentioned earlier, children who are ability users are less likely to have this construct of seperateness include them. In sociology, labels and constructs are assigned by people and society, and so in this universe there are many adults who have removed this construct from ability users' lives in their childhood. Yosano is the clearest example of this - Mori takes her away from her experience of childhood and places her in a war zone, where she, despite being 11 years of age, is treated like an adult and (because of her ability) is placed on a pedestal by the solders. She's stripped of her childhood through not only the standards placed upon her, but the trauma she endures in the war zone - leaving her to spend what remained of her childhood in a psych ward until Fukuzawa is able to take her in.

Ability user children, via circumstances or adult intervention, do not get to experience childhood in the way other children do because that label is stripped away from them. This is most usually because they pose some asset to an organisation or campaign - and this can include the ADA too. Just because the ADA offers a more healthy and safer environment for the children than other organisations, it is still putting children into work and treating them the same as adults. How ethical this is, is in itself another question that I don't think I can give an answer to. But I could honestly talk about how ability user children are treated differently in a whole other essay.

[I do not have much else to say now about this specific area but it's probably better to post than just to let sit in the drafts as it has done for a while. So no proper conclusion sorry.]

[lindsay00000008]

Dehumanization Whump - the clinical kind

Inspired by this post by @dresden-syndrome

Systemic pet whump, lab experiment whump, alien study whump, mythical creature zoo whump, SCP whump…..

Scientists/caretakers/government officials as whumpers. They’re not supposed to call the whumpees by anything other than species, number, or code name. Sometimes a combination of those are required, and even then it can get confusing where multiple whumpees are involved. The guys with the clipboards adopt their own names for each whumpee despite the rule. Spike, Leonard, Tabitha, Killer. They would never write that in the notes — sometimes it’ll slip out in audio recordings. A slap on the wrist for those times, or an ethics and mental health security meeting.

They’re definitely not supposed to converse with the whumpees; even the ones who talk back. Even the ones who start it, who say things like, “Can we please not do the shocks today? Please? I’ll do extra laps on the track, please, I don’t even need dinner just—” And especially not the ones who say things like, “My people will find me. They’ll find me and when they get here you’ll—!” before they’re inevitably sedated or restrained.

But the ones who say things like, “You new here? You’ll get used to the B group hollering like that. They’re just pissed they ain’t got meat today. This economy, right? Jesus.” Those ones are a bit harder to ignore.

They’d much rather have the ones that just growl and shriek like the beasts they are, no pretense or trickery. It’s easier to take care of those, to work with them and do their job. For one, because their animalistic tendencies are predictable. For another, because they don’t pretend to know what they need or want like the chatty ones. There’s no guilt associated with holding them down for a shot or testing their reflexes. Sure, the thing is still howling and scratching at you, but doesn’t look you in the eyes and plead in your own language, regardless of the fact you know whatever you’re doing is good for them. Or good for society, at least.

God forbid a pencil pusher or delivery man sees enough of what they don’t understand to go soft, to misguidedly want to help a whumpee. That’d be disastrous — and it’s precisely why any niceties or overly affectionate caretakers are swiftly reprimanded or otherwise dealt with.

Still, there’s always going to be that one lunatic that doesn’t follow the rules, who brings treats and toys and trinkets for the whumpees, who whispers them stories and pats their head and let’s them sit in the yard a few minutes extra each day. Who tells them about how easy it is to get lost in here, and how nice and quiet it is in the early morning just before the guard change. Who gives them extra rations. Who loosens their bindings just a bit.

[folkdances]

i think like the main issue wrt hamas bogeymanning is all non-muslims but especially westerners really have no place in the conversation surrounding political islam. this is in no way a recent issue, but you see these people throwing around words like jihad and sharia law with only an extremely simplified and oftentimes incorrect understanding of what their true cultural, religious, and political meanings are. the conversation of how these things affect people should be left to the people who actually live beneath them; it is never going to be the role of the non-muslim or non-palestinian to dictate the what is and what is not acceptable in a muslim or palestinian state (ignoring the fact that there are many non-muslims living in palestine).

an example i've seen thrown around is the age-oldforced-hijab issue. and yes forcible hijab is not right and actively hurts people, but when is it ever going to be someone who's never going to wear one's job to decide this? when we ask people to speak up about these issues, it's always oh but because it has never occurred to non-muslims that there might be nuance within a people, and we're still struggling to make people understand the idea that people want to wear hijab, and the hijab is never going to be the issue; it's the forcing that is.

in the case of hamas, people only parrot that they're """terrorists""" and """the next isis""" without (a) understanding hamas' own background, (b) the factors which caused this image to come into being and, most importantly, (c) have never once tried to understand an average palestinian's opinions on hamas because it has never crossed their minds that perhaps the people living beneath this government might have opinions on it; to them, hamas must be destroyed because palestinians do not know what's good for them, in the ideologies that bother humanizing palestine at all.

additionally, this principle applies to really any minority group. living in canada i often see similar rhetoric applied to the landback movement.

tl;dr i think that people who don't have a place in this conversation should only listen to what people who do have a place (palestinains with regards to hamas, muslims with regards to muslim states, etc.) in it say, and then elevate their voices without trying to add on their own opinions. it's not your story, it's not your life, and it is not up to you to decide, based on your worldview, how things ought to be.

[laughhardrunfastbekindsblog]

Shortly after the third episode of Acolyte dropped, a friend (who wasn't watching the show) said she probably wouldn't bother watching it because her brother told her the show was ruining everything that's been established about the Force and that it's implying the Jedi are wrong/evil.

I had gotten wind of some complaints like this being found on social media, but the fact that I was hearing this take first-hand from someone I know well kinda floored me.

Just today I came across a thoughtful discussion on Reddit about how both TLJ and Acolyte explore the idea of perspective and presenting opposing viewpoints (I would submit that Bad Batch does an exceptional job with this as well, even if it's not one of the main aims of the show), and this made me want to put some thoughts down on virtual "paper."

SPECIFIC ACOLYTE SPOILERS BELOW.

1) It seems some people somehow can't accept the heroes actually making mistakes and being called out on it in the story. Like, there's no room for gray areas and nuance. (This trend became especially apparent to me after TLJ first released.)

For example, I love the Jedi and think their basic beliefs, including their adherence to the Light Side, are absolutely correct. I also see how flawed the Jedi Order itself became by the time of the prequels, and also know that the Jedi themselves are flawed (of course they are!). Most of the Jedi are trying to do the right thing, but that doesn't mean they won't make mistakes. And it's painful sometimes to watch them make mistakes, but their intentions are still good and ultimately they are the heroes to root for, especially when they're up against the sheer selfishness and power-hungry machinations of the Sith in particular.

Somehow, though, Luke igniting his lightsaber in a desperate moment of weakness means Luke's character is absolutely ruined, no chance for redemption. It doesn't matter that it was a fleeting thought and Luke didn't actually act on it, just the thought is enough to condemn not only him but also the creators for daring to make Luke Skywalker anything less than a flawless hero.

Somehow, The Acolyte presenting a group of people who view/describe the Force differently than the Jedi do, and then spending equal time showing their perspective/justifications/flaws just as much as they show the Jedi's perspective/justifications/flaws, means the show is ruining the Force and obviously hates the Jedi.

It ends up that some of the discussion around who was right/wrong, that the Jedi should/shouldn't have done what they did, and that the coven should/shouldn't have done what they did tends to become inflammatory because some people won't accept that most of the characters are flawed and make mistakes and are just trying to do the best they can with the knowledge they have. (I say "most" characters, because Qimir is just straight up evil and there's no debate about that. He killed Jecki and referred to her as "it." Enough said.)

2) Another thing to consider is that, on the macro level, the stories themselves still are VERY much about good vs evil. No matter how much backstory is given to the "evil" characters or how sympathetically they are portrayed, at the end of the day very few of us root for the Sith or Imperial types to actually be in charge of the galaxy, we still want Jedi/Light Side Force users and Republics and independent systems with some semblance of democratic governments to win out. It's at the micro level that individual characters - both the good guys and the bad guys - are portrayed with more nuance to where the good guys make mistakes and the bad guys are granted some level of humanity to where we might see parts of ourselves portrayed in them (even if it's as simple as "there, but for the grace of God, go I"). Yet somehow some fans seem to take issue with this depiction of the heroes/villains and conflate it to mean the overall story somehow isn't ultimately about good vs evil. Even for stories like Acolyte that I consider to be villain origin stories, I don't think most of the audience WANTED Osha to kill Sol or join Qimir; regardless of why she did it, we still are guided to recognize that giving in to hatred and revenge is not a "good" thing. This show doesn't paint the Jedi Order as the "bad guys." It does thoughtfully depict both sides of the conflict as having both flaws and virtues (well... everyone except Qimir. He's just evil.) And it does depict the gradations of gray that come with making decisions with wide-spread ramifications that also involve other people with varying motives needing to make decisions as well.

3) Ironically, if a project doesn't depict a good guy as having notable flaws or a bad guy as having some semblance of sympathetic characteristics, we then get the accusations of characters being Mary Sues or one-dimensional or "flat." So there's just no way to win here.

[hayleysayshay]

Okay so I am loathe to suggest adding more characters to the Legend of Korra, a show that has too many characters -- but I think politics wise, what Book 1 really needs is a sympathetic Equalist leader character, and it shouldn't be Asami. So, for a hypothetical rewrite:

My suggestion is 'gruff Equalist leader' who is a working class, middle-aged man with a scar on his face. He has led a small group of Equalists who were doing community aid for nonbenders such as teaching self defence.

First he meets with Korra and he's dismissive of her as the Avatar, she's dismissive of him as a bending hater. Then, maybe after Hiroshi is unmasked, and around the same time the gang see the police cut the power of the nonbenders, they meet him again, and they realise he has far more nuanced views of bending-probenders, and he despises Amon, for taking a movement started by the common people to an extreme. He is all about empowering nonbenders, not inflicting violence on benders, and hates Amon.

Also, maybe one of the krew (mako/asami) can say 'hey, is his scar even real? Did he copy it from you?'. And maybe this gruff nonbender can say 'yeah, think I recognise him from equalists meetings years before (under fake name), where he didn't have the scar. but the police don't listen to me.' Because Amon is a FRAUD.

And then we see this guy rally some nonbenders to fight for Republic City against Amon in the last episodes, and then we get Tarrlok and Noatak's backstory still, it all comes together how Amon is a fraud. We then get a story about how Amon hijacked a political movement for his own personal trauma.

And then this guy pops up a few times. Book 2 -- he runs for President, loses due to Raiko's sheer money skills but maybe he can be in government to try and increase equity.

and then in book 4 he's helping out with the Republic City Evacuation. Comics, instead of Zhu-Li, he runs for President, and wins! Everyone, including benders, thinks he's the best for the job as he's going to advocate for the downdtroden. Idealistic, simple politics, but hopeful and also promoting change.

I think TLOK fans want to make Asami the sympathetic equalist, and whilst I'm all for having Asami express some equalist sympathies to develop equalism a bit more, I think tying her as the face of the movement a) ties her to deeply to a book 1 conflict, which makes it harder to use her in the other books and b) the rich lady doesn't need to be the face of the movement. I think there's enough there for Asami -- the single daughter of the rich industralist who betrayed his daughter to get revenger on all benders, ruining his company's reputation and her struggle to fix all that -- is enough conflict for Asami, they just need to focus in on it.

And to fit more 'normal nonbenders being oppressed' plot in, I would just cut some of the probending stuff.

[fizzigigsimmer]

I wish I had more time to write. I have so many fic ideas that live in folders that I am afraid will never see the light. After I finish my Big Bang fic I still have to finish To B With Love & All The Kings Men (oof poor baby has gone so neglected). So this brain bunny will sadly probably not see life until next years big bang honestly. But I love the idea so much and want to share it. All my love to @dream-about-dancing who helped me with my initial brainstorming and encouraged me that this wasn't too dark of an idea lol.

That said. Warnings ahead for some dark!romance as in, this is fucked up with purpose.

The idea came to me after the massive disappointment that was Don't Worry Darling. I just feel like the film missed a lot of the horror and emotional beats that make the original Stepford Wives so twisted and compelling.

So my idea for a Harringrove Stepford!Wives Au was born.

A secret government organization has given Martin Brenner funding for "The Eden project". The goal of Eden is to create an actionable community model that would end poverty, wealth inequality, crime, war etc in the western world. Their slogan is " take the first step to world peace. Choose Eden."

World peace is the surface goal, but we all know Brenner is a closeted sociopath - so naturally he's using Eden and the technology behind it to create a weapon that can control/erase/change the will of others on a mass scale. World peace through mind control in other words. Everyone in Eden is essentially a test subject.

Brenner finds volunteers by preying on fringe groups and people who are ostracized in society, because they can more easily disappear without being missed. Nobody cares if the guy dealing drugs out of his van stops showing up to the corner, or some "tranny" quits their job and moves without telling anyone.

Billy and Steve are college roommates, it's the 80s, and they're both deep in the closet. Billy struggles with his childhood trauma and Steve is there for him like no one else ever has been. Steve is exploring his own sexuality and trying to live independently of his overbearing parents for the first time and they form a very codependent relationship.

Steve's parents start to suspect somethings up with him and his roommate and start to put pressure on him to live up to his responsibilities (Aka join his father's firm and get married to a nice girl). It doesn't help that Billy is fearful and possessive of their relationship and generally just a giant redflag. Steve just wants to be with Billy, but he knows they don't have a future and he doesn't want to be the son who fucks up and ruins his family over something he shouldn't even want - so he breaks up with Billy.

Billy spirals. He completely ignores the part about Steve breaking up with him because he's an unstable mess lol and fixates on Steve's parents and the world telling them it's wrong to be together. He knows Steve was happy with him and that Steve loves him and is desperate to get him back.

He meets someone at a bar who introduces him to Project Eden and indoctrinates him into Brenner's circle. At first Billy thinks this sounds like some weird geek novel bullshit, but the idea of a safe world where he's not wrong for being the way that he is, and where Steve still loves him and he's powerful and successful and nothing can touch him? Appealing as fuck. Sign him up. He'll be a warrior for world peace.

Cue him literally abducting Steve on his wedding day and bringing him into Eden, where they become The Hargroves. They have the perfect life and the perfect marriage that the outside world tells them they can't have. Billy's the provider and each day he gets to come home to his blissfully happy and submissive husband.

He was afraid at first that Brenner's technology would take away what he loves most about Steve, but no he's still the same dork with the same fire. The only downside is Billy knows deep down that Steve didn't choose this and he lives in fear of Steve waking up one day and truly hating him.

The first crack comes when Steve starts to have upsetting dreams about the past, including the time his dad called him a slur and accused him of ruining the family and breaking his mother's heart. Billy tells him these are just nightmares but he knows they are really Steve's memories popping up where they shouldn't. He starts to panic and does everything he can to "fix" Steve, gaslighting him the entire way.

Meanwhile poor Steve is on a reluctant heroes journey slowly regaining his memories and his own mind. He starts unraveling the mysteries behind Eden with the help of Eleven and his friends, who are also fellow residents of Eden. Eleven is Brenner's "daughter" and unknowingly is a big part of how the technology works. Max and Lucas came to Eden together so they could be together without persecution. Heather and Robin were lesbians who didn't know each other and wanted a chance to experience being in love. Jason was a closeted man escaping religious trauma, but in Eden he's the perfect husband to Chrissy who isn't sick or being abused by her mother anymore, and Eddie was a poor social outcast who wanted the world to hear his music. In Eden he's a rock star and has a budding romance with Jason & Chrissy.

Steve agrees that they can't allow Brenner to use El and the Eden technology for what he's planning, but the more of the truth he discovers the more he wishes he'd never woken up. Because despite everything, he loves Billy and the life they have. Billy's very sorry of course. It was never his intention to hurt Steve. He just wanted to make things right for them. And it can all be right again if they all just take this little pill and go to sleep.

Decisions decisions.