#halfbrecd

I’m going to try not to get too feelsy here, because I know that will make you get teary (which will then get me all choked up, and to be quite honest I’ve cried way too much the past month so I’d prefer to avoid it at all costs.)

It seems like a lifetime ago that I met a stranger on this site, exactly three days after I ventured into the world of RP, making the first of way too many blogs. This girl was quiet—rather shy—and extremely sheltered, trapped by circumstances beyond her control and unsure of what to do with her life. In all honesty, she was not the sort of girl that I’d normally have much in common with—for one thing, I was older than she was, but more importantly, she was the absolute polar opposite of me when it came to personality. I was outspoken (too much so at times), she was reserved; I was blunt and brutally honest—she was sweet and polite. Where I was a rather brutal bitch, likely to fly into a rage at the drop of a hat, the girl was calm and always kind to everyone, even when angered.

Yet somehow... something clicked, right from the start—and that quiet, gentle girl suddenly became one of the most important people in my life.

SEVEN years later, and so much has changed. Like a caterpillar undergoing a metamorphosis into a butterfly, you have found your wings and taken flight. Removing what was toxic from your life, you slowly began the difficult process of healing so many wounds; you found your independence. Your strength. A solid direction for your life. Though you are a completely different person than the girl who messaged me that very first day, somehow, through all the pain and the hardships you have faced,  you managed to hang on to the best of the qualities that I noticed right from the start. Your kindness and compassion for other people shine as brightly today as they did back then, and I am so fucking proud of the amazing woman you have become.

Happy birthday and I love you more than words could ever say,

Sam

P.S. I also have to say that over the past month, you have been my rock. In the depths of my grief and mourning, you have been a God send, giving me the support that I desperately needed. Reminding me that I didn’t have to always be the strong one, walling up what I was feeling. Providing me with an outlet where I could rage and vent and break down—even sending groceries from two states away so we wouldn’t have to leave the house (which was so amazing and so appreciated). You knew instinctively not just what I needed but what the whole family needed to get through such a devastating loss and have been right there offering support for any of us that needed it. And we all love you so much for it and are counting down the days until we see you—(even the giant, grumpy, sullen Rom bato  who normally hides his feelings almost as well as I do). Nais tuke  from all of us. ♥

P.S.S.  If you fucking cry I’m gonna smack you

What was it his mother used to say? A team was only as strong as the glue that holds it together. Weakest link, he’d said, trying to correct her, but she only shook her head in that fond way of hers. It wasn’t until years later, flying missions with a squad of his own that he really understood what that meant. If the team didn’t gel, it didn’t work -- but when the bond was there, truly, the group could always overcome any individual’s weaknesses, make itself greater than even its strongest member.

Well. Not only was Steve the weakest link, he’d disrupted the bond. Not that he thought of himself as a member of the Justice League, that would be ridiculous, but they were working together and he needed their trust to do his job. Properly. Or else A.R.G.U.S. was just going to send someone else along, someone that didn’t share the League’s interests.  So he worked at it, tried to be as transparent as he could, did his best to earn their trust. And, for the most part, he’d thought he managed it. Batman still gave him the cold shoulder, but that seemed par for the course. 

Aquaman, however, was a different story.

It was why they were here. Surveillance didn’t usually require muscle, nor was it a two-man job, but it was boring, routine even, and Steve was determined to get to the root of whatever problem Arthur had with him. Complete with his usual way of confronting the problem head on. 

❝ okay sea-boy, give it to me straight ---- the little mermaid, fact or fiction? ❞

@halfbrecd

Bruce had been busy working on a Wayne industries side project, hoping that Alfred could keep the Curry children sufficiently entertained and occupied when he involuntarily grimaced at the sound of the triplets barging into his study.

He turned around and tried to smile at the three children.