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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 8 months

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 17, 2023 (Thursday)

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Philip Stephens of Financial Times today pointed out how much global politics has changed since 2016. That was the year of Brexit and Trump, when those calling for national sovereignty and iron-bound borders seemed to have the upper hand, and it seemed we were entering a new era in which nations would hunker down and international cooperation was a thing of the past.

But now, just seven years later, international cooperation is evident everywhere. Stephens pointed out that a series of crises have shown that nations cannot work alone. Migrants fleeing the war in Syria in 2015 made it clear that countries must cooperate to manage national borders. Then Covid showed that we must manage health across political boundaries, and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine proved that European nations—and other countries on other continents—must stand together militarily in their common defense.

That embrace of cooperation is in no small part thanks to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who have focused on bringing together international coalitions.

The new global stance is on display in the U.S. right now as President Biden hosts the first-ever trilateral summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea. This is not an easy meeting—Japan and South Korea have a long history of conflict—but they are working to mend fences* to stand firm against North Korea, including its missile tests, and to present a united front in the face of Chinese power.

Secretary Blinken noted for reporters on Tuesday that the world is currently being tested by geopolitical competition, climate change, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and nuclear aggressions. “Our heightened engagement is part of our broader efforts to revitalize, to strengthen, to knit together our alliances and partnerships—and in this case, to help realize a shared vision of an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, prosperous, secure, resilient, and connected,” he said. “And what we mean by that is a region where countries are free to chart their own path and to find their own partners, where problems are dealt with openly, where rules are reached transparently and applied fairly, and where goods, ideas, and people can flow lawfully and freely.”

Cooperation between Japan and South Korea “helps us promote peace and stability and furthers our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It advances our shared values and helps uphold principles of the UN Charter like sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity. It allows us to even more expand opportunity and prosperity.”

Blinken addressed Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion, backed by an international coalition, and reiterated that Ukrainians are upholding “the basic principles—sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence—that are vital to maintaining international peace and security.”

In squeezing Russia, international cooperation has again been vital. The Swiss corporation Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiqes (SITA), which is responsible for booking, flight messaging, baggage tracking, and other airline applications, announced in May that it will leave Russia this autumn. Russian carriers are scrambling.

Blinken also confirmed that the Biden administration last week achieved a deal with Iran over U.S. prisoners. Iran moved four dual citizens from the infamous Evin Prison to house arrest, and the U.S. is working to get them, along with one more who was already under house arrest, home. In exchange, the U.S. will release several Iranian prisoners along with $6 billion of Iranian oil revenue currently held in South Korea.

Several Republicans have opposed that deal. The senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, James E. Risch of Idaho, said that the “unfreezing” of funds “incentivizes hostage taking & provides a windfall for regime aggression,” and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) called the money “ransom” and said it was a “craven act of appeasement.”

But in an op-ed on the national security website Defense One, Ryan Costello, the policy director for the National Iranian American Council, called the deal a win-win. The Iranian money will be released to Qatar, which will release it for purchases of food and medicine, which are not sanctioned. Medicine is desperately needed in Iran, and as Biden said in 2020: “Whatever our profound differences with the Iranian government, we should support the Iranian people.”

In his remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Blinken defended the administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan almost exactly two years ago, saying the decision to withdraw was “incredibly difficult” but correct. “We ended America’s longest war,” he said. “For the first time in 20 years, we don’t have another generation of young Americans going to fight and die in Afghanistan. And in turn, that has enabled us to even more effectively meet the many challenges of our time, from great power competition to the many transnational issues that we’re dealing with that are affecting the lives of our people and people around the world.”

He noted that the U.S. continues to be the leading donor of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, contributing about $1.9 billion since 2021, and that the U.S. continues to work to hold the Taliban accountable for the rights of women and girls.

In Niger, a key U.S. ally in Africa against terrorism, military forces took power from the democratically elected president on July 26, and now the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional union of fifteen countries, has said it will intervene militarily if diplomatic efforts to restore President Mohamed Bazoum to power fail. Army chiefs met today in Ghana to discuss creating a standby force. Nigeria’s chief of defense staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, told the meeting: “The focus of our gathering is not simply to react to events, but to proactively chart a course that results in peace and promote[s] stability."

Blinken said Tuesday that the U.S. strongly supports the efforts of ECOWAS to restore Niger’s constitutional order, but the African Union apparently opposes intervention out of concern that such intervention might trigger a civil war.

Meanwhile, in Sudan, where the Biden administration hoped working with two rival generals would pressure them to restore civilian democracy, the country has been torn apart as those two generals now vie for power. Days ago, the U.S. government warned of corruption and human rights violations in South Sudan, with one of the rival military forces, the Rapid Support Forces, apparently engaging in widespread targeted killing and sexual violence in the western Sudan region of Darfur.

Yesterday, the State Department called for the two factions to stop fighting. “Every day this senseless conflict continues, more innocent civilians are killed, wounded, and left without homes, food, or livelihoods. The parties must end the bloodshed. There is no acceptable military solution to this conflict,” it said.

—

*The expression “mending fences” appears to come from U.S. Senator John Sherman (R-OH), who in 1879 told reporters he had to go home to take care of his farm (including mending his fences) when everyone had a pretty shrewd idea he was trying to repair political relationships to shore up support, hoping for a presidential nomination. (It didn’t work: his chief manager was Representative James A. Garfield (R-OH), who ended up getting the nomination himself.)

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#foreign policy #the changing world #Letters from an american #Heather Cox richardson #political #Blinken #Biden #leadership #mending fences #diplomacy #soft power

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texasfinepainters · 11 months

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Texas Fine Painters | Painters | Residential Painting Services in Richardson TX

We have a well-earned reputation as one of the best Painters in Richardson TX. Our professionals are dedicated to transforming spaces with meticulous attention to detail, high-quality paints, and a bespoke approach that caters to each client’s unique requirements. From us, you can expect quality paintwork, making every project a masterpiece. Moreover, acquiring our top-tier Residential Painting Services in Richardson TX, can give your place a more appealing and welcoming touch. From helping you select the perfect color palettes to properly applying a coat of fresh paint, we have you covered. Our service charges are also low to meet the client’s budget. So, if you need our expert assistance, call us today.

#Painters in Richardson TX #Residential Painting Services in Richardson TX #Interior Painting near me #Professional Cabinet Painters near me #Fence Staining Services near me

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lycanlovingvampyre · 1 year

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MAG 131 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: putting up a new fence.

As if the title "Meat" wasn't enough, let's slap "Flesh" on top of it!

The sound of finger chopping + the muffled sounds of pain literally makes my fingers hurt... Well done...

The conversation between Melanie and Jon is quite something. Jon tries to say something to offer comfort, but it's rarely the right thing to say. I wouldn't know how to maneuver a conversation like this. Listening is probably really the best option.

MELANIE: "Yes, the bullet was bad, right, but it didn’t make me angry. Anger is… Anger’s been all I’ve had for a very long time. Years. Maybe since… oh, I, I don’t know. But everything I’ve done, everything I pushed for was because I was angry." Typical pattern of the Fears ceasing someone. These people always had the tendencies of that one Fear. Like Jon always has been curious, asking loads and loads of questions, pushing beyond the comfortable.

JON: "I figured the strongest anchor would be… part of my own body." I personally am not sold on the rib. We’ve had anchors in statements, in a way in MAG 13 already, then of course MAG 48 and MAG 129. They’ve always been about loved ones. Just recently saw a video of a doctor on trauma, saying he doesn’t understand people only referring to violence and cruelty as human nature, when it is far more logical to see love and compassion as human nature. Connections to others. I’m by far not a social person, but I still know how important it is. There was another video from a psychiatrist working on a trauma patient. He asked them to stretch out their hands and then asked them, if their right hand IS them. Are you your hand. Just by feeling. Patient said no. Them he asked them to put their hands together in their lap and asked again. Now the patient said yes. Only when being closer to yourself, parts feel like you. You can very well also see this on a metaphysican level, like being in touch with yourself. Also in this state right now I feel like Jon values others far more than himself (which opens a whole other can of worms, but yeah...), meaning he’s not in touch with himself.

JON: "Oh. This, this door… It shouldn’t be here. MELANIE: "Yes." JON: "I, uh… I don’t want to open it. I’m not going to." ... Well...

HELEN: "If I am an “it”, Archivist, then what does that make you?" Jumping right into that game which she will play till the very end. Slowly sowing doubt that makes you blink in confusion at first and then eats you up later when you think about it.

HELEN: "Not this again. I’m not “wearing” anything, Archivist. I am at least as much ‘Helen Richardson’ as you are the ‘Jonathan Sims’ that first joined this Institute. Things change. People change. It happens." Trying to put Jon down by comparing his current self to her current self. Or trying to feign sympathy? That's the thing with the Distortion, you never know.

JARED: "That’s what it says on me licence." Loicence!

JARED: "I didn’t know what it was at first, not really" Not really-counter in S4: 2 (it'll pick up, I'm sure of it!)

JARED: "The weak one legged it, and I thought the skinny one did too. There was just the copper." Bit of information about the appearances of the main crew. I heard someone once say, they thought Martin was super ripped because of the "not the smallest guy in the world". Well, that interpretation is debunked now. Melanie is apparently skinny and probably also skinnier than Basira.

JON: "That’s it?" [HE SNORTS] "Hardly worth a rib." [JARED LOOMS FORWARD] JON: [Placatingly] "Alright! Alright." Hey, if Jared is allowed to judge about bones being good or bad, surely Jon's allowed to judge if a statement was good or bad...

JON: "Is it, uh… Is is going to hurt? JARED: "Dunno. Doesn’t hurt me." [THE ARCHIVIST MAKES IT BE KNOWN THAT IT DOES RATHER] The fan transcript is really funny there XD Also, didn't that guy, Hector, in MAG 49 scream when Jared took him apart? So I'd say, yes, Jon, it probably hurts.

I think it came up in a Q&A or Commentary once, about which ribs got taken out and it was mentioned being the two lower floating ribs and it does also make the most sense! But just for a dramatic picture I like it being the left third and forth rib, perfectly giving way to a knife to reach the heart.

JARED: "Huh. That’s a weird one. Not sure I like it. Still. Mine now." For so long I was so confused about Jared calling Jon's rib "weird". We already had the statement about Albrecht von Closen in MAG 127, that his insides were full of eyes. I thought there'd be something like this to it. Since this didn't come up again, I guess it was just as mundane as Jon's ribs probably got fractured when the wax museum collapsed and since Jared is sooo insistent about the existance of good and bad bones and wanting only good bones, it probably irratates him that this bone has callus formations.

HELEN: "Still alive?" MELANIE: "Seems to be, yes." HELEN: "And he’s certainly holding a bone. For some reason." Lol, collapsed again?

HELEN: "You are very welcome. I have decided that I support what you’re doing, and I’m happy to assist." That should have already been a red flag. Then again, how do you stop something you're not even aware of doing?

@a-mag-a-day

#a-mag-a-day #mag 131 #tma #tma spoilers

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rabbitcruiser · 2 months

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Rancheria Falls Recreation Site, YT (No. 4)

Annual precipitation ranges from 380 cm (150 in) in coastal mountain sites to only 65 cm (26 in) inland. Snow gathered on the branches helps protect them from wind and heat. Firs in general act as a snow fence, leading to the creation of meadows through extra moisture accumulation.

The tree is highly shade tolerant, but very vulnerable to fire, short-lived, and slow-growing. Despite having weaker wood than some of its timberline associates, it can survive by its ability to adapt (growing in a krummholz form) and reproduce via layering in clusters at high elevations. At timberline, a single tree can leave behind a ring of trees (an 'atoll') via layering. The species has benefited from wildfire suppression in more recent years.

Various animals, including mountain goats, take shelter in subalpine fir clusters and krummholz. The bark is browsed by game animals and its leaves are eaten by grouse. Songbirds, Richardson's grouse, Cascade pine squirrels, and other mammals consume the seeds. It is host to pathogenic fungi such as the species Delphinella balsameae.

Source: Wikipedia

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boomcomplains · 9 months

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For my mental health, I’ve decided to stop hoarding my stories for publishers that don’t want them in the hopes that I “make it big.” All it means is I never get to share myself with anyone and that’s not the point of art. The point of art is to share and create, not accumulate and build fences around it.

Publishers only know what people wanted, not what I want, and if I want more of this in the world I need to have the courage to share. So, please see below for my short story about Io and Daphne starting a trauma-survivors support group which ultimately leads to Cupid getting his ass kicked in a Newcastle pub.

Anyway, like or reblog if you feel like it. If you saw yourself in it, tell me what struck you most. I want to talk to you.

Title: Atheists Anonymous

Author: Boom Baumgartner

Word count: ~5500

TW: Cussing at swans, toxic male culture, trauma, probable misrememberings of what it was like to live in Newcastle

Snippet:

There were few things everyone in Leazes Park could agree on. Even though it was a nice day, it was too sunny for some and too hot for others. The breeze was simultaneously welcome, too cool, and an irritation as a reader on a park bench struggled to keep her book open to the correct page.

The woman who strode in from Richardson Road didn’t look like she would agree with anyone about anything. A large gold ring pierced her septum, and her dark eyes were goat-like, with their horizontally long, narrow pupils. Contacts probably. She was dressed in a worn satin jacket with the words “Atheist’s Bowling League” scrawled across the back, torn jeans and clunky ankle boots.

She frowned at the swans coasting across the gentle waves of the lake with suspicion. When one came too near, climbing out of the water with an accompanying splash, she stomped her foot and bellowed at it. Cowed, the swan hurriedly turned back to the lake, and swam all the way across it. All the while, the woman glared at it with her arms crossed.

While the day was a fine spring day, the mom who watched her children playing on the water sculptures thought it was still a bit too cold to be out and about. The drunk students were too queasy to think about the park at all. The football fans heading to the angular stadium looming on the edge of the park were anxious about Newcastle United’s chances. No one agreed on anything, except for one thing. Everyone, from the old man fishing placidly in the small lake to the Chinese tourists taking selfies next to the lion statue, agreed: the woman with the nose ring and bizarre contacts was strange.

The woman may have known this. May have guessed it, in fact. But thinking about those sorts of things did very little to interest her. So, regardless of what people thought, she made a straight line for a delicate tree on the edge of the path circling the lake.

“Hey, long time no see,” she said, her voice high and chipper. She waved her hand toward the tree in greeting.

The tree, predictably, did not answer back.

Unperturbed, she continued to talk to it. “How long have you been in Newcastle?” Then she affected a Geordie accent, lilting, friendly and a little bit slurred. “You know, ‘doon the toon.’”

The only response the tree gave was the rustle of its long leaves in the afternoon breeze.

“Come on, Daph, I know it’s you.” Then the woman kicked at the ground and sighed dramatically. “There aren’t any bay laurel trees on the fifty-eighth parallel. If I’ve noticed you, someone else will.”

Still, the tree said nothing. The woman canted her hips and crossed her arms, almost like she was a primary school teacher waiting out a temper tantrum. Letting out an exasperated breath, she took out a thermos from the khaki bag that hung over her shoulder.

She poured out brown liquid into the lid, and held it out to the tree. “It’s your favorite. Dittany,” she said in a wheedling voice.

When the tree did not reply, she shrugged and sat down next to it. For the next hour, she sipped on the tea, and stared up at the leaves of the laurel tree. While the trees around it struggled to bloom this early in the year, the laurel tree was already almost impossibly green.

No botanist had walked through the park yet to remark on the strangeness of this particular tree being this far north, nor at the earliness of its spring growth.

The strange woman drained the last bit of tea, and with a sigh, replaced the lid back on the thermos. “Let’s have a cuppa another time, yeah?”

Without waiting for another answer, the woman left.

#Io #Daphne #Greek mythology #short story #Zeus #my writing #creative writing #trauma #fuck the patriarchy

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whalehoodie · 1 year

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#taskmaster

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uncovering-sumac · 5 months

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Local Spotlight: Amy's Wildlife Watch, by Del Blaushild

Winter is upon us, and for a lot of us that means spending all our time inside. But if you're looking for some outdoor fun instead, today's spotlight is for you! I discovered Amy Olson's wildlife club by a happy accident while researching a reader suggestion. SOME of you have manners and chose to use my blog instead of carving up the local rodent life, and for that I thank you. This request was about Sumac's cute, lively, and chillingly intelligent black squirrels!

Black squirrels are a melanistic subgroup of eastern gray squirrels, thought to develop in cold climates to retain heat and blend into dimly-lit environments. Since the melanistic gene is recessive they're hit hard by hunting and deforestation, but they're observed to be more tolerant of humans than the dominant variant. Sumac's black squirrels definitely fit this description, bravely leaping across our porches and squeezing under our garden fences. No covered vegetable or well-tarped secret is safe from our fuzzy little neighbors. They tend to avoid the lake, sticking to wooded areas or places where they can steal a bite of some human treat. One particular part of the woods seems to be their favorite- the area bordering Amy Olson's home.

Many of you remember Amy from her time chairing the Outdoor Recreation Committee several years ago when she was married to Mayor Richardson. But when I ran into her in the woods this weekend, failing to get a clear shot of a one-eyed squirrel demolishing a Buffalo wing, she was a totally new woman. Amy now leads the town's most popular wildlife-spotting club with grace, wit, and plenty of patience for inept city-dwellers like me. She encourages an environment of kindness and curiosity that makes every member of her club feel welcome. She credits her success to the healing power of nature. "I was going through a really tough time around my divorce," she says, "and I spent a lot of time alone in the woods. It brought me so much peace, and that's when I decided to start the club. It's really helped me reconnect with myself. We're all amateurs here, so we do our best and share whatever knowledge we have. I hope everyone in this town can discover that peace someday."

I think that says it all. If you're curious about nature and want to get started with a friendly community, this is the place. And however your first spotting session goes, just know your pictures can't be any worse than mine.

#sumac ny #unfiction #del's local spotlight

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reconfences · 2 years

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Our team have just completed a new fence installation in Richardson, Tx. we worked diligently to get the job done quickly and efficiently. The new fence looks great and will provide much needed security for our home. We are very happy with the results and would recommend this company to anyone in need of a new fence.

#wooden fence #cedar fence #commercial fence #residential fence #dallas fencing #richardson fencing #Plano Fence Company #new fence installation

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 5 months

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 22, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

NOV 23, 2023

“It all began so beautifully,” Lady Bird remembered. “After a drizzle in the morning, the sun came out bright and beautiful. We were going into Dallas.”

It was November 22, 1963, and President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy were visiting Texas. They were there, in the home state of Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, to try to heal a rift in the Democratic Party. The white supremacists who made up the base of the party’s southern wing loathed the Kennedy administration’s support for Black rights.

That base had turned on Kennedy when he and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, had backed the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in fall 1962 saying that army veteran James Meredith had the right to enroll at the University of Mississippi, more commonly known as Ole Miss.

When the Department of Justice ordered officials at Ole Miss to register Meredith, Mississippi governor Ross Barnett physically barred Meredith from entering the building and vowed to defend segregation and states’ rights.

So the Department of Justice detailed dozens of U.S. marshals to escort Meredith to the registrar and put more than 500 law enforcement officers on the campus. White supremacists rushed to meet them there and became increasingly violent. That night, Barnett told a radio audience: “We will never surrender!” The rioters destroyed property and, under cover of the darkness, fired at reporters and the federal marshals. They killed two men and wounded many others.

The riot ended when the president sent 20,000 troops to the campus. On October 1, Meredith became the first Black American to enroll at the University of Mississippi.

The Kennedys had made it clear that the federal government would stand behind civil rights, and white supremacists joined right-wing Republicans in insisting that their stance proved that the Kennedys were communists. Using a strong federal government to regulate business meant preventing a man from making all the money he could; protecting civil rights would take tax dollars from white Americans for the benefit of Black and Brown people. A bumper sticker produced during the Mississippi crisis warned that “the Castro Brothers”—equating the Kennedys with communist revolutionaries in Cuba—had gone to Ole Miss.

That conflation of Black rights and communism stoked such anger in the southern right wing that Kennedy felt obliged to travel to Dallas to try to mend some fences in the state Democratic Party.

On the morning of November 22, 1963, the Dallas Morning News contained a flyer saying the president was wanted for “treason” for “betraying the Constitution” and giving “support and encouragement to the Communist inspired racial riots.” Kennedy warned his wife that they were “heading into nut country today.”

But the motorcade through Dallas started out in a party atmosphere. At the head of the procession, the president and first lady waved from their car at the streets “lined with people—lots and lots of people—the children all smiling, placards, confetti, people waving from windows,” Lady Bird remembered. “There had been such a gala air,” she said, that when she heard three shots, “I thought it must be firecrackers or some sort of celebration.”

The Secret Service agents had no such moment of confusion. The cars sped forward, “terrifically fast—faster and faster,” according to Lady Bird, until they arrived at a hospital, which made Mrs. Johnson realize what had happened. “As we ground to a halt” and Secret Service agents began to pull them out of the cars, Lady Bird wrote, “I cast one last look over my shoulder and saw in the President’s car a bundle of pink, just like a drift of blossoms, lying on the back seat…Mrs. Kennedy lying over the President’s body.”

As they waited for news of the president, LBJ asked Lady Bird to go find Mrs. Kennedy. Lady Bird recalled that Secret Service agents “began to lead me up one corridor, back stairs, and down another. Suddenly, I found myself face to face with Jackie in a small hall…outside the operating room. You always think of her—or someone like her—as being insulated, protected; she was quite alone. I don’t think I ever saw anyone so much alone in my life.”

After trying to comfort Mrs. Kennedy, Lady Bird went back to the room where her own husband was. It was there that Kennedy’s special assistant told them, “The President is dead,” just before journalist Malcolm Kilduff entered and addressed LBJ as “Mr. President.”

Officials wanted LBJ out of Dallas as quickly as possible and rushed the party to the airport. Looking out the car window, Lady Bird saw a flag already at half mast and later recalled, “[T]hat is when the enormity of what had happened first struck me.”

In the confusion—in addition to the murder of the president, no one knew how extensive the plot against the government was—the attorney general wanted LBJ sworn into office as quickly as possible. Already on the plane to return to Washington, D.C., the party waited for Judge Sarah Hughes, a Dallas federal judge. By the time Hughes arrived, so had Mrs. Kennedy and the coffin bearing her husband’s body. “[A]nd there in the very narrow confines of the plane—with Jackie on his left with her hair falling in her face, but very composed, and me on his right, Judge Hughes, with the Bible, in front of him and a cluster of Secret Service people and Congressmen we had known for a long time around him—Lyndon took the oath of office,” Lady Bird recalled.

As the plane traveled to Washington, D.C., Lady Bird went into the private presidential cabin to see Mrs. Kennedy, passing President Kennedy’s casket in the hallway.

Lady Bird later recalled: “I looked at her. Mrs. Kennedy’s dress was stained with blood. One leg was almost entirely covered with it and her right glove was caked…with blood—her husband’s blood. She always wore gloves like she was used to them. I never could. Somehow that was one of the most poignant sights—exquisitely dressed and caked in blood. I asked her if I couldn’t get someone in to help her change and she said, ‘Oh, no. Perhaps later…but not right now.’”

“And then,” Lady Bird remembered, “with something—if, with a person that gentle, that dignified, you can say had an element of fierceness, she said, ‘I want them to see what they have done to Jack.’”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters from an American #Heather cox Richardson #history #JFK #the Presidency #racism #JFK Assassination #politics

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lizisshortforlizard · 2 years

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Living Dangerously - Chapter 18

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster?

A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs.

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: the usual swears, use of firearms

Wordcount: ~51.2k (18 Chapters) [incomplete]

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @howlingmadlady @arthurpendragonns (let me know if you want added!)

Read on Ao3

Chapter 17 | Chapter 19

**this chapter is pretty much all Muldoon, and especially x ofc (Lizzy) finally!! Y’anno…the whole reason I even started writing this. Just fyi that its more romance than sci-fi, still totally PG just that they are idiots flirting without even realising. Also Rexy is there**

New Sensation - INXS

“Baker…? Baker!”

“Huh?” Kathy jumped and accidentally honked the Jeep’s horn. “Shoot, sorry-“

“I said, did anyone die while I was away?” Muldoon asked again. “Livestock or otherwise.”

She laughed nervously, her eyes darting side to side. “Yeah, no. All good.”

Muldoon reckoned his deputy was on edge. He knew exactly how to get her to talk, but she wouldn’t like it.

“Katherine?”

Oh shit. Her eye twitched and she shrunk backwards, trying to become one with the driver’s seat. Why did he have to pull the dad voice on me?

“Ughh…yeah?” Kathy enquired in a tiny, resigned murmur. She could feel herself being stared down.

“Tell me.“

“It’s fine!” She answered far too quickly.

“You’ve stalled the Jeep three times since you picked me up. Things are not fine. Has somebody been saying things about you?”

“No- Don’t be mad.” Kathy pleaded.

“I won’t be if you start talking.“

She hummed several times before blurting out “There was an accident!”

“Armstrong?” His heart leapt into his mouth.

“Yeah, how did you-“

“Of course it was her. What happened?”

“Lizzy got spit at by a dilophosaur a few days ago. It went in her eyes. Turns out they’re venomous.” Kathy shrugged. “Did you know that?”

Venomous? Spit at her?

“Of course not. Is she alright?” He dreaded the reply. Blacklaw might currently be en route to Costa Rica to skin him alive.

“She can see. Pretty well, considering.”

“As well as before?”

Kathy sighed unhappily. “No, she has to wear glasses now. I loaned her a pair of mine.”

“And has Richardson done anything about it?”

“Take a wild guess.” She’d been hanging around Arnold for long enough that the engineer’s sarcastic drawl could be heard in her voice, her disapproval clear.

Muldoon went dead silent.

“Are you-“ Kathy ventured.

“Drop me off at the lab. I need to speak to Dr Wu.”

***

Baker had folded and told him the finer details long before they reached the visitor centre. It turned out Armstrong hadn’t been trying to make friends with the damn thing, she’d been on the other side of the fence, thirty feet away. Thirty!

Now, he was going to ruin Henry Wu’s day. Muldoon didn’t much like being in the lab, he didn’t see how people could stand working indoors all day. He made a conscious effort to stay out of his own office. Meanwhile, Richardson seemed to have the opposite problem. He would deal with him in good time.

“Afternoon, Dr Wu.”

“Muldoon.” Wu was standing with his clipboard beside one of the sequencing machines. “This isn’t your usual haunt.”

“I did have a good trip, thank you for asking. You can probably guess why I’m here, since I’m still on leave until tomorrow.”

Wu nodded, frowning as he tapped a few buttons on the sequencer, which had started to beep every few seconds. “Lizzy Armstrong got too close to the dilophosaurs, correct?”

Damn. Gennaro or Hammond had already cornered him, and told him to spin it like it was her fault.

“No, that’s not correct. Have you been hiding in here, instead of asking Dr Armstrong what really happened?”

Wu finally began to look guilty, and sank down into a chair wearily. “Is she alright?”

“Could be worse, so I’m told.” Haven’t you even been to check for yourself?

“That’s good.” Wu nodded encouragingly.

“Not really. Her career might have ended, because of your animals. I don’t think you can imagine how ticked off I am.”

“Oh, I’ve an inkling.” Wu replied unhappily. It was no secret that Armstrong and Muldoon had something. There were plenty of rumours floating around the island, despite her being engaged to someone else. Either way, the big man standing in front of him definitely wasn’t happy that his…whatever-she-was had been injured, and that was a very bad thing.

The game warden wasn’t finished. “Armstrong’s more than aware of the risks, working out here. In spite of all her quirks, she’s careful. But it might have been a guest.”

Wu held up his hands. “What happened was a very unfortunate accident, nothing more. But, like you said, in a way it’s better we find out now, yes? Before the park opens?”

“That is not what I said.”

Muldoon had been in a much better mood after the trip back to Africa, too bad that was all rapidly fading away, the old stresses returning. Hope Arnold has restocked his ‘filing cabinet’…

“I don’t think you understand the gravity of what’s happened, Wu. If she wanted, and I’m strongly urging her, believe me, Armstrong has rights to sue the company and be set for the rest of her life. Which would reflect very badly on you.”

“Are you threatening me, Muldoon?”

“Not quite. If I were doing that I’d have brought a shock prod. I’m saying that you need to come up with some answers before Armstrong decides to visit you herself. I won’t stop her.” As if I could. “So, got any bright ideas?”

Wu cocked his head, thinking hard of a way to redeem himself. “I can have a look at the DNA sequence and see if any venom-coding genes can be removed while still producing viable embryos in the next batch.”

The next batch. Hammond’s definitely talked to him. He won’t allow us to halt breeding or destroy them. They’re even more interesting now we know they’re venomous. More profitable. More marketable.

Muldoon shook his head. “That doesn’t solve my problem that there are animals out in the park now that can maim from thirty feet, maybe more, and my staff are going to have to get closer than that at some point!”

“There is another solution-“ Wu said carefully, so as not to anger him further.

“I’m listening.”

“It won’t be well received, but you could put the dilophosaurs under. Remove the venom glands via surgery. Problem solved.”

That was better. “I’m sure Harding would be up for hacking away at them.”

Wu paled at his word choice. “Maybe so. But good luck getting the go-ahead from Hammond.”

“It’s happening.” He wasn’t worried about Hammond. There were other safety matters he could bring up as bargaining chips. “Check the rest of the species for hidden talents. Then do yourself a favour and visit Armstrong to apologize.”

“I didn’t do-“

Muldoon couldn’t listen to him anymore. “Too bloody right you didn’t. But you should have.”

***

Harding was easy to get on board, Hell he had practically rubbed his hands together with glee at the prospect of slicing open a dinosaur so he could have a rummage around inside. The man needed a damn raise. He wasn’t a doctor, but he seemed to be attending as many human patients as prehistoric ones lately. Half the time it seemed to be Isla Nublar’s accident-prone ethologist.

Muldoon now had to find the woman in question. Chaos on two legs. He eventually tracked her down in her room, her face lighting up as she opened the door for him.

“Hey, you’re back!” She sounded excited, grinning. “Good trip?

“I leave you alone and look what happens.”

“Right? You’re never leaving me again.” She leaned against the doorframe, casually blocking the pile of laundry on the chair behind her. “Too dangerous.”

Her hair was running wild, she hadn’t bothered to tie it back. At that moment the sun reappeared from behind a cloud and the glow coming through the window backlit her curls in a halo around her head.

Oh come on, really?

“I have to wear these now.” She said, pointing at the thick frames taking up half of her face. “Kathy had a spare pair. Pain in the arse switching between sunglasses all day long, but my depth perception’s pretty screwed.”

“I’m sorry.” He thought she actually suited glasses, looking even more deserving of her PhD status, the lenses magnified her hazel eyes, making them huge compared to the rest of her features.

Lizzy shrugged. “It’s about time, really. I’ve been lucky so far. Did I ever tell you about when I was camping and a male lion fell asleep on top of my tent?”

“That doesn’t sound very lucky?”

“Maybe not, but there wasn’t permanent damage that time.” Her tone stayed level, but he could tell she was pissed off, and rightfully so.

Bugger.

She looked tired. Fed up with everyone making a fuss of her. Probably hadn’t gotten much sleep either. Her eyes were still raw and bloodshot, like she’d been rubbing at them, the discomfort and dryness would be keeping her awake. Fortunately Muldoon had an idea of how to improve her mood.

Technically he wasn’t back until tomorrow, what could it hurt?

“Come on Armstrong. I’m taking you for a drive.”

***

“Anyone around the West side of the rex paddock, clear off. Shooting practice underway.” Muldoon set the radio back on the dash.

“Shooting?” Lizzy swung her legs put of the door to hop down. God, she was relieved. The niggling feeling of unease at the back of her mind had finally gone away.

“I need to know if you’re of any use to me at all now.”

“I’m of plenty use. I’m your undercover ethologist.”

“And more trouble than you’re worth. Go on then, let’s check how lousy your aim is.” Muldoon passed her the gun.

Not what Lizzy had expected from the day when she’d gotten out of bed that morning, to be set loose blasting Hell out of a rotten tree with a shotgun.

“My aim is not lousy.”

“Prove it.”

No problem. Nothing she hadn’t done countless times. Even so, her palms were sweating. Lizzy was worried she wasn’t up to standard anymore. Never mind the added pressure of having to try and impress someone with far more experience than her.

She squeezed off and frowned when the shot went wide, whining through the ferns just above her target.

“You were shaking. Too heavy for you?” Muldoon was quick to find fault.

Lizzy blew the hair out of her eyes. True, it was a little on the big side for a vertically-challenged woman, but she would never say so. “It’s obviously broken.”

“It’s broken?” He almost sounded amused as he took the gun to check it. “There is a very slim chance that you’re right and the heat’s warped it-“

Lizzy watched a little enviously. While she was still a little clunky when getting ready to fire, it was clearly second nature to him. Muldoon made it look so easy. She stuck her fingers in her ears just in time.

“-but it hasn’t.”

“Oh.” Lizzy exclaimed in awe. “Bloody Hell.” A tiny branch that had been sticking out of the trunk was no longer there anymore, shot clean off.

“It’s not broken, Armstrong.”

She reluctantly accepted the gun back and lined up again, but the same thing happened as before.

“Shit!” Lizzy cursed. She was getting very hot and bothered. I am a good shot. Then why can’t I do it even with the damn glasses?

“Try something for me.”

“I’ll try bloody anything at this point.” Lizzy dug the toe of her boot into the dirt angrily.

“You know To Kill A Mockingbird?”

“I saw the film once.” She had the book in the depths of her room too, so far untouched. A gift from Simon, it was his favourite movie.

“Well?”

“What has that got to do with -oh.” Of course. That immortal scene with the rabid dog. Lizzy flipped her glasses up on to her forehead à la Atticus Finch and took aim again. “You could have just said.”

“I enjoyed watching the cogs turn. Both eyes open.” He just reminded her.

“You’re terrible.” Lizzy whispered. But she felt a little better about being visually impaired. Atticus was cool, even if the character she related to more was Scout.

Okay. Breathe in. Out. In. Hold. Squeeze.

Bang.

No whizz of air through the ferns this time. Just a splintering noise and an indent in the trunk that wasn’t there before.

She looked around for confirmation, but was met with a head shake from her boss.

“Again.”

Not good enough?

“But I did it-“

“Again. Check it wasn’t luck.”

“So demanding.” She muttered, but hid her smile behind the stock and repeated her actions, more confidently, her hands steady.

Whack as the bullet hit the tree, throwing off shards of wood not more than two inches from where her first shot had landed.

“Close enough.” Lizzy knew that was his way of saying well done. “Think you could do that if the tree was barrelling towards you at thirty-miles-an-hour?”

“I’d make it think twice.” Lizzy beamed, pleased she was indeed still ‘of use’, as he put it. “Thank you.“

She knew how privileged she was. Before becoming a consultant for zoos around the globe, Muldoon was an experienced big game hunter. He’d just given her a shooting lesson for free, and been more patient and less insulting than she expected.

“You just need to get used to things not being as far away as you think. It’ll get easier.”

“Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” Lizzy reeled off the words from the sticker on the bottom of the Jeep wing mirrors. “Do we have to go back now?”

She was enjoying herself, feeling at peace in this lesser-visited corner of the island. She wondered if one of the many cameras dotted around the park was trained on them both at that very second, but chose to believe and act as if there wasn’t.

“I wouldn’t mind staying longer. It’s-“ Muldoon glanced sideways at her. “-relatively quiet out here.”

The rex was nearby, rumbling around on the other side of the paddock fence. Lizzy could feel her vibrations through the earth as she climbed onto the back of the Jeep, each footfall sounding like far-off thunder. She didn’t seem too bothered by the gunshots, if anything the dinosaur was curious and had wandered closer to investigate.

Lizzy pushed a half-full gas can out of her way and leaned back against a rolled up tarpaulin, picking bits of moss off her socks. She’d assumed they were done talking for the moment but surprisingly Muldoon kept the conversation going, unprompted.

“I have to ask, are you planning on a lawsuit?”

Lizzy grimaced. “Why? Have you been told to try and talk me out of suing?”

“No, that’s Gennaro’s job. I think you should do it, personally. But it’s your decision, I’ll support you either way.”

“Kathy said I should, too.”

Muldoon walked back around the vehicle to face her. “Get your man’s advice first.”

“Right…he’s the expert, I guess…”

He looked at her for a long moment. “You haven’t told him yet, have you?”

Lizzy sheepishly shook her head. “I know exactly what he’ll say. It’s too dangerous. I told you it was a bad idea. Come home.”

“You need to tell him, Armstrong. He’d want to know.” The words were an effort, but it was the right thing to do, as much as he hated overhearing the phonecalls to New York.

“What are you going to do with the dilophosaurs?” Lizzy changed the subject, miming pointing a gun at her head. “Ka-blammo?”

“Not quite that drastic. They’re far too expensive. Wu says that Harding could operate to try and remove whatever the venom came from.”

Lizzy raised her eyebrows. “Wow, Hammond said yes?” Muldoon grumbled under his breath, she didn’t catch it. “What was that?”

“I’ve not asked him yet. I was hoping the threat of you suing the company might persuade him.”

“Oh, and you’re one to talk about not telling people things!” Lizzy tutted. “You want me to back you up?”

“If you wouldn’t mind. I’m not happy about those animals being out in the park in their current state.”

“Say no more.” Lizzy agreed. “On the condition I’m the one that gets to assist with the surgery.”

“Seems fair. Just don’t wreak bloody vengeance with a scalpel while Harding’s not looking.”

“As if.” Lizzy smirked. “That was easy. Thought you’d be harder to convince.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

“I won’t.” She started fumbling around with the laces on her boots. “I prefer having to work for it, anyway. You know that.”

Christ. Is now a good time? Probably. His earlier warning on the radio of bullets flying around meant they weren’t likely to be disturbed. Time to let his guard down, just a little.

“My daughter had something for you.”

Lizzy head snapped up. “She did?”

“Only because she forgot to send it over here two bloody months ago.”

“She’s nine! Give her a break!”

“Inexcusable.”

He handed her a Polaroid picture, already creased around the edges. She recognised it instantly, from what little she could remember of the night when it was taken. Jeff’s fiftieth birthday, earlier that year in the spring. She’d had to pull some strings to get to Nairobi in time, but she wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

There Lizzy was in the photograph, with her arm around Jeff’s shoulder and his around her waist. He had a massive pair of comedy spectacles and a bright red fez perched atop his head. She was sporting a faux handlebar moustache. Both of them caught in the middle of laughing so hard their eyes were almost shut.

She flipped it over. Scribbled on the back in her mentor’s chicken-scratch handwriting was This Is Lizzy (moustache). You Are Welcome.

Muldoon was watching her reaction. “I like that he felt the need to clarify which one is you.”

Lizzy was grinning ear-to-ear. “A moustache is a good look for me. I guess Jeff tried to warn you the female version of him was on the way?”

“If only I’d known.”

“Doesn’t exactly scream ‘esteemed ethologist’, does it?”

Muldoon had to agree. But his daughter apparently liked the look of Armstrong and had asked if Uncle Jeff’s Lizzy was the same woman who had signed her birthday present. She’s pretty. Does she like elephants? Is she nice? Does she have a boyfriend? So many questions. Yes to all. Sorry kid, she won’t be coming to visit.

“Thank you, again. I needed this.” Lizzy ran the risk of tearing up. She missed Jeff so much. “I really appreciate it.”

“S’alright.” Muldoon checked his watch. “We better make tracks. Get in, Armstrong.” Back to business. Time to put the guard up again.

Lizzy made to hop down from the Jeep. But still unused to her new depth perception, of lack thereof, Lizzy didn’t brace her knees properly for the distance. She caught the edge of her boot on a rock, and stumbled over with a gasp. She would have faceplanted the ground if Muldoon hadn’t turned and caught her in time.

She bit her tongue hard and tasted the faint tang of blood, but it was sure as Hell better than having to return to Gerry Harding with a split lip.

Lizzy was propped back upright as if she weighed nothing at all, but he couldn’t let go of her fast enough.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Catching Armstrong was a reflex, as was the apology. He had to be careful. They were alone, and as much as she seemed to trust him, he didn’t want her feeling threatened. She had enough of that from certain others on the team.

But something had changed for Lizzy.

Simon hadn’t rang on her birthday. Doing his well-rehearsed duty of completely ignoring her on that day. That was fine. But secretly she had hoped he might surprise her by finally visiting the island. It had been such a long time since she’d been touched like that. No amount of hugs or head strokes from Kathy could change the fact that she needed a lot more. She needed the intent. Lizzy wasn’t alone here, but she was lonely.

Shit.

It was absolutely, one-hundred-percent not in her plan to feel something for a whole different person than the man she was supposed to marry. Where on Earth did that come from?

Her glasses were wonky from the fall, and when Lizzy pushed the frames back up her nose Muldoon couldn’t fail to notice how much her pupils had dilated when she looked up at him apologetically. They were massive. And for once, she had nothing to say.

What’s wrong with her? Why does she have that look on her face? Is she having a funny turn?

“Are you alright?”

She shook her head to clear it and blinked hard a few times, making excuses.

“Yeah, justh a hot fluss. Musth be getting my period or thsomething.” Lizzy immediately scrunched her face up in horror at what she’d said aloud.

She looked so comical in her self-disgust, and the temporary lisp just made it even better. Muldoon couldn’t help but chuckle at her.

“Are you laffing at me?” She sounded indignant, and that made it funnier still.

“Well, I’m not laughing with you.”

“Two monsth! Two bloody monsth and thisth isth what makesth you laugh! I don’t believe thisth!” Lizzy’s tongue started a dull throb. “Owwww.”

“Armstrong, you’re very strange. I never know what you’ll come out with next.”

“Thanksth?” She snorted and started giggling at her own voice, trying to ignore her pounding heart. She did sound ridiculous. But goddamn it, was she triumphant. Finally, she’d made him laugh. Ray owed her ten dollars. Nobody will ever believe me.

Her stomach was still fluttering but she pushed the feeling down and away, trying to ignore it. No. Not this time.

“We have an audience.” Muldoon nodded over the top of Lizzy’s head. “Thought it smelled bad around here, I didn’t want to say anything.”

She slowly turned, trying to stifle her laughing, squinting through her lenses. “Where?” She whispered. Her lisp was thankfully wearing off.

Then, the wind stirred the branches and Lizzy saw the mottled scales of the rex through the thick wire coils of the fence. One reptilian eye was roving back and forth, searching for movement. The dinosaur could smell them, too.

Rad. It was rare to see the rex active in the daytime, she preferred the cooler dawns and dusks when the island was covered in fog. Sometimes she would just stand out in the rain with her head pointing upwards to the heavens. Lizzy had a theory that Costa Rica was actually too hot for a tyrannosaurus, and had been scouring her Dinosaur Detectives book for an answer. The guests likely wouldn’t see much of their star attraction in the heat of the day.

“You’ve been fed, big girl!” Lizzy called out, and the rex’s head jerked around with a snort. “Stop looking so hopeful!”

Isla Nublar’s largest predator moved even closer to them but stopped when she noticed the electric clicking of the fence. She grumbled again before moving off with a huff, leaving her stench behind on the breeze, the two of them watching her go in silence.

What about her? Could I shoot her if she was ‘barrelling towards me at thirty-miles-an- hour’? Could Muldoon?

Lizzy hoped she’d never learn the answer to that question.

***

Thanks for reading!

Canon re: weapons on the island will be addressed later but this situation just had to be written.

Also I need to say I’m not exactly pro gun but given their background and current situation, being able to defend yourself is important. I did feel uncomfortable writing it given recent horrible events ngl but that’s probably not a bad thing. This is definitely a case of the views of the writer not matching those of the characters.

Lion falling asleep on the tent is a real anecdote I heard from a female scientist at a lecture a few years ago. Obviously, like Lizzy, she lived to tell the tale!

#jurassic park oc #living dangerously #welcome to jurassic park #jurassic park female oc #oc: dr lizzy armstrong #jurassic park #jurassic park fanfiction #my writing #my fanfiction #oc community #robert muldoon x female oc #robert muldoon #henry wu #kathy

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