#sorry. sometimes i have to drop a nuclear bomb. and leave. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

denimbex1986 · 10 months

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'The film about the nuclear scientist Robert Oppenheimer is not just bad, noisy, hard to follow and far too long. It gets in the way of understanding one of the great events of our times.

I have been amazed by the way so many people have claimed to have enjoyed it. I endured it.

The only common complaints have been about the rather underpowered portrayal of the actual detonation of the first bomb on July 16, 1945. What were these complainers expecting? A blast-wave in the cinema? Apparently people think it is not spectacular enough.

I say, thank heaven for that. I have walked on the blasted nuclear testing grounds of the old Soviet Union in Kazakhstan, amid the total, desolate silence and seen the traces still left years afterwards: the vast, solid concrete slab, the size of a block of flats, tipped to a drunken angle by the blast; the shards of black glass all over the earth's surface, mementoes of the day the heat of the bomb fused the desert sands into a sea of such glass; and the soft warnings of the scientists who accompanied me: 'Do not linger here. Do not under any circumstances disturb the dust, in case you breathe it in. It is still lethal.'

Who needs another great big bang to know that this moment mattered? There is enough archive film of the tests and of the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for those who wish to know.

How can there be so little actual dialogue in so long a film? Why does the director, Christopher Nolan, feel it necessary to accompany conversation, when it happens, with loud, driving music (and sometimes with unexplained crashing noises) to tell us this is all important?

Why do we need to see Oppenheimer and his Communist mistress, Jean Tatlock, sitting in armchairs with nothing on or engaging in fantasy ghostly sexual congress during a committee session?

Why was this film even made?

Like Nolan's previous blockbuster and critical success, Dunkirk, I think it leaves the audience knowing less about the subject than they did before they went into the cinema.

Here is a rather simple story. The US government grasps that, with a huge concentration of brilliant minds and vast sums of money, it may be able to make a weapon more destructive than any in history.

The possibility is not a secret. Scientists in several major powers, including Britain, had been examining this since 1939. British experts have already made major advances but the country lacks the money to carry them through. A large team of British scientists go to the US to help in what they think (wrongly) will be a joint Anglo-American project.

Hollywood, typically, makes little of the British contribution or of the later freezing out of Britain, which led to the 1945 Labour government restarting the UK's own independent nuclear weapons programme. A brilliant, brutal bureaucrat, General Leslie Groves, has proved he can work wonders by building the Pentagon in no time. He is picked to build the bomb, and chooses Oppenheimer as his scientific chief, a Left-wing eccentric with a messy sex life and a tragic marriage (his wife is an ex-Communist who drinks too much), who reads the Hindu scriptures for relaxation.

He is not your ordinary suburban person. He has Communist friends but he is good at nuclear physics and managing scientists. Oppenheimer duly delivers the bomb, too late to be used on the Nazis but in time to be dropped on Japan.

Bang. Hurrah. The war ends. Sorry about all the innocent people who got burned to death but that's war and they shouldn't have attacked Pearl Harbor. The end.

Except that it isn't the end.

All kinds of worrying things are buried in the story. At one point, in 1942, one of Oppenheimer's Communist friends suggests that Oppenheimer gets in touch with the Soviet Union about the bomb project through a British scientist (and Soviet asset). Oppenheimer realises the suggestion is treasonous and refuses it. But he does not report the contact for eight months. When he does, he tries to cover up his friend's role for four months.

All this matters because soon after the German defeat, it becomes clear Stalin has penetrated the bomb project, and has known for ages about it.

And the US, having been Stalin's close ally until 1945, violently switches to being Moscow's bitterest enemy.

Suddenly, now that the Soviet Union is the enemy, all those Communist dalliances in the 1930s start to matter. Just because the stupid, gristle-brained Senator Joe McCarthy says so, doesn't mean the American establishment hasn't been infiltrated by pro-Soviet Communists. Subsequent intelligence disclosures confirm that it was. Oppenheimer, later in life, ceases to be indispensable to the US nuclear bomb programme. Plenty of others can handle it. He has also become politically awkward as he clearly suffers from remorse over the uses made of his discoveries.

But why is so much of the film devoted to an attack on an obscure US politician, Lewis Strauss, who took part in the campaign to remove Oppenheimer's security clearance.

Hollywood was badly scorched by crude witch-hunts during the McCarthy years and has never really seen straight over such issues since.

The danger was not imaginary, or purely the result of American hysteria. The truth is that there were Communists, and fellow-travellers, in the US and in Britain, and that quite a few became agents of Stalin. Many probably got away with it.

In unhysterical Britain, the nuclear scientist Alan Nunn May, an actual Communist, was jailed for ten years for giving secrets to the Soviets. The German refugee Klaus Fuchs, who also gave British nuclear secrets to Stalin, was jailed for 14 years and went to live in Communist East Germany when released.

All of this has been known for years. But a film made in 2023 needs to get past these ancient 1950s Hollywood resentments. Here are several huge issues barely touched on.

The scientists knew they were building a weapon of mass destruction but excused themselves because Hitler might build one, too. We now know that Hitler never got near building a bomb.

The whole moral driving force of the project was a fantasy.

In the summer of 1945, British intelligence assembled a group of captured German scientists at a picturesque old house in Godmanchester, near Huntingdon. The house was bugged from basement to attic. The Germans were astonished at news of the bomb and plainly had never got within miles of making one. This has been public knowledge since 1992.

Even more devastating is modern historical research about Japan.

It is clear that Japan's surrender was not forced by the bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Japan's fanatical leadership cared little about civilian deaths (they had not blinked when a firebomb raid in March 1945 killed 100,000 in Tokyo itself). By the time the bomb was ready, there were few Japanese cities of any size left standing.

The scholar Tsuyoshi Hasegawa concluded from Japanese and Soviet records that Japan's surrender was mainly caused by Stalin's decision to enter the war. The military leadership feared he would invade Japan from the north and seize large parts of the country.

It has long suited Japan and the US to pretend that the two A-bombs ended the war. Japan can pose as a victim nation. The US, which is embarrassed about being the only country to use the bomb in war, can soothe consciences by saying the action saved tens of thousands of Allied troops from death. But the worrying truth is known to academics and diplomats. So the second great justification for the use of the bomb in 1945 melts away.

President Truman's airy dismissal of Oppenheimer as a 'crybaby' for doubting the morality of using the bomb now looks callous and self-serving. Truman was a nobody promoted to power by the crooked Tom Pendergast machine in Kansas City, Missouri. For sure, he was no great intellect.

Oppenheimer, by contrast, was a powerful thinker. A great film could have been made out of this huge story. But this wasn't it.'

#Oppenheimer #President Truman #Christopher Nolan #Jean Tatlock #Leslie Groves #Lewis Strauss #Klaus Fuchs

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theghostauth0r · 3 years

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How you react to your genshin boy getting love letters.

Part I

word count: 995

G/N reader

Albedo

Albedo wouldn’t get a lot of love letters as the people of Mondstat were never close to him even if he was respected.

He would however get a few here and there from few overly romantic scholars hearing about him through rumors across Teyvat.

When he reads the love letters he will probably just dispose of it somewhere after reading and forget about it. He’s not heartless, he just doesn’t really think of it as a big deal.

You on the other hand did not like the idea that someone was writing these things to a taken man.

Albedo would have to assure you that they most likely have no knowledge of you being together.

Hearing this you thought you weren’t showing him enough attention in public so for the next few days you showed love to him as possible.

After a few days he knew something was weird and like a good man asked you about it. You told him about what was on your mind.

He cuddled you the rest of the night.

You were heading over to Albedo’s house only to barge in to him reading a letter from someone. It looks messily made with crayons but it was filled with a bunch of hearts and flowers.

“Being unfaithful already? We only started going out a few days ago.” You say startling him. “I was reading this out of politeness for its sender. Please do not worry, for my heart belongs to you.” He stated calmly, not even looking at you. This little bastard, is he trying to send me to my grave 40 years in advance?

You walk up closer to him and… look at the letter a bit more thoroughly. You see a drawing of him a very bad stick figure, another adult another poor stick figure and a little girl smiling. As you feel a vein pop in your head you shouldn’t help but assume this secret admirer wanted to have children with your lover.

You couldn’t help but feel jealous so you decide to assert your dominance. “Albedo let’s you outside for a bit!” You say as you grabbed his arm practically dragging him out. He drops the letter on the way out and remains like a brick when you drag him hand in hand through the plaza. Halfway through the walk you see Klee running towards you like a little, adorable nuclear bomb.

“Hello sister y/n! Hello brother Albedo! Did you like my letter? I drew all three of us just for you!” she says, smiling at you. Suddenly it hit you like a brick. That wasn’t some admirer, it was Klee! You stand there like a ghost and you look at Albedo. He just smirked and kissed you on the cheek. “Seeing you jealous was a bit amusing.”

Scaramouche

Does he get love letters? More often than expected.

No one would have the courage to give him the letters so instead they'd just leave it for him in front of his office.

If he saw any before you had arrived then he would just zap them into ashes and pretend they were never there.

BUT sometimes he’ll leave it there purposely just to get a reaction out of you. Why? Because he can and he feels like being a little shit that day.

You’re waking to his office to visit him and you come across a pink letter.

Do you choose to be nice and give it to him or open it before like a nosy partner?

If you choose to be nosy then you’re in for a ride. If you go in asking about it and he’ll tease you for being jealous the whole time.

If you choose to not read it he’ll open the letter and read it out to you, smirking like a cocky bastard the whole time.

“You little shit, wipe that grin off your face and stop reading that disgusting letter.” “Oh yeah? Make me or I might just leave you because of this heartwarming le-“

You ended up shoving a random ball of paper in his mouth and making a run for it.

You see a letter on your lover’s desk, it was bright pink and wide open. Looking around the room you saw not one trace of life. Deciding that there couldn’t be any harm in sneaking a peak you scanned the pink letter. “Hey, I know you probably don’t know me but I’ve been watching you for some time. Every time I see you my heart skips a beat and my eyes fill with joy. Meet me outside the cherry blossoms at dusk if you feel the same. - HT”

You suddenly realize it’s dusk right now. You wondered why Scaramouche wasn’t in his office since it’s pretty late when you realize that he might be meeting that someone. Wait no, I should have more faith in him.

For a minute you contemplated going outside or not, maybe he was just going to take a walk or something.. no matter how much you thought about it you still wanted to go. Just in case, right? You reluctantly take the letter with you and head to the cherry blossom park a step away.

“You think y/n is going to be mad?” Scaramouche says, holding in a laugh. “Y/n is going to kill us for sure!” Hu Tao says smiling. “You will have a new customer soon Director Tao, I hope you don’t mind giving me a 50% off.” Hu Tao smiles “Ah ah no worries! Your profession has a diamond grade pack since you die so easily!”.

As you walk close you see the all mighty big hat small bod’ man smiling with a girl you couldn’t recognize. You run up to them but they suddenly disappear..?

“Up here love.”

You look up and see Scaramouche with Hu Tao, both laughing at your angry face.

fanfare you’ve been pranked!

I believe in Scaramouche x Hu Tao friendship supremacy. I find that writing these stories with more platonic ends is rather funny. This is it for now, sorry I couldn’t have done more requester! Do not fear though as I will make more parts for the different boys, love you!

#albedo x reader #albedo x gender neutral reader #gender neautral reader #genshin impact #fanfic #Scaramouche x reader #Scaramouche #albedo #genshin impact x gender neutral reader #genshin impact x reader #Hu Tao #request #Love letter au

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queenrose730 · 3 years

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Reckless

The Winter Solider

Master List

2014

It had been a while since you had been back to the Avengers tower. Once SHIELD got all official after the Battle of New York, they got a big fancy building in DC. You decided to keep an apartment at the tower but honestly spent most of your time now in DC. Now though, you had been forced back by Steve. All because of a broken leg. It didn’t even happen on a mission, although that might have been better. You were sparing with another agent when a mistake happened and your left leg was broken. Steve nearly took the guys head off when he heard you scream. Somehow between the pain you got Steve to focus on you. After all it wasn’t the others guy’s fault.

The doctors put you in a cast and told you to use the crutches for at least 3 months. Then they would reevaluate the leg. Steve caught you once without your crutches and set you back to New York. It forced you to take your job slower and you couldn’t do as much. Plus, Tony and Bruce kept an eye on you. After a week there, Tony broke down and figured out how to make an exoskeleton cast. This way you could get around more easily and hopefully complain less. After some trial and error, and the ok from the doctor, you had a brace. It came up around your thigh and had a plate that slid under your foot. The knee joint move freely but the ankle was locked, but could be loosened as you healed.

“Well it looks like your leg is pretty well healed agent.” It was almost three months to the day.

“Thank god.”

“I would still recommend the brace for another month but the ankle can be set to move freely.”

“Awesome. I’ll get Tony to do that.” The doctor at the tower was so much nicer than at SHIELD. Probably because they were ex-military docs. They somehow always were dicks.

“I’ll want to see you again in a month. But other than that you are free to go.” You hopped of the bed and shook the doctors hand.

“Thanks again. I appreciate you working with me.”

“You didn’t give me much of a choice.” He raised an eyebrow. To which you just shrugged your shoulders and headed out. The doctor just laughed as you walked out the door.

“Hey Jarvis. Let Tony know I’m on my way down!” It took all you had not to skip down the hall.

“Certainly Miss yln.”

As you reached the elevator you grabbed your phone to let Steve know how your leg was and maybe drop the hint about getting back to your regular work. Before you could type your message, number came up on your screen.

“Speak of the devil! I was just about to text you. I got the all clear from the doc.”

“That’s good yn.” His voices sounded off.

“What’s wrong Steve? How’d the mission go?”

“It was complicated.” He let out a sigh over the phone.

“How complicated?” Suddenly the conversation was serious. You changed the floor you were headed to, now going to your apartment.

“What do you know about something call Project Insight?”

“I’ve never heard of it.” The door to the elevator opened and you walked down the hall.

“Fury showed it to me. I need you to see if you can find anything out about it. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Sure. Hang on a sec while I get my computer up and running.” You sat down at your desk. Setting the phone down and putting Steve on speaker. If something did sit right with him, it was trouble. You learned quick to trust Steve gut.

“Alright let’s see what I can find.” A quick search of shield records didn’t provide much.

“All I can see is that there is a file under that name but it pretty high clearance. Like Fury and a few others. What is it?” You kept click through files that you could open while listening to Steve.

“He’s got three helicarriers. At armed to the nines. He said it’s a way to neutralize threats before they happen.”

“What? So shield is building their own nuclear deterrent? How is Fury ok with that?”

“I don’t know. Can you see anything else?”

“No Steve. Not without hacking in and they would know it was me. I doubt even the people working on it know what they are building.”

“Ok. Well I’m going to have to do some more digging around here.”

“I can come down there Steve. My leg is fine.”

“No yn. Just stay there. Keep digging though files and see what you can find.”

“Ok. Be careful Steve.”

“You too sweetheart.”

You spent the rest of the night combing through any file you could get your hands on. Tony came up sometime after dinner. He was going to yell at you for not eating or coming down to have him loosen your brace. But changed his mind when he saw the mess around you on the desk. Instead he went back and grabbed you a plate. Pulling you away for only a moment so you could eat and he could take care of the brace.

“So how bad is it kiddo?”

“I don’t know Tony. The more I dig the more inaccuracies I find in all kinds of files.” You stared at the computer twirling your fork. “I think I might head down to DC.”

“Well I’ll get a jet ready for you. It’ll be on standby.” He stood from his seat and walked to the door. “And what is it the Rogers always tell you? He gave another pause and you turned to him. That’s right! Don’t do anything stupid of reckless yn.” With that he was out the door.

You took one more look at the computer before standing up and heading to the bed. If shit was about to hit the fan you at least need to get some rest.

Apparently you needed more than you thought. It was almost 8am when you finally woke up. You decided against breakfast for the moment. You checked for phone for any messages then hit the shower. After your shower, you started to pack your bag. A change of regular clothes along with your tac suit. Some toiletries and a few extras. Lastly was the fun stuff. In the hall Closet was your own mini armory. You pack your usual two pistols and a few blades. You also grabbed a couple auto injectors. Can never be to safe. While you were packing though you missed the alert on your computer. Something big was happening.

“Miss yn. You jet is ready for takeoff.”

“Thank you Jarvis.” You walked to the door and laced up your boots.

“There was also an alert that came up on your computer miss.”

“What?” You stood up and headed to your desk. Leaving your bag by the door.

Sure enough there was an alert. Nick Fury was dead and Steve was wanted by Shield.

“What the fuck!” You nearly topped your chair when you stood. Instantly grabbing for your phone to call Steve. There was no answer. Shit. Shit. Shit. You grabbed you bag and ran to the jet. Shit was hitting the fan. A lot of shit.

“Jarvis let Tony know I’m leaving.”

“Certainly.”

You flicked through your takeoff procedures and grabbed the controls.

“Jarvis try Steve again.” You shot up into the sky heading to DC.

“I’m sorry miss. He did not answer.”

“Fuck. Try Maria.” She was always close to fury. Hopefully she would know what the hell was going on.

“Hill.”

“Maria. What the fuck is going on?”

“Yn.” She paused. It sounded like she was taking to someone.

“I’m on my way to DC. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“Yn. I’m sending you Coordinates to land at. Do not enter DC air space.” Fuck. This was bad.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you when. You get here. Just get here.” She hung up. You pushed the engines to max speed.

You made it to the coordinates Maria gave you in almost record time. 20 minutes from her hanging up to when you touched down outside an old dam. Maria was out waiting for you.

“Tell me what the fuck is going on!” By the time you landed you were fuming. Not at anyone particularly but at the whole situation. “What happened to Fury? Where is Steve?”

“Come on in yn.” She turned to lead you into the damn. All you wanted to do was cuss and scream at her nonchalant attitude towards everything. You followed her down the damp hallways of the dam until it opened up into a small room.

“I could hear you cursing from in here yn.”

“Fury! What the fuck” He held back a laugh. “SHIELD said you were dead. How?”

“They needed to think he was actually dead but we got him out of the hospital and here for treatment.” Maria moved around the bed and started talking to one of the doctors. You took a seat next to fury.

“What is going on?”

“Shield has been compromised.”

“By who?”

“HYDRA.”

“Project insight is them.” You sat back in your seat. That would explain all the odd bits of info you had been picking up while digging through files. Fury nodded at your response. “How long?”

“I’m not sure. At this point we don’t know who to trust.”

“So why I am here? Why did you let me know you’re alive?”

“Because other than Captain Rogers, you would be the second person in line to kill anyone that might be affiliated with HYDRA.” He wasn’t wrong.

“So where is Steve now? What’s are next play?”

“Hill is working on how to get Steve. Then we stop Insight.”

Sitting around was not your style, but Fury told you to wait. Maria was on trying to track down Steve. Doctors where still working on patching up fury. All you could do was sit and wait. You knew that if Steve was running he would have ditched his cell. At this point it really wasn’t safe to call anyone else. Fury didn’t even want you call Nat. You only slipped a call to Tony to let him know you landed. He tried to press for more info but you shut him down quickly. You could hear the news playing in the background about Fury and Steve.

It was well into the night when Maria finally found something. A STRIKE team had been sent to a mall then Camp Lehigh was bombed. There was still no indication where Steve was at.

Then around mid-morning the next day more alerts started going off. Sitwell was kidnapped.

“That has to be Steve right?” You had taken up a post with Maria going through any SHIELD alerts.

“It’s a good chance. Keep digging.”

“God I should have come down here when he called me the other night.”

“There’s nothing you could have done. You would just be on the run with him.” Maria looked up at you over her computer. “And do you think Steve would want you out there or here?” You caught the smirk on her face.

“Yea yea.” You waved her off. Steve did just about anything to keep you safe. He learned quickly that your self-preservation was about as good as his.

“This is it!” She stood up quickly and spun her computer around. A STRIKE team orders to grab them on the freeway. They were helping out “the asset”. “If I can get into one of those prisoner transports, I can get them out.” Before you could respond she was off to Fury.

“Take the team and get him.”

“Yes, sir.” She turned and started ordering the men around.

“I’m coming with you Maria.”

“No you’re not yn. I need you here.” It was an order from Fury.

“Fine.” You just watched as Maria and her team suited up.

“I don’t what you doing anything stupid out there yn.”

“I know Fury. I know.” He was right. The likelihood you would do something stupid was pretty high. All you could do now is wait.

The plan was easy enough. Steve, Sam and you each had a chip to place into the helicarriers. Linking them and taking them out of the air. Nat and Fury would take down SHIELD. Exposing everything to the world. Steve was on edge even though he didn’t show it.

“I want you to get on and off that helicarrier quick. Don’t mess around.”

“Steve I’m fine. If it’s about the leg, it’s ok.”

“Yn. It won’t take much for you to rebreak it.”

“Yep. And it doesn’t take much to break my other bones either.” You teased and jogged off to your starting point.

“Yn I’m serious.” He said over comms. You just laughed to yourself and continued on.

The guys gave you a head start. You listened to Steve talk over the intercom. People that you passed looking nervously between each other. Once you reached you carrier, it was mostly unguarded for the moment. Steve drawing the attention away from it for the moment. Just a few bad guys to take down. Suddenly the door above the carrier began to open.

“Uh, guys they are getting ready to launch.”

“Get that chip in place and get back to Maria yn.” You rolled your eyes at Steve even though he couldn’t see you.

You pushed harder to get to the control center to get your chip in place. Thankfully it seemed most people hadn’t quite realized you were already on the ship. Outside you could see that Sam and Steve were drawing the most attention.

“I got my chip in place. How are you guys doing?” Getting out was going to be a bit more difficult.

“I’m locked.” Sam shouted.

“Two down. Captain how are you looking?” Maria was running the ground.

“Working on it.”

“Steve where are you? I’m coming to you.” You started working your way to the flight deck.

“Yn get back to Maria. I got this.”

“Oh fuck you Steve.” You heard Sam laugh.

“I like her.” That earned a groan from Steve.

“Since you like me so much want to give a lift Sam?” You kept working your way to the deck. First plan was to grab a jet and head to Steve. You just had to get up there.

“6 minutes until it reached altitude.”

“Sam! Where is that ride!”

“I’m grounded. Steve’s on the carrier.”

“What happened!”

“Winter Solider.”

“Shit.” You pushed off from where you were hiding. Steve told you that somehow that was Bucky. That whatever happened to him when he was captured during the war must have helped him survive the fall. You knew Steve would be blinded by his friend. Even if he didn’t recognize him.

“Steve you copy? I’m on my way.” No response.

“Falcon. I got Rumlow.” Maria broke in.

“I’m on it.”

“Maria can you get into one of these jets and get it started for me?” You kept clearing a path.

“Space five. Staring engines now.” The jet just ahead of you roared to life and the hatch opened.

“I could kiss you girl!” You climbed in and headed to the last carrier.

By the time you reached the control center Steve and the Solider were already locked. You took aim and started firing at the Solider. It caused just enough distraction for him that Steve was able to lock him in a hold.

“Yn.” He hissed over the comms.

“Just get me that chip Steve!” Steve shoved the Solider off of him and started toward you. Climbing up the structure.

“Steve!” The Solider was back up an aiming at Steve. He tossed the chip at you. You barely got your fingers on it, leaning every part of your body over the railing. A shot rang out.

“Go yn!” Steve kept climbing as you rushed to the computer. More shots were fired. This time they hit you. First in your leg.

“Yn!”

“I got it Steve!”

“One minute!” Maria shouted over comms. This was it you just had to reach- Another shot. It hits you in the shoulder propelling you forward. You slam into the control center. Pressing the keys as fast as you could the door slid open. Just as you reached to put your chip in another shot hit your stomach. You fell before you could get the chip placed.

“Damnit.” Steve had reached you. He grabbed the chip from you and slammed it home. “We’re locked.”

“Get out of there guys.”

Steve reached down to scoop you up when he was shot in the shoulder.

“Maria. Fire.”

“Yn.” Maria questioned you.

“I said fire!” You shouted. Steve didn’t have words to say. Suddenly there was an explosion.

“Why?”

“Steve.” You gave him a sad look. He dug in you suit to find an injector. Quickly stabbing it into your arm.

“That was stupid.”

“So is this.” You pushed him off of you. “Where is the Solider?” Steve looked around. When he stopped you followed his eye line. The Solider was trapped under a large piece of metal from the carrier. “Go.”

Steve looked back to you.

“Go Steve.” You reached into your pocket and grabbed another injector. Slamming that one into your thigh. Steve nodded.

“Here.” He handed you the shield. The carrier started to tip. A quick glance saw that it was colliding with the building.

“Stupid and reckless.” You gave him a grin then stood the best you could. At the railing you gave a look down. There was a break in the glass directly below you and water beyond that.

“Get your friend Steve.” Before he could question you, you heaved yourself over the railing and out the bottom of the ship.

You used the shield to help break the water as you hit it. It still nearly took all the air out of you. Once you bobbed back to the surface you looked back up. The building seemed to have caught the carrier and it just sat there. The extra injector gave you enough strength to slowly swim to the edge of the water.

“Where’s Steve and yn!” Your comms still worked!

“I’m in the water under the ship! I’m trying to get to shore. Steve’s still on the carrier.”

“I’ll get a vehicle and get her Fury.”

“Copy that Hill.”

You just have to get to the edge before that carrier comes down. Pushing your muscles as they ached. The pain meds quickly wearing off even with the extra dose. You glanced back. Shit. The carrier was coming down. You didn’t know if you were clear but you hoped you were. Maybe the wave it caused would give you the extra push to the shore.

Tags- @ginger-swag-rapunzel

#bucky barnes #bucky x y/n #steve x reader friendship #enemies to lovers #marvel fanfiction #slow burn #steve rogers #captain america #winter solider #captain america civil war #captain america winter solider #reader insert #james buchanan bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes

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stardust-walker · 3 years

Text

High Hopes: Chapter 21

Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

word count: 3451

___________________________________________

It was clear to anyone with eyes that Dale was on a warpath. Dove couldn’t necessarily blame him, but surely there were better ways to go about trying to save someone from dying. The old man’s passionate call to action to try and save the boy’s life was the last thing she expected as she hurried back to camp after she helped with Daryl. “Dove, I really need to talk to you. You might actually have some sense,” Dale approached her quickly from the direction of camp.

Dove blinked quickly and glanced over her shoulder before her focus returned to Dale. “Well, I’ll choose to take that as a compliment. What’s going on?”

“Rick’s talking about killing Randall,” Dale exclaimed. “Everyone’s going to meet up later and talk about it. I don’t think that they should do it. You know that guilty by association and not giving someone a second chance does more harm than good.” Dove frowned as she tapped her foot. “Just stand with me later. All we need is a few people to see sense! And…and maybe you can talk to Carol.”

Dove sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is totally different than anything I worked with, Dale. I didn’t work with potentially violent offenders like the people in his group.”

Dale frowned. “What?”

The brunette ran a hand through her hair, “You heard what Daryl said. Now that’s not saying that I outright want to kill Randall before you jump down my throat.” Dove help a hand up. “Now what I’m saying is, if we let him live? What if he dips in the middle of the night and brings his people back here? Hell, I wouldn’t blame him with all this talk about people killing him and shit. Call me crazy, but I’d rather my sister and I not have to get raped and murdered.” Dove stood up straighter and marched back towards camp. “I’ll think about it.”

“I’m going to talk to Daryl,” he called after her.

“Be my guest! Odds are, you won’t get to do much talkin,” Dove rolled her eyes as she continued to walk away from the old man.

Julian paced the living room; an uneasy feeling had settled in his stomach since Rick and Shane had gotten back. Maggie had confirmed, to Glenn at least, that Randall wasn’t lying about going to school with her. Randall had been in the same year as him, but he only recognized his name. Randall was a little bit of a weird kid, but he just didn’t want to think that someone he knew could be dangerous. Especially after what happened on the road with Mara, that could have been him in the barn. The thought of it sent a shiver down his spine.

“Heaven is just another lie and if you believe that, you’re an idiot,” Carl spat at Carol before he headed off towards the field.

Dove stopped in her tracks and stared, wide-eyed. Carol turned quickly, a distressed look on her face. The younger woman rubbed her hands together and shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I’m not in the business of disciplining Lori’s child for her,” Dove’s eyes didn’t leave Carl’s retreating back as she spoke.

You can’t judge how others grieve.

“It’s not okay,” Carol’s voice snapped Dove out of her thoughts and she rushed over.

“I’ll have a talk with him,” Rick reasoned, and he passed Dove as she joined the two older women.

“See? We’ll…we’ll…we’ll deal with it. If you can calm down so that I can…” Lori began before Carol cut her off.

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Carol snapped.

“Care,” Dove cut in and placed a hand on Carol’s shoulder. “Don’t. It’s not Lori’s fault.”

“I don’t need you to patronize me,” Carol kept her attention on Lori, “Everyone either avoids me or they treat me like I’m crazy. I lost my daughter. I didn’t lose my mind!” Dove dropped her hand as Carol stomped off.

“I…shit, Lori. Sorry,” Dove groaned as she rubbed her face.

Lori shook her head, “It’s fine. I get it. I…”

“I’ll handle it. Don’t worry about it. Everyone just…calm the hell down already,” Dove grunted as she stomped off to follow her sister. “Jesus christ,” she hissed under her breath as she shoved her hands into her pockets. “Carol,” she called out as she closed the distance between her sister. “Carol! Just wait!”

“Why?” Carol turned quickly; Dove took a step back. “Are you gonna tell me to calm down too?”

“No. I…” Dove stuttered out.

“Because I don’t need it from you too! You’re just as bad as them. You avoided me and now I feel like we just tip-toe around each other,” Carol frowned. “I don’t need you to analyze everything I do or help me or…”

Dove shook her head, “All I have ever done since I was a little kid is try to help you! Way to pick a time to say it.” She looked down at the ground for a moment. “Just forget it then.”

Carol huffed. “That’s not what I…”

Dove threw her hands up in the air. “All I have ever done is help you, Carol! I tried to look out for Sophia for you and we both know how that worked out.” Dove frowned as Carol’s eyes flickered around. “Now it may not have worked out so great in the past, but don’t you dare try to shut me out! Or Lori too, to top it off. She wasn’t trying to patronize you! You have to realize that we are trying to help you.”

Carol’s lip twitched as she glanced up at the sky. “I…” Dove took a step closer to her sister and waited. “I’m just so tired,” Carol’s voice broke but it seemed like there were no more tears for her to cry.

Dove swallowed hard as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her older sister. “I am too. But listen, that’s why we all have to talk to each other. Sometimes the load is too heavy to carry alone. That’s what I’m here for. It was kind of my job,” Dove joked, and Carol let out a quiet chuckle as she hugged her sister tighter.

Everyone else was already fighting so much; there was no reason for them to take part in it.

Dove rubbed her sister’s arm. “Listen, we’re gonna be just fine. You and me.” She held out her pinky finger and wiggled it. “Come on,” she chirped in a sing-song voice.

Carol rolled her eyes before she linked her pinky with her sister. “Happy?”

“That’s much better,” Dove grinned as she pulled her hand away and put an arm around Carol’s shoulders. “Now listen, before we get to the house, I have got to tell you about what Dale is doing. You are not gonna believe this man,” she shook her head.

“Trying to vouch for them to not kill Randall,” Carol questioned as they started to walk.

“How’d you guess,” Dove scoffed.

“Sounds like Dale, I guess. A real moral conscious,” Carol mused.

The air was almost electric as everyone waited for Rick to enter so they could finally have that talk. Dove wished she could fast forward through time and just get this over with. Julian sat in the corner and chewed on his thumbnail nervously. Hadn’t enough people died already? He sat up straighter as Rick entered and then it started.

“So how do we do this,” Glenn questioned the room.

“Take a vote? Does it have to be unanimous,” Andrea questioned. Dove sat on the arm of the couch and shared a nervous look with Hershel before she turned her attention back to Rick.

“Majority rules,” Lori offered.

Rick raised his hands in the air. “Well, wait. Let’s…let’s just see where everybody stands. Then we can talk through the options.”

“Well, where I sit, there’s only one way to go forward,” Shane started. Julian’s dark gaze shot over to Shane as he slowly shook his head.

“Killing him,” Dale cut in. “Right? I mean, why even bother to take a vote?” Dove could feel Dale’s eyes on her as she shifted uncomfortably; she unconsciously inched closer to her sister. “It’s pretty clear which way the wind’s blowing.”

Rick frowned, “Well, if people believe we should spare him, I want to know.” Rick was really a standup guy. Dove felt reassured in her defense of his leadership to Andrea.

Dale shook his head, “I can tell you it’s a small group. Maybe just me and Glenn…maybe Dove.”

Glenn spoke up. “I think you’re pretty much right about everything all the time, Dale. But this…”

“They’ve got you scared,” Dale assumed.

Dove stood up from the arm of the couch now. “Don’t you put him on the spot, Dale. That is just wrong and you know it!” She wrung her hands together, “Now listen, I understand where you’re coming from, I do. But I told you before, I’m not scared of that kid in the barn. I’m scared of what happens if we let him live and he freaks out because he knows we wanted to kill him,” her gaze flickered to Shane before she focused on Rick, “So I’m siding with you. Sorry, Dale.” She huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“We’ve lost too many people already,” Glenn added.

“How about you,” Julian stiffened as Dale pointed over at Maggie.

Maggie shared a quick look with the younger man before she spoke. “Couldn’t we continue to keep him prisoner?”

“Just another mouth to feed,” Daryl answered instead.

“Could be a mean winter,” Hershel added.

“We could ration better,” Lori inquired.

“Well, he could be an asset,” Dale offered. “Give him a chance to prove himself!”

“That is extremely unethical,” Dove sighed. “You can’t keep a person locked up in a room like that for weeks and expect them to come out and be ready to be a functioning member of a group that kept them prisoner,” Carol placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We’re not letting him walk around,” Rick spoke. His word seemed final.

“We could put an escort on him,” Maggie attempted to reason with Rick.

Shane scoffed, “Who wants to volunteer for that duty?”

Julian raised his hand, “I’d do it.”

Shane rolled his eyes and Rick raised a hand towards the young man, “I…Thank you, but I don’t see that as an option right now. I don’t think any of us should be walking around with this guy.” Dove frowned as she glanced over at Daryl. He seemed to want this over as much as she did.

“Say we let him join us, right?” Shane spoke up again. Something about the way he spoke lately just seemed to make Dove nervous. He seemed so different back at the quarry, but now it was like every syllable was one step closer to a nuclear bomb going off. “Maybe he’s helpful. Maybe he’s nice. We let our guard down, then like bird said,” Dove’s shoulders tensed as Shane continued, “maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men.”

“So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt,” Dale shouted. “If we do this, we’re saying there’s no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization.”

The silence hung heavy before Hershel piped up. “Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?”

“There are way too many things that could go wrong. They barely made it back this time,” Lori insisted. Dove couldn’t blame her; she wouldn’t want someone she loved doing something that dangerous either.

“You could get ambushed,” Daryl added.

“They’re right. We should not put our own people at risk,” Glenn sighed.

“If you go through with it, how would you do it,” Patricia asked.

Julian had enough; he pushed himself up from the floor and was out of the room before anyone could ask any questions.

“He’ll be fine,” Maggie nodded. “Patricia’s right. Would he suffer?”

“We could hang him, right?” Shane asked. “Just snap his neck.”

Dove shook her head, “That might be the worst thing you could do. If you don’t do it right, his neck doesn’t snap, and he just hangs there for minutes and suffocates.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets.

“Shooting may be more humane,” Rick nodded in agreement.

Dove saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Carol was pressed closer up against the door now, almost like she was waiting to run away too. But it was Daryl who had caught her attention as he moved. The look on his face was different now, something about it made her uneasy as everyone else continued to argue. His blue eyes met her hazel ones for a minute before he gave her a subtle nod.

“Been talking all day,” Daryl finally spoke up. “All we’ve been doing is going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?”

Dale shouted louder, “This is a young man’s life! And it is worth more than a five-minute conversation! Is this what it’s come to, we kill someone because we can’t decide what else to do with him?” He scoffed at Rick. “You save him! Now look at us. He’s been tortured. He’s gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we’re so afraid of?”

“Dale’s right,” Rick spoke up. Dove groaned and ran a hand across the bottom half of her face. This was going to last all night at this rate. “We have a responsibility.

“So what’s the other solution,” Andrea spoke up.

“Let Rick finish,” Lori cut her off. Dove shot Carol a worried look as Rick began again.

“We haven’t come up with a single viable option yet,” Andrea threw her arms in the air.

“Still waiting on your contribution, bitch,” Dove whispered so only Carol could hear.

“Stop it!” All of the shouting and yelling had finally gotten to Carol. “Just stop it. I’m sick of everyone arguing and fighting. I didn’t ask for this! You can’t ask us to decide something like this. Please decide. Either of you, both of you…whatever. But leave me and my sister out of it.”

Dove stared with wide eyes as Carol grabbed her hand and gripped it tight. The brunette nodded after a moment. “Not speaking out or killing him yourself! There’s no difference,” Dale stated as he stared at the two of them.

Dove’s neutral expression quickly turned to a scowl as she took a step towards the old man. “That’s enough,” Rick put both of his hands out. Dove stopped in her tracks. “Anybody else that wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance.”

Dove gripped Carol’s hand tighter as they looked around the room.

“You once said we don’t kill the living,” Dale decided to try one more time. Even through her anger, Dove had to admire his conviction.

“That was before the living tried to kill us.”

“But don’t you see? If we do this, the people that we were? The world that we knew? It’s dead. And this new world, it’s ugly! It’s harsh! It’s survival of the fittest and that’s a world I don’t want to live in,” Dale shouted. A cold shiver ran down Dove’s spine as she turned and looked out at the setting sun. There was no use in trying anymore. The decision was made before they even walked into the room. Whether it was today, tomorrow, or next week, that boy was going to die.

Dove frowned as Dale finally stopped and walked towards Daryl. “You’re right. This group is broken.” Her gaze followed the old man as he exited the house.

“Well that was a fucking shit show,” she mumbled out of the corner of her mouth to Carol. Something bad was coming, she could feel it in the air. The electric feeling was still there as Dove and Carol exited the house. It was only a matter of time.

Dove had started off towards the old barn at a sprint when she saw Rick bringing Carl back up the hill. The sheriff was too focused on his son to notice the dark figure moving quickly through the grass a few yards away. A bang from inside the building drew her attention and Dove walked quickly towards it. The brunette gasped and stumbled backwards as Daryl threw the door open but it was who he had by the arm that really had her shocked, “You didn’t do it?” She asked in a hushed voice.

Daryl frowned, “The hell are you doin here,” he huffed as he grabbed Randall by the arm and began to pull him in the direction of the smaller barn where he was being kept prisoner. Dove followed close behind him.

“I saw Rick bringing Carl back what…”

“Miss? Miss, please,” the young boy began to plead with her.

Dove felt bile rise in her throat as Daryl gave the boy a hard shove forward. “You don’t talk to her. You hear me?”

“Daryl, you don’t have to do this,” Dove whispered.

“Go back to camp,” he hissed back and pointed up towards the house.

The young woman paused for a moment and shook her head. “No.” He stopped, but she cut him off before she could say anything. “Listen, if you’re gonna do this? I’m not gonna let you do it alone. Not saying I want to be in there but…I can keep watch! Or something,” Dove rambled.

Daryl’s blue eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Because. You’re a good person. I trust why you would want to do this, but you shouldn’t have to be here alone,” she pleaded and Daryl paused for a moment as he continued to walk

“Fine. But you stay out here! Don’t come in, no matter what you hear. Don’t need to be seein that shit,” he grumbled. Dove nodded quickly and pressed her back to the door of the barn as Daryl stepped inside with Randall. It was a quiet night outside and, in the distance, Dove could see Dale walk through the field. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to be away from everyone, hell she had wanted to after everything that went down in the house. But Dove had meant what she’d said to Carol earlier and she wasn’t about to let Daryl carry this alone.

She was about to peek her head in and ask Daryl what was taking him so long when it happened. A loud scream pierced the quiet night air and Dove jumped a few inches off the ground. Without a second thought, she threw the door to the barn open and peeked her head inside. “Daryl,” her voice came out shrill as panic flooded through her veins.

“Shit, cmon,” Daryl practically shoved his way past her as they raced in the direction of the scream.

“Dale,” Dove shouted into the night as she followed Daryl. Another scream echoed through the field just a few seconds before Daryl reached them. Dove slowed to a jog and let out a scream as Daryl tackled the walker off of the old man. It was like time slowed down as Dove dropped to her knees on the ground beside him. “Dale, Dale listen to me.” She tried to keep her voice calm as she took one of his hands in her own shaky ones. “Everything’s gonna be alright. We got you. We’re right here.” Tears stung her eyes as she could feel Daryl drop to the ground next to her.

“Hang in there, buddy. Everyone’s comin,” Dove turned her attention to the redneck and didn’t miss the panic on his face. As everyone else began to crowd around them, Dove was finally able to register the sound she’d missed before. Dale was choking on his own blood. Blood. The bottom half of her jeans were warm and so were her hands. Blood was everywhere. Dove let out a weak whimper as Daryl put a hand on her shoulder. “Cmon,” he pulled her quickly to her feet and ushered her closer to her sister.

It was all too much. Dove began to cry as she took in the sight of all the blood on her hands. A scrap of fabric was shoved into her hands and then Daryl was gone. His hands were replaced by Carol’s as she wrapped her arms around her sister.

The two of them watched as Daryl stepped forward. Dove had a feeling that someone was going to die tonight, she just didn’t count on it being Dale Horvath.

____

@crossbowking @momc95 @chaotic-gary-king-stan

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nokas-meme-den · 3 years

Text

Shit heard in Ghost Stories meme

"When this bitch kicks, I'm moving to Vegas."

"Have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?"

"I don't care about your cat, he's probably dead."

"Principals always look like lesbians."

"When a stronger spirit appears, the weaker spirit cowers. But all evil spirits cower before Jesus!"

"Oh my, what a gifted seamstress. I hope you're not a homosexual."

"If you want something to happen, you just need to pray! And not be a Muslim. Or Jewish."

"What the fizzityuck was that?"

"Where's the damn cat?"

"These pajamas are gay."

"Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you come to the scary, isolated pay phone on the bad side of town, alone?"

"Maybe you have a hidden talent you don't know about! Like Paris Hilton being an actress! Oh, scratch that."

"THINK OF A BIG BLACK MAN CHASING YOU!"

"A car accident... must have been hit by an old Chinamen. I don't mean to be racist, but those people CANNOT drive."

"You'd be surprised just how many transgressions a filthy little sinner like you can rack up in just a day."

"Look, a little Jew boy."

"Come rub my nipples."

"Drop the Krispy Kreme, Serpiko! We need your help here!"

"My BS detector is going DING!"

"I can read. Not well, but I can read. And those letters... are BACKWARDS!"

"The weird part is, I'm not even high. Not a bit. Totally sober!"

"The internet was a blessing from the Lord Jesus to spread the word of God throughout the world, but then Muslims and pedophiles stole it and used it to lure out and seduce children like you."

"Hey, want some candy little boy?"

"You can use it if you promise not to be on the phone too long. I know how you Pagans take advantage of others."

"A bunch of somber, quiet people against a red nuclear sky near a river of blood. Wow, that doesn't look threatening at all."

"Why? Because Jewish people rock!"

"That's so sweet... in a 'you scare the crap out of me in an Emily Rose' kind of way!"

"Here, you can take pooky-poo. He used to be my man, but we broke up."

"The V on my sweater stands for 'Very Big Deal', but that's beside the point."

"Come on, jump... I SAID JUMP!"

"Yes, the animal cemetery. Hear the plot point bells going off?"

"I hope Stephen King never sees this."

"She's looking straight at us, I don't think we hid very well."

"Those 3 to 4 cardboard boxes aren't going to hold them for long!"

"Lord reveal your salvation, for I am your favorite among these heathens."

"Yo sensei Dave, what's haps on the snaps with the craps?"

"You two-timing son of a bitch! Who's gonna take care of these little bastards!?"

"Oh splinter ohhhhh!"

"Shut up. You're here, and you're an idiot."

"Years ago, people went in there but they didn't come out. Not unlike your sister."

"2.2 Celsius... Metric system. Who thought this was a good idea again? I'm just gonna put 100. No one's gonna know."

"Oh perfect, it's in Japanese. Ching chong nong ding tow! Wait, that's Chinese."

"God, can you go bomb an abortion clinic or something?"

"Creepy Japanese men can be cabbies too y'know. But women should never be allowed to drive."

"Obeying horror movie rules, I'm going to go out alone. You stay here while I go look for help."

"I'm not giving you a reach around."

"You're such a bitch."

"First we do a geographic montage to show we traveled a long way from your house. There, that should be enough."

"I'm gonna beat you retarded."

"Jesus saved my ass."

"And what a lovely little ass it is, too."

"¡NO CORRAN EN EL HOSPITAL, CABRONES!"

"Now that is some really nice animation."

"Nice rack. Mind if I make 'em a little bigger? Ahahaehehahhha boobies. Loooove boobies. Nice lips too. I USED TO HAVE LIPS!"

"Lunchtime BJ?"

"Let's see... purple, for your hair. Can't tell this was a goddamn anime."

"Okay. Stop trying to look up my skirt. IT'S A CARTOON!"

"Holy time machine, Batman, it's 1973!"

"Holy pre-Parkinson's Michael J Fox Christopher Lloyd Back To The Future plot ripoff device! Where's my DeLorean?"

"I'll grab her ass!"

"Oh damn anime, look what's happened to my eyes."

"Leo! Leo! Leo! Leo! Goddamnit! Goddamnit! Goddamnit! Goddamnit!"

"It's the chick from The Ring! I mean, The Grudge! What movie are we ripping off again?"

"Oh my god, did that spell work? You know, like the one where you write your name in an eraser? I hear the head cheerleader's having an abortion."

"Such a bitch! Stop being such a friggin' skank and give it back!"

"Sometimes yes means no!"

"Moshi moshi! I mean, hello."

"Tomomi? Ain't no Tomomi girl living here, so what?"

"Get your cracker ass into some rehab, I ain't got time for this bullshit."

"MOTHAFUCKA."

"Run! She's a ghost and a bitch!"

"I'm goin' fuckin' crazy."

"HEY! Maybe if they paid their fuckin' phone bill, you could call again!"

"Nobody's talking to you. Just drive the bus, bus driver. Fuckin' nosy."

"Oh, sorry. All you little yellow people look alike to me. And African Americans, but not the Mexicans. Why do you think that is? I mean, don't you find that just the weirdest thing?"

"Romans 1:26, God gave them over to shameful lusts!"

"A view of the blood-stained lake. AHHHHHHH"

"Oh it may be blue now, but soon it will be redder than Republican Texas."

"No, I'm serious, bitch. I swear to god. Blue."

"Maybe this vase isn't nailed down."

"We go with the snow but not the snow that is yellow!"

"Alright everybody, it's 4:30. School is finally over. Time to go home, load up that bong, and watch Pokemon!"

"Leave me alone, I'm doing my standard anime 'elbows up' pose."

"Oh wow. I can't even comprehend how inappropriate this is."

"GOD YOU'RE MAKING ME SICK."

"God you are four of the ugliest fucking kids I've ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on. I can't wait for this bitch to kill you."

"NANIIIIIII?"

"Oh my, definitely a 10."

"If you do, I'll suck you all for a Scooby Snack."

"Any closer and there'd be insertion."

"I may be a successful doctor, but first and foremost I'm a Jew."

"You know what I hear? I hear the sound of you shuttin' the fuck up."

"Let's see... 7?"

"What the FUCK are you talking about!?"

#roleplay meme #sentence starters #crack meme

18 notes · View notes

scrapbookonthemantle · 3 years

Text

OC Companion Meme

i got tagged by @ultrastimpaks !! thanks gio love u

rules: pick out a fallout oc and fill out the prompts!

tagging uh. @sleights-of-hand @rocket-69 and @rotarydials !!

THE BASICS

>> which game would they be from?

Fallout 3

>> where would you find them?

A random encounter in the subways!

>> how do you recruit them?

"Just put it down! I didn't do anything to you!" Oppy shouts at the pair while holding her hands in the air.

"Aw, you really think I care, don't you?" The raider throws Oppy's backpack to another, who begins to dig through its contents.

"Never said that. Just give it back and I'll be on my--"

(I wrote it out as a dialogue tree scenario! Read the rest here!)

After rescuing Oppy from the raiders, you have the option to recruit her as a traveling companion.

>> do they have a specialized task?

If you give her dirty water, she’ll eventually hand back purified water!

(First time picking up dirty water with Oppy traveling with you) “Oooh! My mom taught me how to boil all the dirt and stuff out of water ages ago. I can clean those up for you if you want! Much healthier too, don’t want you getting sick on me!”

(Giving her dirty water) “Oh yuck! Will get this back to you as soon as I can!”

(Handing back purified water) “Bye dirt! You belong with the plants, not in my drinking water, thank you very much!”

>> do they give the player items? if yes, which items?

Oppy will occasionally pick up miscellaneous items on your journey with her. Sometimes they’ll even be useful! She will occasionally share them with the player. The things she picks up can range from an old pre-war phone to a stray stimpak she nabbed.

>> do they have a personal quest? if yes, what would it be?

Oppy doesn’t have a personal quest, but she’ll occasionally bring up smaller quests to go to different places around the DC area for research purposes. The player will likely need to take down low-level enemies from these locations before Oppy is able to complete her research.

If enough quests are completed, the player is granted the ‘In the Know!’ perk. This will grant special dialogue options while Oppy is by your side.

(For example, during the Stealing Independence quest if you have Oppy by your side you can ask Abraham to tell you more about the location you’re going to.)

>> can you romance them?

No.

(If flirted with) “Oh! Well, I’m flattered, but I’m not really looking for romance right now. I’d rather just go on more adventures with you! Where to next?”

>> what perk would they give the player?

Walking on Sunshine: Well-rested will always be granted after sleeping in a bed - being around Opportunity just seems to put you in a good mood! You also receive bonus EXP for any non-combat related actions.

>> what are their SPECIAL stats?

S - 6, P - 4, E - 6, C - 9, I - 8, A - 7, L - 7

AFFINITY

>> loves

- Using a cooking station. “I love cooking! Do you need any help? I know what I’m doing, believe it or not.”

- Helping others, doing good deeds. “Good work! Some people are just down on their luck.”

- Taking down Paradise Falls. “No one deserves to be treated like that. No one.”

- Choosing the non-violent option in quests. “You handled that well! Sometimes words work better than bullets.”

>> likes

- Helping Moira with the Wasteland Survival Guide. “I know it’s tough, but it’s going to help a lot of people! No, really! ...What do you mean I sound just like her, shut up!”

- Siding with Roy Phillips and doing the non-violent route of the Tenpenny Tower quest. “You did the right thing, that Alistair guy is an asshole. ...Excuse my language.”

>> neutral

- Entering vaults. “The so-called height of the pre-war era... Did you know they were experimenting on people even before the bombs dropped? Cruel. We should get out of here as soon as we can.”

>> dislikes

- Drinking alcohol or using chems. “Hey! Being intoxicated isn’t going to help us get anywhere!”

- Pickpocketing/Stealing. “What are you doing?! Put that back!”

- Attempting to unlock owned doors or objects. “Stop it! How would you like it if I blatantly ignored your privacy? Those are locked for a reason!”

- Killing brahmin. “If you wanted to be a butcher you could have just said so, but this isn’t the time or place. What did they do to you?”

>> hates

- Leaving Harold alive during the Oasis quest. “I want plants back just as much as anyone else, but this isn’t the way to do it. He’s suffering at the hands of these people... Maybe you should have rethought that.” (Oppy will pull you aside to try talking you out of it multiple times during the quest.)

- Blowing up Megaton. “Why... would you.... I don’t understand your- What? You know what? No. I can’t stand to look at your face. Don’t try explaining yourself, I’m leaving. Don’t come running after me, either.” (Oppy will permanently leave you if you blow up Megaton. She will pull you aside to try talking you out of it multiple times throughout the quest.)

- Siding with the Brotherhood. “I’m afraid I don’t get why you would do that... They’re only out to help themselves. Have you seen the way they treat anyone different from their own?”

VOICE LINES

>> “use melee”

"Oh! Okay, I got my bat ready! I’ll try my best!”

>> “use ranged”

"I’m not sure that’s the best decision, I always seem to lose my ammo...”

>> “stay close”

“Right behind you! I’ll try not to trip you up.”

>> “keep distance”

“Got it! They’ll never see us- Er... Me, coming!”

>> “back up”

“Oh sorry, was I too close?”

>> “be passive”

“Great! That’s my specialty.”

>> “be aggressive”

“Why would you want me to do that?”

>> “wait here”

“No problem! Do you want me to set up a camp while I wait?”

>> “follow me”

“Off we go!”

>> when healed

“Ow ow ow- Oh, thanks! You sure we don’t have to amputate?”

>> when killed (general)

“This wasn’t... how I planned this going...”

>> when killed (by player)

“I trusted you!”

>> when talking

“Back home my granmama would always make these tato cakes- they were the BEST. You’d love ‘em. Maybe I could make them for you sometime!”

“There’s a lot more to learn about our history than you’d think. Doesn’t do any good to just ignore it when it’s all repeating itself again.”

“One time my cousins and I were out playing in a nearby creek when we were young and Matty got his leg stuck in the mud.. We were out there for HOURS until my dad and my uncle came out to rescue us. Hey, at least we got snacks afterward!”

“Don’t you find feral ghouls fascinating? I mean, basically losing your mind and who you are as a person.. Only hanging onto what little threads of memory you can hang onto. Must be hard.”

“I think the Capitol Preseveration Society is doing good work, even if most people don’t appreciate it. History has to be remembered somehow!”

“Back home we didn’t have a lot of plants, but we at least had more than there are here.. Sometimes I get tired of all the concrete and rubble.”

“You know... As much as I enjoy looking back at history and all, I don’t want you to think I want to go back to it. Pre-war wasn’t good, I mean, hell, it ended up with a nuclear war that brought us to where we are now.”

“I’ve always thought people should make more of their own music. My family was always singing and drumming against things... I rarely see any of that around here. It’s kinda gloomy, really!”

“I’m not a fan of that Brotherhood of Steel group... They say they’re preserving old technology, but they’re not really helping anybody or teaching anyone outside of their crew, are they?”

>> when trading (neutral)

“Shoot... Which pocket did I put this in again?”

“Hold on, I think I lost... Nope, there it is.”

>> when trading (happy)

“Oh good! Do you have snacks?”

“I assure you I’ll handle your things with the UTMOST care and attention. I even have a dust rag around here somewhere!”

>> when dismissed

“Oh, okay... I’ll be in Rivet City if you need me!”

#my ocs #oppy #fallout 3 #this took FOREVER but it was fun! in this house we love oppy #yes im just noticing all of my typos and grammar issues leave me alone this took me so long :(

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foxtophat · 4 years

Link

HEY I’M REALLY GOING TO TRY AND GET THIS POSTED IN ITS ENTIRETY BY SOMETIME THIS YEAR. SO here’s the beginning, where Nick is Kanye and John is that water bottle he’s now responsible for. no ships, no violence, just good old fashioned self-indulgent fix-it fic.

i love writing fix it fic, and i love the idea of john sitting in time out for 8 years, only to show back up in Nick and Kim’s life like a mangy street cat that just will not die. i wrote a lot of this from john’s pov, before i scrapped all of that and reworked it into this.

below the cut is the full text of the chapter, in case you don’t feel like going off-site. reblogs and likes mean the world to me!

2026

Nick isn't sure what to expect as he picks the trail out of the brush. That's sort of been the big theme of the apocalypse as he knows it. Between the super-bloom, the funky looking deer and the total decimation of everything he's ever known, Nick has been operating pretty exclusively on the fly. After eight years of monotony underground, the adventure is almost worth it, although he could do with some basic infrastructure like, you know, roads, gas, electricity, maybe a school so he and Kim don't have to be the ones to teach Carmina math and critical thinking and shit.

Either way, finding strange footprints in the woods is a pretty standard mystery, and Nick doesn't see why he shouldn't follow them. He doesn't even think to leave it alone — how could he? If there's somebody roughing it this close to home, Nick figures he might as well extend a friendly hand. Or at least make sure a crazy murder-hobo hasn't started lurking around the woods his daughter plays in. That's pretty unlikely , given the state of things, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

From all the games and movies Nick had digested growing up, he'd always figured that the nuclear wasteland would be either entirely uninhabited or infested with a population of power-hungry raiders looking to destroy everything in their wake. So far, though, most of the people he's come across have been pretty friendly. Wary as fuck, not really willing to share and definitely not interested in sticking around for long, but nobody's pulled a gun on the Ryes and their hospitality. As bad as Nick had thought living in the bunker had been, it's clear that surviving above ground had been much, much worse, and those who made it this far aren't in the habit of shooting generosity outright.

That's mostly what he's expecting as he follows the bootprints dug into the dirt. Strangers trying to get by in the lushness of Hope County, maybe people whose names he knows. Maybe even old friends who haven't reappeared yet. He expects a small camp, expects maybe he's going to have to negotiate with some new neighbors to keep the peace. There's plenty of land here for everyone, after all, and Nick isn't opposed to some friendly faces to rely on in hard times.

But Nick's luck has never worked out the way he expects it to. Instead of another family, a possible friend or even just a days-old campsite from some wanderer, Nick almost walks himself into an open bunker. He catches himself at the edge of the hatch, staring down into the darkness at the bottom of the ladder. It smells fucking terrible, like something up and shit itself to death down there, and now Nick is pretty sure he's going to find yet another goddamn corpse.

"Uh, hello?" Nick calls, unable to help himself. "Anybody... down there?"

There's no response.

Nick looks around, but the overgrowth is too thick here for him to keep following the tracks. Goddamn — falling to your death after surviving the nuclear holocaust? What a way to go.

It's only on his second look around that Nick catches sight of a scrap of yellow between the trees further ahead. It looks like fabric that's been stretched out over a branch, and as Nick approaches he starts to recognize it as nylon. Like a parachute, maybe? Shit, even if nobody's here, they could use that kind of sturdy fabric.

The parachute's in tatters, dragged through sharp tree-branches and the apocalypse alike. It's sort of like a... lean-to, maybe? Nick's not sure; whoever threw together this campsite was relying on instinct to build a decent shelter, not skill. There's a fire-pit in front of him that looks like it hasn't been burning for days now, and a crate of miscellaneous components, likely scavenged from wherever this parachute came from.

Nick goes to take the fabric down — one man's trash, right? — but he finds himself stopping cold as he catches sight of a corpse huddled under the lean-to. Jesus Christ , and here he was about to scrap the whole place! Talk about disrespectful! From the look of it, the guy who had camped out here must've starved to death — curled nearly fetal, visibly malnourished even fully clothed. Between the thick beard and the wild mane of brown hair, Nick can't see the body's face; all he can make out is a heavily scarred mess near where the guy's ear should be. It looks like it got melted off. Or maybe blasted off.

The body moves . The noise that accompanies it is something like a hiss, air wheezing sharply through tightly clenched teeth.

"Holy shit ," Nick gasps, dancing backwards in momentary terror before getting a fucking grip on himself. "Holy shit, buddy, you're alive ?"

In response, the corpse shudders like it's trying to rise, managing to twist enough in its spot that Nick can now make out a face to go with the rest of the body. There's something strikingly familiar about the bloodshot, glassy blue eyes, the thick beard, the tangled mass of brown hair...

The arm that had been hidden under the body has the sleeve rolled up to the elbow, and Nick can clearly make out ritualistic scars cross-hatched over tattoos that have faded after so long without any touch-ups. Nick stares uncomprehendingly at the damage, unable to think of a single person capable of so much torturous work. The hand curled in the dirt underneath has shiny scars over one of the knuckles, but Nick still recognizes the word EDEN even missing most of the N .

Nick's whole body jolts with a white-hot rush of terror. " Jesus, Christ! " he shouts, jerking away as if expecting a real bomb to drop on him.

It's John goddamn fucking Seed !

Nick raises his rifle before he's processed the situation, finger on the trigger and barrel pointed down at the body slumped in front of him. He almost pulls the trigger, too, wants to pull the trigger, but John is just lying there. He isn't moving, he's barely breathing, and Nick... he can't do it. God, he knows he should — but it's been eight years since he's had to shoot another human being. He doesn't want to break that streak, not even if John barely counts as human.

John smells like shit and looks like a goddamn murder-hobo. Coming close again, Nick can hear his breath rattling in his lungs. It isn't until Nick has the barrel of his rifle almost touching John's chest that the man's eyes drift towards the gun; even then, it doesn't look like he recognizes the danger he's in.

"Holy goddamn," Nick says, unable to help himself, "You look like shit ."

The noise John makes in return could be called a laugh, if Nick were feeling particularly charitable, but it's closer to a tired hiss. It flips his stomach, instincts deeper than reason keeping him glued to the spot while he slowly lowers his gun.

Shit. Shit! He would be doing the world a favor, eradicating this goddamn beast. This is the fucking monster who'd terrorized his family, tried to force him from his home, tortured him — he still carries the dark, thick band of a scar from where John literally fucking flayed him! This county spent years being subtly and then overtly terrorized by this shit and his family, and a quick execution is more than he deserves!

John is barely more than a corpse as it is. He was never meant to make it this long, and his survival is a testament to how little God cares about this miserable planet. Nick would be doing everyone a favor.

Nick listens to him wheeze, something rattling deep in his chest, and finds himself lowering the barrel, finger reluctantly pulling away from the trigger.

He calls himself all sorts of names as he moves into the shelter. Mostly, "Fuckin' idiot, goddamn fool," which doesn't stop him from acting like one at all but at least it makes him feel better.

John doesn't react as Nick crouches beside him; the most he does is close his eyes and try not to throw up as Nick struggles to prop him up. He struggles to swallow, gulping thickly against his dry throat. Nick pulls his canteen off of his belt and pushes it into John's shaking hands, but it's only when he helps bring it to his mouth that John actually drinks any water. He clutches at the metal and drinks desperately, greedily, and it makes Nick so fucking angry to see his relief that he rips the canteen away before John can get his fill. The guilt he feels immediately after is worse than the anger by leagues, but he's got no way to process that shit right now, so he'll stick with the more understandable outrage.

"I've got every right to leave you for the fuckin' wolves," he grunts, shoving the canteen back into John's hands. "I'd be doing the world a favor if I shot you right here myself."

Nick doesn't expect John's delirious nod in response. He doesn't know what to do with it. John Seed has too much goddamn pride to accept a miserable end like this. He's a self-centered narcissist who probably expected the whole cult thing to blow over in court — how can he lie here like a skeleton and let Nick talk about putting him down like a dog?

"Every fucking right," Nick repeats helplessly as the choice vanishes in front of him. John gasps as he pulls away from the canteen, swallowing thickly several times. He looks like he wants to speak, but he can't find the words. Well, good . At least something's going right in this post-apocalyptic nightmare.

Nick can't leave him here to die. He wants to, but the idea makes him sick to his stomach. The only person he can think of that might be able to stand dealing with this better than him is Kim, but... God, what's she gonna do to him if he shows up dragging this sack of shit with him? He's pretty sure divorce in the wasteland involves buckshot and an unmarked grave.

"Okay," Nick sighs at last, "On your feet."

Ordering him doesn't do much, considering John doesn't seem fully aware of his surroundings, but it makes Nick feel better that he tried before resorting to helping him.

John can barely hold himself up. He keeps his legs under him, but even while he's leaning heavily on Nick, his gait is toddler-wobbly and his knees keep buckling. He breathes hard through his nose and gets pretty green around the gills as they march on, but he doesn't complain. Honestly, the most unnerving thing about the situation is how John says nothing . Nick remembers listening to the guy ramble for hours over the deputy's radio, just wishing he would shut up. Now, Nick finds himself trying to fill that same silence while wishing John would just contribute to the conversation.

"This - none of this means I'm helping you ," Nick explains to the silence in frustration. "I just - don't think you're worth wasting bullets over. That's all." It's definitely not a good explanation, but John probably isn't coherent enough to notice. Thankfully, that means he won't notice as Nick works out the problem aloud. Nick's always preferred talking his thoughts out - it's easier than trying to listen to them being just thought . "And anyway... I can't risk you gettin' better out there by yourself and... running around, meeting back up with your whackjob followers, any of that! So I couldn't leave you there, either. Can't have... fuckin' cult shit in the apocalypse... Not gonna happen, not on my watch."

John grunts, but Nick isn't sure if it's in response or just because he tripped over a rock.

"So... Yeah, sure, I'm takin' you home, but it's only because somebody needed to keep an eye on you," Nick finishes. The excuse does... well, it doesn't do much to paper over the guilty empathy Nick had felt finding John in such a way, but it'll at least get Kim off his back for a couple of minutes until he can come up with something more convincing.

"Damn it, Kim is gonna murder me," Nick realizes aloud as he finally catches sight of the house through the trees. John grunts again, this time definitely in response, and Nick imagines a normal, healthy John Seed would be throwing a sarcastic quip in his face. Probably something kind of lewd and predatory about the state of their marriage. The image manages to make John's silence more palatable, anyway.

Father of the year that he is, Nick only pauses to consider Carmina when he's nearly at the door. She's only eight years old, and she doesn't know anything about the cult. If he isn't careful, this whole thing could blow up in his face. He could wind up getting his own daughter indoctrinated in an old-timey psycho cult! All because he couldn't stomach killing this jackass? Is that really what he wants?

Well, he has some time before Grace comes back with her — hopefully Kim will have shot John before then. ...Shit, hopefully she shoots John, and not him, too .

He's gotta bite the bullet one way or another, and so he drags John in through the front door. It's like a bandaid; you just gotta rip it off and deal with the consequences.

"Oh my God," Kim says as he stops by the door, eager to not be touching John any longer than necessary. "What happened?" Nick turns to prop John up against the doorframe, reluctant to meet Kim's face. She must see something that gives John away — maybe his tattoos, or his eyes — because she stops halfway across the dirt-encrusted floorboards and sucks in a horrified breath. "Is that John Seed ?" Kim shouts, "Nick, what are you doing ?!"

Panic flashes across John's face as he half-slips out of Nick's grasp, but he's got the wall right behind him. "Easy," Nick mutters, bracing John's shoulder until he recognizes the support at his back. The relief on his face is hard to look at, but Nick's not sure Kim is gonna be much better.

" No ," Kim shouts. "Nick, are you crazy ?!"

"Kim, c'mon," Nick replies, turning at last, "Hear me out."

"I'm not hearing you out ," Kim hisses. "The fact that you brought him here instead of putting a bullet-! "

She cuts herself off, stalking back into the kitchen. Now Nick is desperate to watch her face, but of course she keeps her back turned to him, even as he chases after her. He gets close enough to rest his hands on her hips, which he does almost out of instinct — she tenses, but at least she lets him keep his hands.

He opens his mouth to repeat all the excuses he'd come up with, about not wanting to waste bullets and not wanting to risk another cult uprising, but to his horror, the only thing that comes out of him is the simple, guilty truth. "I couldn't do it," he whispers miserably. "I couldn't - Kim, I fuckin' hate the guy. If he could hold a gun, if he weren't - he wouldn't be here. I would have shot him dead. No regrets."

"That's what he deserves," Kim mutters. She drops one hand from the counter, resting it on top of Nick's, fingers wrapping around his palm.

"It is," Nick agrees, and he means it with all his heart. It's just... his heart is kind of soft, and it's put him in a sticky situation here. He admits with a tight, rasping voice, "I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. And I couldn't leave him there. I mean... what if the cult found him?"

Kim sees through the excuse immediately, turning in his arms to stare him down with that skeptical squint of hers. At last, though, she sighs, taking both of his hands up in her own. "You're too soft," she tells him fondly. She's right, though. One of these days, his tenderhearted mercies are going to get them in a whole load of trouble. With John Seed slumped in his doorway, that trouble might have already come.

"I don't know what to do," Nick tells her, knowing he can rely on her to help him find direction again.

Focusing her attention on the figure slumped in the doorway, Kim eventually shakes her head. "It might be what he deserves, but we don't deserve it," she says at last. Nick can't help but feel relieved, even if it's a guilty kind of relief. "We'll have to find somewhere to put him. Somewhere Carmina can't find, or won't go."

There aren't a lot of places around the homestead that fit that description, but Nick agrees that keeping Carmina away is key. "I dunno, we could... put him in the bunker, maybe? Carmina hates it down there. She'd never bother looking..."

Behind him, John's breath hitches, and at last he finds his voice. "No," he rasps with a shredded voice, "Not that."

"You're not in a position to argue," Nick snaps over his shoulder.

Kim fixes her eyes on John, but Nick can't tell what she's thinking. He expects her to tell John to get fucked, even half-expects her to throw him in the hole herself. It's the least John deserves. But her stony frown cracks just a little, and Nick recognizes the same pity that started this whole mess.

"The..." She clears her throat and begins again, "The spare room has a lock on the door. It'll do for now."

Nick nods. "Okay," he says. "I'll... I'll dump him up there, and then..."

"And then we'll talk about how we're going to deal with him," she says.

It's going to be one hell of a conversation, but Nick is willing to lie in the bed he's made. He gives her hands a gentle squeeze before he pulls away, turning to regard John's collapsed form in the doorway.

"Okay, asshole," he grunts, although it doesn't seem like John catches the insult. When Nick picks him back up, he settles even more heavily on Nick's shoulders. Nick barely manages to make it up the stairs without dropping the dead weight hanging on to him.

There's not much in the spare room, aside from some boxes of sentimental trash and a rat-nest pile of potentially useful garbage. The room itself was going to be Carmina's nursery — it's pale yellow and blue colors have faded and cracked, and of course Carmina doesn't like any of it, anyway. She's more interested in learning how to shoot and sharing a room with her parents in case a pack of wild dogs comes through the area.

Nick puts John down on a folded tarp he's been meaning to use to rain-proof the roof. He looks just as corpse-like lying here as he did in the woods, but at least now Nick can pretend like he has control of the situation. He's gonna have to burn the clothes John's wearing, and probably give him a bucket to clean himself up with... Ugh. The logistics of keeping John hostage in the room don't make too much sense. It would be smarter to throw him in the bunker, where he would at least have his own bathroom. It would be even smarter to put him back in the woods where he found him.

"It'd be better for me if you croaked while I'm gone," Nick tells John. Still, he leaves his canteen with him before he goes; he's pretty sure he knows where the key is for the lock, but for now it's safe to say John isn't going to be staging a breakout any time soon.

#far cry 5 #fc5 #fcnd #new dawn #john seed #nick rye #kim rye #far cry fanfic #my fic #ugh please i just need to get it out of my head

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7-wonders · 5 years

Text

Chord Progressions

Summary: In the post-apocalyptic world, you find music to be the only thing that makes living in an underground bunker with a bunch of spoiled rich people tolerable. The time finally comes for your interview with the mysterious Cooperative member, Langdon. Will you find your way to salvation? Or will there be more questions than answers?

Word count: 1,723

Author’s note: I’m still very new at posting AHS pieces, so feedback is always appreciated! Let me know if you’d like to see more of this type of writing!

Eighteen months had passed since bombs had been dropped and the world descended into a nuclear winter. Although you’re grateful that some combination of your genetics were deemed worthy enough to secure you a spot to survive the blast, after eighteen months, you wouldn’t mind taking a nice walk outside and being devoured by cannibals.

When the other survivors of Outpost 3 have their mandatory cocktail hour in the library to complain about the current conditions and spread petty gossip, you partake in your favorite activity. Although you’re physically in the outpost, your mind is in far-off worlds, dreaming up wild scenarios and storylines. You know that dissociating as often as you do probably isn’t healthy, but it’s one of the only things you’ve found to manage to stay alive.

During this time, you find yourself thinking about the things you miss. There’s the big ones, of course: Your family, friends, being able to go outside and see the sun. But there’s also the little things. You miss watching the seasons change, memes on social media that would have you laughing for hours, and actual food. You long for the days where you would be able to go and get ice cream on a whim because you felt like it. Sometimes, you can almost remember what is was like to go hiking and feel the wind through the trees. Ice skating, finding new music, reading a really good book for the first time. The list goes on and on.

You’re knocked out of your reverie by Gallant nudging your shoulder. Of all the people trapped with you, Gallant’s the one who you connect with most. He reminds you of an older brother, in a sense. The other two inhabitants who are closest to your age are too infatuated with each other to hang out with you, and you can only have conversations with your favorite Grays when you’re sure that Venable and Mead aren’t lurking around.

“I’m sorry, what?” You ask, flushing as everyone looks at you.

“A few of us were just wondering if you’d like to play some songs for us on the piano?” Dinah, a kind woman whose face you’d seen on the TV at every doctor’s office for a year prior to the blasts, smiles at you. You nod, standing and making your way to the piano. On nights where everybody’s getting along, you’re often asked to play everyone’s favorite songs from the old world. You’re not the best pianist by any means, but you know enough about chords that you can usually find the tune of almost any song requested.

“What are we thinking tonight?” The room erupts then, everyone throwing out their requests. You love these moments, where the group of survivors can come together and reminisce. Lots of times they’ll sing and dance around you, and it almost feels like you’re not in an underground bunker.

“Adele!”

“Coldplay!”

“Oh my God, can you do Imagine Dragons?”

“The Beatles?” You point at Timothy, calling out his suggestion of The Beatles. Groans fill the room, but you know they’re just joking. You run your fingers along the keys, trying out a few different songs before deciding on one you like. The beginning chords of ‘Something’ fill the air, and you smile as the group visibly relaxes, swaying along to the music.

You cycle through a few more requests, watching as people start getting up to dance. You finally give in to Coco’s whines about hearing ‘Hey There, Delilah’ when the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts the quiet chatter. Your hands inadvertently slam against the keys when you see Langdon standing at the front of the room.

Langdon, who holds everybody’s lives in the palm of his hands, confuses you. He claims to be seriously considering who to accompany him to the Sanctuary, but to you he seems as if he’s playing a game of cat and mouse with all of the survivors. At this point, you’ve started to think that there might not even be a Sanctuary.

“Having fun now, are we?” He addresses the room in his smooth tenor, and you can’t help the shiver that takes over you. “Miss (Y/L/N), I believe it is time for your interview.” You can’t see it, but you’re sure that your face goes white.

“Oh, um, okay.” You stutter, mentally cursing yourself. Langdon looks at you expectantly, watching you with predatory eyes as you stand and move towards him. He turns on a heel and leads the way, his impeccably groomed hair swishing behind him. You glance behind you one last time, feeling comfort in Gallant’s thumbs up before the doors swing closed.

You follow Langdon in silence, not sure if there’s anything you can even say to the most intimidating man you’ve met in a long time. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about being the first to speak.

“So you play the piano?” He asks, his voice cutting through the silence of the many winding halls around you.

“Not very well, but yes, sir.” He glances back at you, a smirk on his face.

“Nonsense, all of your fellow survivors seem to enjoy it very much. Ms. Venable tells me that you give lessons as well?”

“Yes, sir.” You nod. “There’s not much else to do here, and it’s always nice to get to have some variety of music.” You reach the doors to what can only be assumed as his office. With a simple wave of his hands, the doors slide open, causing you to wonder if there is some electricity in this place.

“Have a seat, please.” He gestures to two seats in front of a large fireplace. You slowly sit, keeping your eyes on the fire the whole time. “Are the flames more interesting than our conversation, (Y/N)?” Langdon questions, sitting down in front of you with a glass of what looks to be bourbon. You’re mildly jealous at seeing the alcohol in his hand before shaking your head.

“No, sir, I was just thinking.” His ever-present smirk widens as he leans back.

“Please, call me Michael.”

“Michael.” You repeat, watching his eyes twinkle at hearing his name. “Do the other inhabitants get to call you that?” He raises an eyebrow, daring you to find an answer to your own question. “Or do you just want free piano lessons?” He laughs then, and you’re pretty sure that if angels were real, their laughs would sound just like Michael’s.

“Let’s get started with your interview.” His eyes go steely in a split second, and you find your breath hitching. “If you lie to me, I will know. If you hedge, I will not hesitate to end this interview and leave you here to die. Do you understand?” You nod, eyes wide. “I need you to answer me out loud, (Y/N).”

“Yes, Michael.” You breathe out. He hums, satisfied, before picking up a file.

“You’re one of the few here with superior genetics. Do you know how we got your information?”

“My friends and I had decided to do one of those 23andme genetic tests, where you can find out where your ancestors came from? I’m guessing that your organization somehow had access to that information.” Even though you know you’re telling the truth, you’re still nervous that he’ll think you’re lying. It reminds you of the past, when you would be driving and you’d suddenly get nervous when you saw a cop, even though you weren’t doing anything wrong.

“Why are you scared of me?”

“I’m not!” You argue. He glares at you, sitting up.

“I told you not to lie to me, (Y/N). You don’t want to find out what happens if you try that little stunt again, do you?” You jump and shake your head slowly, and he doesn’t bother to correct you. “Good. Let’s try that again. Why are you scared of me?”

“You intimidate me.” You answer quietly. He’s obviously intrigued, which scares you more than his rage did.

“Why is that?” You pick at your nails, trying to formulate a proper answer.

“You seem very...powerful, but not in a good way.” He quirks an eyebrow, but leaves it at that.

“Very well then. Tell me, who do you believe deserves a chance at salvation? Who, out of all your fellow survivors, should accompany me to Sanctuary?”

“I think everyone has qualities that would make them very useful at your Sanctuary. Gallant’s got a heart of gold, and he’s a very good hairdresser. Evie’s lived a life most only dream of, and Timothy and Emily are so young. They deserve it.” He looks confused at this, which in turn confuses you.

“There’s nobody that you don’t want to make it? Not even those like Coco, who bought their way in here and continue to rub wealth in your face?” You smile slightly.

“Coco’s the type of headstrong that could put the pieces of the world back together.”

“And what about you? What makes you a good candidate for the Sanctuary?” You shrug at this question.

“Honestly?” Michael gestures for you to continue. “I’ve resigned myself to dying here. What use does a new world have for me? I’m just a people-pleaser who knows enough about music to make it through the day without pissing people off.” Your eyes are drawn back to the fire, where you attempt to find shapes in the dancing flames. You used to play this game as a child at your family cabin, all of the cousins laid together in the main room, finding figures and pointing them out until they were all lulled to sleep.

A cool hand grips your chin, and you find your face inches away from Michael.

“There are such great plans for you, dear heart. Plans you could not ever imagine.” You’re wildly confused at this, but Michael’s pulling you up with him before you have the chance to question him. “I believe that’s enough for now, (Y/N). We’ll finish tonight, perhaps in the library? You can play me some of your favorite pieces while we talk.” You smile.

“Tonight, then.” Michael nods, confirming what you just said.

“Until tonight.” He lets you pass through the open doors before sliding them shut, leaving you standing in the hallway wondering what the hell just happened.

#michael langdon #michael langdon imagine #michael langdon imagines #michael langdon x reader #Michael Langdon x you #Michael Langdon fanfiction #American horror story #american horror story imagine #ahs #ahs imagine #ahs apocalypse #American horror story apocalypse

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comicbooksidecharacter · 5 years

Text

Hiraeth [Part 19]

Bucky Barnes X OC (Amelia Stone)

Hiraeth: (n.) “longing or deep yearning for a place, time, feeling or person long gone; or that never was.”

Summary: The Avengers go on a secret, critical mission. The OC decides to go on a small mission of her own with suspicion that HYDRA is involved. What she finds involves both her and Bucky.

Foreword: Boring ass details of a mission. I made them as brief as I could though.

“Steve”, she said, while both were waiting for one of the guards to finish his round from a certain part of the wing. “There is something you should know.”

“Hm?”, he hummed a response.

“Some of the guys here are working for HYDRA”, she dropped a bomb on him. She didn’t know If the comm was on or off for the rest to hear. In the darkness they traced each other’s features out. She knew the wheels in his head were turning, to make sense of what she had just said, and what to do about it.

“How do you…”

“That’s for later. The guy.. Wagner, is involved in some of Hydra’s operations.”

“Let’s talk about that later guys”, Tony spoke, “Right now the first priority is to get you two out.”

“Tony is right.”

She pursed her lips and nodded, following Steve till they were finally in the warehouse that was the one least secured. However, Steve reached the lot and realized that he was alone.

“Tony, Ellie isn’t here.”

“Damn it…”, Tony’s voice came into the comm. “I’ll scan the area. You get out.”

“Ellie where are you?”

“I’m inside and I’m okay”, she said, seemingly rushing somewhere, “I just… there’s something I have to do.”

“Ellie that is not our mission and it is not safe”, Steve said firmly, “Come back. It’s an order.”

Ellie didn’t want to obey, but hearing Captain’s firm and authoritative tone, she didn’t have enough courage to say it to his face. She stayed quiet over the comm., choosing instead a silent rebellion. Tony and Steve were calling out to her, but she didn’t respond and sneaked her way to what the map called “Record Room 1”

“Guys the GPS on her is on. I can track her location.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scientist that had been captured gave away some information about the person trying to contact him from HYDRA. While they still weighed his intentions against his right to freedom, they had a new mission to tend to. This time back in Germany. It wasn’t that dangerous. They only had to get inside a closely secured nuclear facility, and retrieve information that no country in their right minds would even considering making public to its own able, but uninformed, politicians. This did raise some rife among the Avengers again if they should be extracting such important information, almost vital to a country’s sovereignty. However, after a night of deliberation, which included 3 hours of argument, 15 minutes of agreement and 4 hours of planning the strategy, the Avengers decided to fly to Germany the next day.

Steve, Natasha, Sam and Bucky were the ones who decided to carry out this mission. Tony and Rhodey would be on air-control while Clint and Vision were assigned linguistics duties.

“Are you nervous?”, Bucky suddenly asked Amelia, while she sat next to him in the Quinjet. Steve was on the other side, talking to Sam.

“Yes”, she replied, looking at the quinjet’s ceiling, trying to calm her nerves, “This is dangerous. The plant is one of the most closely guarded secrets of Germany right now. I tried to find any information I could about it. It’s like Area 51 for America.”

“What’s area 51?”, he asked and she looked at him in a way he couldn’t quite decipher.

“Like I was saying. There’s no information about it. I tried to find out who works there and couldn’t. Could only come to realize that each year more than 20 Billion dollars are reserved in the budget as secret funds and I reckon this is one of them. We can’t even reach their database without tripping an alarm, I think”

“It would be an easy in and out job”, Bucky assured, looking at her tensed brow.

“I just don’t like NOT knowing about such stuff. The more information we have about something, the better equipped we can be to deal with it.”

“That doesn’t apply to everything in life”, he responded, in a warm tone, that made her eyes reel away from the ceiling and land on his blue ones. “Sometimes we don’t know everything about something, or some place, or someone, but we gotta let go, and trust them.” His eyes told that he meant every word. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, sharing this calming truth.

“Wow… I could really feel your 100 year old experience seep through those words, grandpa”, she said after a moment’s silence, catching him off-guard; he couldn’t help but chuckle, his smile causing Steve to look at him and smile too.

“You are kinda right though. I just have a hard time letting go of this anxiety”, she replied, and began to take deep breaths. The setting sun was right in front of the quinjet and a beautiful golden glow fell on her face, making her dark hair look golden, her eyes look as clear as a crystal, and illuminating her delicate fingers wrapped around the parachute strap. He tore his eyes away from her and looked at the sun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The facility was highly classified and heavily guarded. It was a city of its own in a way. They had their own staff for everything. Tony and Ellie decided that faking any form of id was a foolish decision because as no one knew about the facility, there was no way someone from the outside would get in easily. Only one person could be tied to the whole facility, the Head of their Armed forces, Major Gustav, who overlooked the secretly funded operations. They couldn’t enter the database because it wasn’t connected to even the country’s very own. The only way to carry out this mission was to break in, or “creep in” as Tony said, take the information and leave.

As soon as they arrived in Germany, they booked a few rooms in a relatively small hotel. Tony arrived half an hour later from the site, being able to physically access their Satellite and internet connections. The rest was up to FRIDAY to break into the systems, without setting off any red flag. While the AI was busy carrying out millions of processing, Tony was able to gather location information. It was around 10 when the team joined heads together, trying to form a strategy to most efficiently execute the task.

Her heart was practically missing beats when she entered the operations wing. Steve was at the top of his nerves too. His job was to be on the lookout while she carried out the task. She didn’t know why she was so nervous and fidgety on this case, she was always a calm person. Maybe it was the lack of information she had about the case, maybe it was something else.

There were only one job; to attach a data integration device that would send radio signals for Tony to connect to the database.

The door to a certain Wagner’s office was opened with some digital magic, and both went in, Steve chose to stay close to the door. She went to the computer, put a flash drive to it and transferred a program to it. Within 10 minutes of setup, it was running. Tony announced that he could access the database now and that they could delete the program and all it’s traces from the computer. She deleted the program and it went to the recycle bin. However, the bin was secured. This made her curious.

And that curiosity landed her in a difficult situation that caused her to travel across the facility, fight off a couple of HYDRA guards in an unknown location almost a mile away from the nuclear planet and connected to it via a small tunnel. All because she was curious.

What they didn’t know was that the whole trip was acting as a trigger for her PTSD. She was in Germany where, probably, HYDRA camp was based, the one where she went through torture. Her nightmares were playing themselves out in front of her open eyes, no new memory though, just the old ones.

Bucky could have felt the same, and she felt sorry for him. He didn’t need to come with them. It had been almost two years that he had been with them, but she was willing to bet his psychological state was just as disturbed as it was before. He just did a very good job of hiding it. She was afraid, admittedly, that Germany and getting into such covert missions might awaken the Winter Soldier within him. He was at edge about everything, unsure of what would set him off. Hell, even she was unsure of him. Which is why, she hated herself for being like this.

The secured Recycle Bin had made her suspicious. She had to unlock it fro two reasons. One, The deleted program was in the bin. If not erased from the bin as well, Wagner could open it and see that someone had meddle with his computer. and two, no one puts a password on the recycle bin. When she did open the bin, she found many files. She found out soon enough that he was working for HYDRA and a bit more nosing around she found the file he had kept about her, while she was in captivity. Did Bucky have a file too?

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mst3kproject · 5 years

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1109: Yongary: Monster from the Deep

The first time I saw Yongary was when I was on a Kaiju Eiga binge over Christmas break one year. It was on YouTube, with the sound removed for copyright infringement, and no subtitles. At the time, this didn’t bother me much. I thought I’d seen enough weird monster movies that I could guess what was going on from the visuals. It turned out I really couldn’t. Even now that I’ve seen it with sound, I’m still not sure what happened in this movie.

Korea’s top astronaut has just gotten married when he’s called off to a space emergency – somebody is testing bombs in the middle east and they need a guy in space to watch it. The bombing causes earthquakes that cross the globe until they reach Korea, where the ground cracks open to reveal, what else? An oddly rubbery and humanoid monster! Yongary proceeds to devastate the land, as oddly rubbery and humanoid monsters do, feeding on oil and taking an occasional nap, until the astronaut’s very much younger brother (I think) Icho and future brother-in-law (again, I think) Ilo discover its one weakness: itching powder.

So yeah, there’s a lot to unpack here.

If Yongary has a visual aesthetic, it’s empty pockets and boundless enthusiasm. The production appears to have had very little money and they spread it very thin, resulting in effects that are shoddy and unconvincing across the board… and yet, the people who created them went all-out, absolutely determined to wring every last jeon out of their budget. The monster suit never looks like anything but a monster suit, but they never shy away from showing it. The model cities are large and elaborate, even as they lack detail or realistic lighting. Shots showing earth from space look like a seventh grade science fair project. The matte shots are bad. The itch ray is just light reflected onto things with a mirror. It all looks terrible, but their hearts were in it.

Unfortunately, not half so much effort appears to have gone into the script, which wanders from character to character in a series of events that are connected only by the monster, and sometimes only barely. A number of things are set up as if they’re going to be very important and then are simply dropped, leaving the impression that they were only there to fill time.

What, for example, is the point of the space sequence? They drag the astronaut (whose name I never caught in the movie, and IMDB is no help) away from his honeymoon to observe this nuclear test. Some kind of failure on the spaceship, perhaps related to said test, puts him in danger but after much worry he reaches the ground safely. Wow! Our hero is a great pilot with nerves of steel! Surely this will be very important later. Maybe he will be called to do something dangerous to defeat the monster! Maybe something he saw from space, while he was out of touch with the ground, will be key to saving the day!

Uh, no. He’s not even in the rest of the movie, really, and we certainly never hear tell of the space program again. As far as I can tell, the only purpose to any of this was establishing the nuclear test (because everybody knows those create monsters) and then trying to have some tension before Yongary actually emerges. The whole sequence was filler.

Then there’s the itching ray, which first appears in the hands of little Icho as he plays a prank on the newlyweds. Exactly why Ilo has invented an itching ray, I don’t know. Was it intended to do something else and just ended up being itchy? When Icho swipes it again to use on Yongary, I figured maybe a souped-up itch ray would turn out to be what kills the monster but again, no. The itching ray doesn’t even set up anything important. I think it’s foreshadowing that itching is Yongary’s weakness, but the ray has nothing to do with the chemical allergy that brings the monster down, besides manifesting a similar symptom.

The fact that itching appears in the movie in more than one context probably makes it a motif. Why, out of all the possible themes and symbolism you could put in a movie, the makers of Yongary chose itching, I have no idea. Perhaps it represents something below the surface trying to break free, like the monster itself? If that’s the case, then it’s fitting that the source of the itching is always externally imposed: the ray and Yongary’s allergy induce itching, and the nuclear test makes the earth ‘itch’ so that Yongary breaks out. Whether this means anything deeper than that, I honestly cannot say.

Itching brings us to Icho. I’m pretty sure Icho is the actual main character of this story. He’s there at the beginning, he’s there at the end, and he’s the one who realizes what the monster’s weakness is. He even has a bit of an arc, I guess… he’s nothing but an insufferable brat at the beginning of the film, and while he continues to be bratty throughout he does develop a more mature outlook, coming to understand the need for Yongary’s destruction while still feeling sorry for the monster.

Icho is clearly supposed to have some kind of emotional bond with Yongary, but this is completely one-sided and even less justified than Kenny’s supposed friendship with Gamera. Whereas Gamera saved Kenny from falling to his death, I don’t think Yongary ever even notices Icho – which is probably all for the best, since Icho is doing things like turning off his food supply and zapping him with itching rays. Icho’s defense of Yongary is also a little more realistic than Kenny’s of Gamera. He never insists that Yongary is good and gentle, only that the monster didn’t mean to hurt anybody. This is probably true. Yongary is not presented as a creature with a personality or intentions, he is merely a force of nature, doing what giant rubber monsters do. He does not seem capable even of understanding that he is causing suffering.

What’s kind of interesting about this is that it makes it clear that Gamera, rather than Godzilla, was the primary inspiration for Yongary. The monster emerges as a result of a nuclear bombing that is never mentioned again. It eats oil and is strengthened by fire. Annoying little kids like it for no readily apparent reason. As an attempt to create a Kaiju franchise in 1967, when the genre was already well-established, it was probably inevitable that Yongary would look like a ripoff of something, but the choice of Gamera for a model seems particularly weird when we consider the ending. At the end of Gamera, the monster was sent to Mars where he would presumably continue to live without bothering humanity. This is pretty cool and appeals to children.

In Yongary, the monster dies of internal bleeding while Icho watches. This doesn’t seem to have bothered Icho but it sure disturbed Jonah and the bots, and once I saw it in a context where I understood what was happening, it made my jaw drop, too. When I think back on the deaths of monsters in Kaiju Eiga, they tend to be fairly quick affairs: in Godzilla, King of the Monsters, the oxygen-destroyer pretty much instantly skeletonizes things. Even bad-guy monsters tend to die or be driven off in one final blow or finishing move, as when Gamera throws Gaos into the volcano. When the monsters visibly suffer, like Gamera with the baby Jiger inside him, or Anguirus when Godzilla rips his tongue out, it’s shocking and unpleasant. Maybe this is because we think of these movies as being for children, or perhaps it’s the unavoidable anthropomorphic shape of the creature suits. Whatever the reason, Yongary’s death is a major tonal departure and the ‘happy ending’ that follows it makes it even weirder.

I know basically nothing about the geography of Korea, but people who do have apparently written a great deal about how important the landscape is to Yongary. According to critic Steve Ryfle, Yongary emerges in the northern part of Korea, near where the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953 – this makes him perhaps symbolic of aggression from the north, marching inexorably down the peninsula towards Seoul. Korean critic Kim Songho noted that Yongary destroys the old Seoul Capital building, a symbol of the Japanese occupation of Korea before and during World War II (the building was knocked down in the 90s for this reason).

Using your giant monster to make a political statement, particularly an anti-war or anti-colonial one, is nothing new, but I don’t think the makers of Yongary intended a unified one by this. The two political messages in the landscape seem opposed to each other: one paints Yongary as a semi-foreign force of aggression, the other as a native being destroying a symbol of foreign aggression. This isn’t a problem for me, the non-Korean viewer, and the two ideas work fine when they’re each considered in isolation, but they do speak to the overall lack of unity in the script.

That lack of unity is probably the biggest single obstacle to enjoying Yongary for what it is, rather than the ironic amusement people like me get out of bad movies. The jarring ending, the space program that is set up and then not used, and the inconsistent symbolism all make Yongary: Monster from the Deep feel like something assembled from parts rather than being a coherent whole. All movies are made by committees, but a good movie shouldn’t feel like it was.

#MST3K #reviews #yongary: monster from the deep #antiimperialist kaiju

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howtohero · 5 years

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Acute Stress Responses

When faced with a dangerous, frightening, or otherwise highly stressful situation (being called to the principal’s office, having to climb a large wall that’s got spikes on it, knife fighting an assassin with a skull tattoo on their face on the edge of a cliff, etc.) the body, specifically the adrenal medulla, responds by producing a cavalcade of hormones that prepares the body to give a specific response engineered to protect itself from harm. In common animals and humans (and seven different species of aliens, and one of the giant lizards that exists outside of space-time) these responses are binary. They either fight, or they take flight. However, since you are a superhuman, your body is actually equipped with a number of alternative responses that are handy for diffusing any stressful situation you might find yourself in.

Fight First, let’s start with the common ones. The ones that even the regular folk (and that lizard, word to ^^^----^^^ the space-time lizard!) have. When your fight instincts kick in it means you’re prepared to throw down. Sure, you might not actually be powerful enough to fight the thing that’s inducing this response. It might not even make sense to fight. But by golly, you’re gonna fight. You’re gonna drop kick that principal right across his desk, knocking over all of his precious knick knacks and diplomas. You’re going to punch that wall right in the wherever you think its groin would be. You’re going to grab Snipey McSkullface by the neck and hurl him over the side of that cliff. (Don’t worry, he’ll survive. He always does.)

Flight The flight instinct is the overwhelming desire you feel to fake your death and flee the country any time anything slightly inconvenient happens. Over toasted a bagel? Time to start thinking of new names you’d like to have. (Montgomery Ferbernathy is a great name and no one is using it at the moment so there’s a freebie.) Someone breaking into your home? Time to call your travel agent and book a flight around the world, you’re not paid enough to deal with this. Currently being stabbed? Ha nope time to get out of there, call a cab or something. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life. In a lot of ways fleeing is often the healthiest thing you can do. Don’t deal with things that you don’t want to deal with. Unfortunately though, as a superhero, the healthiest option should also be your last resort. Your job is to save lives, your own self-care be darned.

Here come the extra special ones just for you superheroes out there! (Sorry ^^^----^^^, maybe you should try licking a radioactive meteor and getting some super powers!)

Flex This is similar to fighting but if you do it right you never have to actually lay a hand on the problem you’re facing. You just need to flex, show off your skills, intimidate the problem into leaving you alone. Show that burnt bagel your bulging biceps until it un-toasts itself. Tell that principal that you’re even better at giving detentions than he is. Remind Snipey McSkullface that he’s tried and failed to kill you literally 412 times and that you guys are basically friends at this point.

Flirt That’s right, as a superhero you have the unique ability to seduce your way out of any problem. There’s not a problem out there that you can’t bat your eyelashes and wink away. Start telling that large wall that it’s really strong and handsome. Ask the person stabbing you if they’d like to grab coffee sometime. Tell the person breaking and entering into your home that you’ve never someone pick a lock quite like that and you’d really like to take them on a trip to Barcelona. Remember, confidence is key here, if you throw caution to the wind and ask Snipey McSkullface to marry you, I promise you that you crazy kids are gonna be able to figure it all out.

Fiesta If you ever find yourself in trouble you can just start a party and I guarantee you the problem will just disappear. Cornered by hyenas? Pull those maracas out of your utility belt. Standing directly in the radius of a falling nuclear bomb? Throw some confetti in the air. Being held hostage by Snipey McSkullface’s waaaaay more competent older sister, Sasha McSkullface? Better have your support-squad airdrop a mariachi band. When life’s problems have got you down, buckle down, plant your feet, roll up your sleeves, put on a sombrero, and throw yourself a party while the world burns around you.

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keywestlou · 3 years

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IDA'S LANDFALL LESS THAN 7 HOURS AWAY

Nothing is going to stop Ida. In 7 hours, she will have made landfall somewhere on the Louisiana coast. Bringing one of the most powerful storms to hit the area in 100 years. There will be much damage, many injured and some deaths.

Ida has already reached a Category 4. She could be a 5 either before she hits land or at that moment. She is considered “extremely dangerous.”

Ida’s power increase has been unusually rapid. She went from 80 mph to 145 mph in no time at all. Her speed presently 150 mph. Seven miles short of the 157 required to be a Category 5.

Surge is going to be unusual. Twelve to fifteen feet. Guaranteed death for all in its path.

NBC has a photo on the internet of the traffic evacuating Route 10 out of New Orleans. Reminded me of Irma. I did not wait till the last minute to leave Key West. Irma had been heading straight on for Key West for several days. The cone showed no deviation. It was also predicted to be a Category 5 when it hit Key West.

Not my cup of tea. I decided to get out of Key West 5 days before its anticipated arrival. My escape was a 3 day trip. Bumper to bumper most of the way.

Katrina hit New Orleans 16 years ago today. Interesting.

There is a calm before a storm. In my 30 years in Key West, I remained for most storms. Opted not to leave. Not because I was brave. Rather I early on became aware that a tropical depression, tropical storm, a Category 1, a Category 2, and sometimes a Category 3, can be handled. Very survivable. No need to run off.

The calm before the storm is just as it sounds. No wind, no rain, ocean like a mirror, temperature comfortable.

The next day, another story!

Some 15 years ago, there was a strong hurricane followed by an unexpected surge which came across Key West. I forget which hurricane it was. There have been many.

Yankee Jack was an entertainer who had lived in Key West longer than me. He was a singer, musician and songwriter. Everyone liked Yankee. He was that kind of person.

Thin he was not. Yankee weighed well over 300 pounds. Food was everything to him. He knew which were the restaurants where he could get the most food for his money. He needed to fuel up several times a day.

Yankee opted to remain. He lived in some type trailer. When the hurricane hit, his trailer went. Fortunately, his girl friend live in a condominium. He moved in with her for the storm correctly anticipating his trailer would not survive.

I telephoned Yankee the day after the hurricane. The lines were down. Five days later, I heard from Yankee. My message of concern had finally got through.

I asked how he was doing. His response said it all: I am in my girl friend’s apartment. We put a white sheet on her sofa. We are sitting on it bare ass. The government has provided us with bagged ice. We are taking turns rubbing the ice on each other’s body. The heat/humidity are indescribable. The smell atrocious. Dead fish, animals and vermin together with sea weed.

Irma was predicted as a 5. At the last minute, it moved a bit and slowed down. It came over Key West as a Category 1. We lucked out!

Sixteen miles up the road is Cudjoe Key. Irma actually came ashore with full force and hit at Cudjoe. As a Category 4. Damage galore from that point all the way up to Florida City.

I returned to Key West 7 days after Irma hit. No sense in coming back sooner. Key West was without water, power, food, etc.

Once I reached Florida City, Irma’s damage rapidly became evident. Everything was ass end backwards. Boats were on U.S.1. Cars were in the ocean and canals. Houses were down flat where they stood or hundreds of feet away lying upside down or on their sides. Some could be seen floating in the ocean. Debris everywhere.

The strangest thing I saw was somewhere around Islamorada. There was a pretty good sized tree to my right as I drove down U.S.1. The tree had 2 heavy branches about 20 feet above ground level. Lying on its side on the 2 branches was a large refrigerator.

Hard to believe!

Ida’s damage will be the same or worse. I suspect worse.

The only hurricane I have seen worse that Irma was Andrew. Andrew came in across Homestead in 1992 as a Category 5. It never reached Key West.

I had left before Andrew hit. Being new to the Keys, I knew not the paths hurricanes took. I returned 3 weeks later. Drove through Homestead. The damage could not have been worse. The city was flat. An occasional wall left standing. Nothing more. It was like a nuclear bomb had been dropped on the community.

Brought tears to my eyes.

Ida’s rapidly growing power has been attributed by the weather experts to global warming. A hurricane picks up speed and power as it moves over warm water. The warmer the water, the more the increase.

Due to global warming, the Caribbean waters leading up to New Orleans are roughly 8 degrees warmer than normal. Ergo, hurricanes such as Ida will henceforth be more powerful.

I feel sorry for President Biden. His plate is full. COVID, Kabul/Afghanistan, and now Ida. Additionally, he has what I would describe as minor problems. Joe Manchin, voting legislation, and the infrastructure bills.

The Republicans are of no assistance.

The Republican Party of today is no way comparable to the Republican Party of December 7, 1941. Every Republican at the time, except for one, voted for war against Japan. Today, the Republican Party is similar in name only. I doubt today’s Republicans would have supported President Roosevelt when he called for a declaration of war. He would have gotten what Biden is receiving today: Blame, blame, blame!

Enjoy your Sunday!

IDA’S LANDFALL LESS THAN 7 HOURS AWAY was originally published on Key West Lou

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imaginetonyandbucky · 7 years

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Yay! Prompts are open!! Alpha Bucky and omega Tony au where traditional courting means that gifts are anonymously presented but the suitor will be rejected if three gifts are deemed unsuitable by the omega. Cue Bucky panicking because Stark has already rejected two of his gifts.

A/N: I hope this is what you’re looking for, anon. I went for angst, here. I also really love Nat being BFFs with Tony and/or Bucky and being protective of her idiot boys. Please ignore the gaping plot holes that a) Tony doesn't figure out it's one of the Avengers by virtue of security keeping other people from their floor b) Bucky could use the internet to look up modern courtship rituals. Or things about Tony. Sorry about the continually switching POV, I need to work on that.

Perfect Infinite Moments

Tony opened the first gift and stiffened. A gun? Who would be so tasteless? So... He swallowed. He left the gift where it was, an uncomfortable leaden weight in his stomach. He would never be that person again.

Bucky watched as the omega looked like he would throw up. He wanted to throw up. What had gone wrong? Maybe things were very different now? In the 40s, giving an omega a weapon was telling them that you trusted them not to hurt you, and that you believed they could take care of themselves. At least, that was what it was supposed to mean. There were a lot of traditional gifts to choose from, and not a lot of alphas picked that one, uncomfortable with the thought of a weapon in their omega’s hands. Bucky, though, he thought it was a beautiful gift.

It was especially important to him now that Tony know that Bucky knew he could protect himself, especially from Bucky. He still had some violent nightmares, and the Winter Solider was always a potential problem.

Dejected, he walked away. He would do better.

Tony had never been properly courted before. Sure, there had been trinkets and jewelry and small presents from alphas and betas that he had been dating, but no one had ever courted him. He knew the process, of course, everyone did. Three anonymous presents. Three chances for the alpha to prove themselves a worthy mate without preconceptions about the person coloring the gifts.

He had hoped-

Well, he was an old, worn-out omega. Maybe he wasn't worth the effort.

Sighing, he shoved the thought away and pulled up a project. Bucky’s body armor needed upgrading.

It had taken the better part of two weeks but Bucky had finally decided on a second gift. Carefully wrapping it up, he enlisted JARVIS to get the second present in the kitchen right before the genius omega would enter. Crossing his fingers, he waited, unseen. This would be a much better gift.

When all the blood drained out of Tony’s face, a panicked scent coming from him, he knew he had fucked up again.

(Watch out for the break!)

Tony looked at the gift in surprise. A second gift? Who would go to the effort after he had turned them down the first time? Setting his coffee cup down, he carefully opened the present.

When he caught sight of what was inside the box, he could feel the blood drain from his face. A camera.

Hazy memories of people asking him if they could take pictures, recordings. No he had said. No no no.

The next day the recordings were on the internet. He had faked a smile and owned it. What other choice did he have?

But a camera as a gift? There might be another reason for it but his panicking mind wouldn’t latch onto anything but that. Hurriedly, he slammed the flaps of the box shut with shaking hands and very deliberately picked up his coffee mug. Refilling it, he walked out the door directly to his workshop.

“What did I do wrong?” He flopped down into the couch dramatically.

Natasha paused the TV. “With your courting presents?”

Bucky looked up, startled. “How did you know?”

Natasha gave him a smug look.

“Right.”

“What did you get him?”

Bucky rolled over into his back and laid his head on the other alpha’s thigh. “I got him a camera!”

Natasha hummed, thinking about what she knew about the genius, idly petting Bucky’s head.

JARVIS interrupted. “If I may, Miss Romanov, Mr. Barnes.” He sounded a little colder than normal.

Bucky made a gesture with his hand.

“There were recordings of a sexual nature released to the media without his consent.”

Bucky sat up straight, dislodging her hand. “What?”

Natasha closed her eyes. Of course. How could she have forgotten that? It had caused a huge media scandal, but Tony had come out of it smelling like roses.

Sometimes the innocent scent covered darker things, though.

Bucky’s voice dropped an octave. “What?”

Natasha rounded on him. “If you're thinking of giving up-”

“I want to kill those people!” Bucky said, dangerously.

Paradoxically, Natasha relaxed, urging him to lay back down. “They are.”

“Are what?” Resisting, Bucky peered at Natasha. His eyes were nearly black with rage, and it the angry scent was pouring off him.

“Dead.” JARVIS said. His voice was much warmer than it had been before, but still angry. Bucky still marvelled every day that a computer program was so human. It was so... science fiction.

Bucky relaxed, the anger scent pulling back. Laying back down, he looked at the ceiling. “Is that what he thought, JARVIS?”

JARVIS hesitated. “He hasn't said so specifically.”

“So yes.”

Natasha deliberately projected a calming scent. It didn't work as well as a calming scent from an omega, but it helped calm Bucky down. She thought that the slightly proud tone from JARVIS when he had said ‘dead’ helped more. “What did you mean it to be?”

“Past, present, and future.”

Natasha sighed noisily. “Of course you did, you moron.”

“Hey!”

Natasha patted Bucky’s head. “So what else did you get him?”

Bucky closed his eyes. “A gun.”

Natasha shoved Bucky into a sitting position. “A gun?” she sounded frantic. Natasha never sounded frantic. Not even facing down hundreds of murderous aliens and a nuclear bomb.

Bucky frowned, very confused. “Yes?”

Natasha took a deep breath. “You gave Tony Stark, the person who was called the Merchant of Death for years, who spent three months in a cave being tortured in an attempt to coerce him to make weapons, the person whose godfather tried to have him assassinated in that cave and then tried to steal his company from him for shutting down the weapons manufacturing, you gave that man a gun?” Natasha’s voice rose higher and higher with every word.

Bucky couldn't breathe. “I did what?” his voice was so weak she could barely hear him. The words ‘assassination’ and ‘tortured’ and ‘merchant of death’ ringing in his ears.

“You idiot.” She started cursing in Russian, and a few other languages.

He didn't understand the magnitude of how much he fucked up, but Natasha’s anger clued him in that it was a lot. “Just kill me,” he begged.

“That can be arranged,” she said darkly. “You absolute idiot,” she continued. “What are you going to do?”

“Do? I'm going to throw myself on his mercy that's what I'm going to do!”

“Absolutely not!”

Surprised by her vehemence, he looked up at her. “I'm not?”

“No. You’re going to finish out the courtship, and if he declines then you throw yourself on his mercy.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, he prayed for a lightning bolt to strike him dead. “Then what am I going to do?”

“You're going to give him an amazing gift. And it's going to be both a final courtship offer and an apology.” Sighing, she settled back down, tired. Even a minor alpha rage tired her out. These boys, they were so stupid. “What did you mean the gun to be?”

Bucky colored. “In... you know. The forties-”

“Oh Bucky.”

“Yeah I gathered it was a bad idea!” He snapped. “Sorry, just. Courting has changed so much.”

Natasha made a ‘go on’ gesture, a kernel of sympathy warring with her annoyance.

“It meant that I trusted them, to take care of themselves, that they didn't need me but chose me and allowed me to protect them. It..seemed fitting. He’s Iron Man. He can kick anyone’s ass, he's doesn't need an alpha to stand in front of him, but if he had accepted, he was allowing me to. At least, sometimes.”

It was sweet, Natasha thought. His gifts were well-thought out - for anyone but Tony Stark and his mountain of issues.

“Make him food.” She decided. She would see these two idiot boys together if it was the last thing she did.

“What?”

“Show him that you don't expect him to change anything about himself. He's afraid that an alpha would demand him to be a stereotypical omega. Barefoot, pregnant, staying behind and tending home. Make him a home-cooked meal.” She repeated. “Clean something for him. Unobtrusively. Get JARVIS to help you.”

“Having listened to this conversation, I would be more than happy to allow Mr. Barnes to further his courtship. I cannot promise him entrance to Sir’s private rooms but I can direct you to things that Sir might leave a mess and would have to clean up later,” JARVIS replied promptly.

“I'm so sorry, JARVIS.”

“I understand,” JARVIS said gently.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Certainly.”

“What... what meal or meals would he like?”

“Sir does not have particularly strong favorites. He does, however, has a fondness for pasta, of course, and chicken dishes.”

“Allergies?”

“Mint,” JARVIS replied.

Bucky shoved himself to his feet. “Well, I guess I'll go look up some recipes. And extravagant apology speeches.” He paused before leaving the room, and kissed Natasha on the head. “Thanks, Tasha.”

“Anytime. I love you both.” She gripped his hand. “Don't break his heart.”

Buck gave her hand a squeeze. “I'd rather rip mine out.”

Tony found a plate of chicken alfredo on his work table. He looked at it, a little confused, before shrugging. He was hungry. Taking a first bite, he almost cried. It was entirely homemade, sauce and pasta. He favored every bite, ignoring the to-do list behind him. Amazing pasta deserved his attention, even mysteriously appearing delicious pasta.

Three days later he trudged up to the library, intending to re-shelve the many books he had pulled out haphazardly yesterday and left strewn about. He was fairly certain there were pens and paper and small electronic components left around the books as well. He stopped dead in the door to the library. There were no books on the floor, and all the papers, pens, and components were neatly organized on the small table. “JARVIS?”

“Sir?”

“Am I hallucinating? Didn't I leave a mess here yesterday?”

“You did, yes Sir.”

Narrowing his eyes, he looked around the room as if someone was going to jump out and yell ‘gotcha’, but no one did. The scents in the room were a pleasing mix of all the Avengers, and he couldn't tell who had cleaned up after him. Gathering up the paper and electronics, he took them back downstairs to his workshop.

Over the next few weeks, he had been plied with several home-cooked meals, and had gone to clean up a mess he had made four times only to find the area as neat as a pin.

He wasn't sure what was going on.

Then he saw the wrapped box. His stomach knotted, especially after the past two offers.

He approached it as if it were a bomb, and carefully opened it. He wasn't sure if he was dreading this or pleased his suitor had continued on.

The box was very light. When he opened it, there was a single sheet of paper in it.

I want you exactly as you are. I don't need you to change anything about yourself. I trust you, and I want a past, present, and future with you.

The meals and cleaning up after him made so much more sense now.

A note was cheating, bending the rules a little bit, but when had Tony Stark ever listened to the rules?

Of course, people said that he didn't need to change and then had to deal with the full force of his personality, but it was a nice sentiment.

But... those other gifts. Rationally, he thought the camera most likely had nothing to do with the sex tapes. The gun, though, he couldn't think of a single reason as to why his anonymous suitor would have gifted him that.

Sighing, he looked at the sheet of paper again. I want you exactly as you are. Maybe he was naive, but that was just what he wanted. Someone who didn't want him to change.

He took the letter with him.

Tony closed the box, and wrapped it. “What do you think, JARVIS?”

“I think they'll be pleased, Sir.”

Suspicious, he shook a finger. “You know who they are!”

“Of course, Sir.”

Tony laughed. “Well, you haven't murdered them, so I guess that's a point in their column.” He looked back down at the wrapped box. “Well, let's go.”

He took the box up to the kitchen, and set it on the counter. He fidgeted around, opening doors and drawers, before finally making himself coffee and settling into the living room to not watch the movie playing on the TV.

There was a box in the kitchen. For him. He took a deep breath, then another.

Quietly, he picked it up and opened it. There was an Iron Man helmet in the box.

“That's who I am,” said a quiet voice behind him.

Bucky whirled, his heart pounding. He hadn't heard or smelled Tony come up behind him.

“I know.”

Those dark eyes regarded him. “Do you?”

“Yes.”

Tony watched him for a long time before finally speaking again. “The camera?”

“Past, present, and future,” Bucky replied promptly.

Tony nodded, but his eyes were still guarded. His scent was still wary. “And the gun.” It wasn’t a question.

Bucky winced. “I'm sorry.”

“Why?”

“In the- it's was meant to-” frustrated, Bucky shoved a hand through his hair. “That I trust you. You don't need me, you're choosing me. I didn't know, I'm so sorry.”

Tony’s scent relaxed a little bit, but he still looked wary.

Bucky wanted to cross the room and gather him into a hug, but didn't know if he would be welcome. “I'm so, so sorry,” he stressed. “I would never.”

Tony nodded, his posture relaxing finally. “You couldn't have known. I mean, you could have, maybe, but not really.”

“Still, I hurt you.” It was like a stone in his gut.

It was Tony who crossed the room to Bucky. He took Bucky’s hand.

“Yes, but you apologized. It's alright,” the omega said soothingly. “We’ll have to talk more, but it's okay, Bucky.” He gestured toward the box. “I accept, if you couldn't tell.”

A burst of warmth filled Bucky’s stomach. “Even though I fucked up big time..”

Tony’s smile filled his face. “We all fuck up. What matters is that we make up for it and continue working forward.”

There was a moment of hesitation, then Bucky swayed forward. “I'm going to kiss you. Is that okay?”

“Please!”

The scent of happy omega and happy alpha filled the room. This was only the beginning, a fragile beginning, but for right now, for this infinite moment, they were both perfectly happy.

Natasha walked into the room then turned right back around. Normally she would tease the kissing couple, but it was too early in their relationship for that. She would go bother Clint for coffee.

~Marie

#winteriron #tony x bucky #tony stark #bucky barnes #a/b/o dynamics #omega tony #alpha bucky #courting #prompts #mariesbookblog #Anonymous

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happyimagines · 7 years

Text

Avengers/Reader (Platonic)

Okay so I wrote a thing! Hope you guys like it!

(Queen of Geeks)

They say when you’re running in a race, don’t look back. By looking back, you see your opponent which can slow you down. But in my case, if I looked back, I would see a super soldier that will overlap me.

Again.

Steve, the super soldier in question ran past me with ease. And without a single bead of sweat going down his back or sticking his hair to his forehead. He stopped in front of the tower and put his hands on his hips as he waited for me to catch up.

I was able to join him before hunching over with my hands on my knees. Breathing heavily, I looked up at Steve who was watching me with concern.

“You okay, kid?”

“I’m not a super solider, nor a superspy.” I managed between gasps for air. “And this is why I like running with Sam.”

“Let’s get you inside before you pass out,” Steve put a hand on my shoulder. I stood straighter and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

“So what’re your plans for today?” He asked as we headed inside.

“Well, once I come back to life and air starts circulating through my lungs, I might hang out with Peter.”

Steve smirked at me and raised his eyebrows. “Might?”

“Yeah, it depends on what happens with him or Nat.” I shrugged my shoulders. When Steve gave me a look, I continued. “Nat might end up going to Bolivia last minute, and Peter might end up stopping a robbery or something. I mean, I’m not complaining, it’s just we both kind of have our own things.” I explained as we went into the elevator and it went up.”

“Sounds like everyone might be busy.” Steve noted. I nodded.

The elevator stopped on the communal floor and as the doors opened, I saw Peter talking to Tony. Both of them turned their heads to look at Steve and I. While Steve looked as if he could be on the cover of a sports magazine, my face was still flushed.

“What happened to you?” Tony asked.

“I went running with Captain Spangles and coughed up a lung.” I explained following Steve into the kitchen. Peter and Tony trailed in after. I gave Peter a smile as Steve pulled two bottles of water out the fridge. Steve tossed one of them to me and I caught it before taking the cap off.

“Any news from Nat?” I looked at Toy.

“About Bolivia?” He asked. I nodded. “She said she’d talk to you about that.”

Steve and Peter both looked at me. Nodding to them, I left the kitchen and went to my floor. My heart began beating faster. Before, the trip to the communal floor took no time. Except now it seemed to take forever. While I was a spy trained by SHIELD and Black Widow, there was something about missions that created nervous buzzes in my stomach. While the two of work with the Avengers, it still made me nervous.

The elevator doors opened and I stepped out onto my floor. Natasha was standing at the widow that overlooked the city and she turned to face me.

“Bolivia?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Actually, we have something more local.”

“More local? As in this country or the state? What happened to Bolivia?” I asked walking towards her.

“We had other agents sent out when we found out what’s going on here. Bolivia was small compared to what’s going on at the WARFs.”

“What did you find?”

“Weapons dealing, and by the looks of what we gathered, we’re dealing with nuclear weapons.”

“So the whole team’s going?”

“There’s tech that Stark needs to check out. We’re even bringing Parker.”

I nodded and ran my fingers through my sticky hair. It was damp with sweat.

Most foreign missions involved the entire team. Peter came along sometimes. Whenever we had something in the state, Peter was always there. With Hydra still a threat to everyone, it was always best to bring extra safety precautions.

I nodded to Natasha.

“Okay, let’s suit up.”

Everyone was briefed with the information soon after and went straight away to suit up. After, we all headed to the warehouses. Once there, we watched a few guards stationed outside, each of them armed. As we watched, Steve threw his shield taking out two of the agents. While we took out two, Sam swooped in and kicked another in chest. Once the coast was clear, Natasha and I left out spot.

In my comm, I heard Tony and Peter’s voices.

“We’re in number three,”

“There were two guards up here, it’s like they were expecting us.” Peter told me.

“They probably expected the Avengers, Black Widow and I are checking the first one with Falcon and Cap.” I replied as we went inside. There were a few guards that Natasha and I shot and a series of corridors that were built in.

Natasha, Steve, and Sam went their own ways leaving me to go mine. Keeping my gun ready, I turned down the corridor. There was movement as I passed another corridor and I turned before aiming and pointing at a Hydra member. I pulled the trigger and an electric bullet hit them in the chest. They fell to the ground and I slowly walked towards them.

“(Y/N)?” Peter asked.

“All good, just shot someone.” I nudged them with my foot.

“Is he dead?”

“I don’t think (Y/N) has ever killed anyone.” Clint added.

“I don’t’ want to kill anyone.” I pointed out.

Something moved near me and I heard yells before thuds.

Whirling around, I pointed my gun at Spider-Man. I lowered it realising it was him.

“Hey, sorry about that.” I told him.

“No problem, probably should’ve have dropped in on you,” He nodded.

“We should go,” I added.

“Right, be careful,” Peter told me before checking to see if it was clear.

There was silence which unnerved me. The usual crackle of the comm was gone and I was alone. Still checking everywhere, I walked down a corner and almost froze. Two agents were ready with their guns pointed. Before they could pull their triggers, I shot them both. But it was the beeping that caused the blood in my body to run cold.

“We have a problem.” I announced once the crackle of comm was back. “I found a bomb, everyone get out!”

I heard my name being yelled before the deafening explosion.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The beeping was constant, like a heartbeat that was steady. Realising where the sound was coming from, panic began seeping in.

Beepbeepbeepbeep.

The room was bright as I lay under bright white lights. I turned my head to see doctors with masks on. Each of them talking and then one realising I was watching.

“Get the mask on them,”

I tried pulling away and the heart rate monitor went crazy.

I opened my eyes and gasped at the sight of the lights above me. They were dimmer than before and I looked around. Everything before was an operating room, now, it was a room where patients recovered.

Feeling lightheaded, I pushed myself up into a sitting position as fast I could despite feeling the pinch of the IVs in my arms. I opened my mouth to speak; only no sound came out from my dry throat.

There were voices coming from the other side of the door of the room I was in. I tried catching what they were saying; only there were too many of them. The buzzing of the lights above me seemed louder as everything came into focus. Looking around the room, I saw that it was a normal hospital room.

A door opened and I turned my head to see Natasha. There was a bottle of water and a straw in her hand and she walked over to my bed.

“Hey, I thought you could do with some water,” She opened the bottle and straw and put the straw in before handing it to me. I took it from her and slowly drank some water.

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked sitting on my bed. I nodded and could tell there was something about her that seemed uneasy.

“Nat, is everything okay?” I asked, my voice still breaking.

“(Y/N), what do you remember?”

“I remember being at the warehouses, and everyone was there, and there was a, there was a bomb.”

“That was a year ago. You were caught in the explosion a year ago, but we couldn’t find your body. You’ve been missing for a year.”

(Let me know if you guys want a second part to this!)

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sometimesrosy · 7 years

Text

the 100 rewatch 1.10, I am become death.

Finn, Bellamy and Raven trying to lay blame on who is to fault for the failed peace meeting. Finn blames Bellamy. Bellamy blames Finn. Raven finds explosives. lol.

Jasper bragging about his bravery. Octavia rolling her eyes. Monty enjoying his fame. Something is out there, and a kid shoots. What do they find? Murphy. Panicked and tortured. I feel bad for him despite is reprehensible behavior. He was running from the grounders. Finn keeps Bellamy from killing Murphy. He says he knows things. Clarke confirms he was tortured and he told them everything. Clarke wants to get him better then he’ll tell them what he knows and if he won’t leave THEN they’ll kill him.

Sorry, Jasper’s being a prick. He thinks he’s better than Monty now, and Harper. Kids are like that sometimes. They act like pricks.

Oh Clarke’s bleeding from the eyes, so is Conor and the other guy, and Murphy. “Did he do something to you?” No. “Biological warfare.” Murphy’s the weapon. Clever twist, honestly. Bellamy still think it’s Murphy. He was angrier in season 1.

Finn grabs her again. “Don’t touch me, wash your hands, you’ll get sick.” (that’s the second time in two episodes he put his hands on her trying to get her to do what he wanted. I apologize to the Finn fans, but he’s starting to escalate his attempts to control her. It never works, but I don’t like it.

Octavia’s looking at Lincoln’s book and tries to hide it from him but he knows what she’s doing. Octavia doesn’t have the fever though. She’s going to keep her in the drop ship “Think of it as a way to keep her from sneaking out again.”

“Screw you Clarke.”

bellamy leaves.

“Octavia wait. I need you to sneak out again.” lol. pure comedy.

Lincoln tells O all about the sickness and the war and how he wants to stop it but he can’t and about the flokru.

The kids start panicking when some kids get sick. Gunplay. Finn is willing to sacrifice himself for Clarke, oh how romantic. Raven who?

Murphy gives up his hammock for Clarke. Murphy feels better. Octavia and Murphy play nurse. Finn says she doesn’t know him very well and Clarke says she knows him and passes out. He looks shook. All of a sudden he wants to blow up the bridge.

He finally figures out what Clarke likes. Workable solutions. Smarts. Strategy. Raven builds the bomb. With Finn’s plan. Finally he’s working with Bellamy.”If we do this and it doesn’t work. We’ll all be dead tomorrow.” Finn volunteers. “You won’t pick up a gun but blowing people up, that you’re okay with?” He thinks it’s a deterrent. Like a nuclear bomb. But Bellamy gets sick and Finn shows no concern, just needs someone to take the shot. He gets Jasper to do it.

“If you miss, and that bridge doesn’t blow, we’re all dead.”Conor scared of Murphy. He lies and says she shouldn’t be. Bellamy comes in puking blood. Sweet Blake sibling moment where he says he’s afraid and glad she’s there.

Finn finds Raven and the bomb gone. Monty gives Jasper snark for being a prick to him. Bellamy threatens Murphy. Clarke comforts Bellamy. They build all the character development in and around the action and trauma. No deep convos, just moments of connection, important lines of dialogue and significant looks.

“You trust murphy now?”

“Trust no? But I believe in second chances.” significant look towards bellamy. Bonding.

Finn and Jasper “We’re running towards the war drums? I hate this planet.” Funny with the fear.

Raven builds the bomb and collapses, ready to take her shot from a suicide distance. Finn comes running to the rescue.

Jasper tries to shoot and has a PTSD moment with the coming warriors. His gun jams too.

Monty comes running with a spare gun. He misses the first shot. “Did you not hear me say you got this?” MOnty’s moral support. He got this.

Bellamy and Clarke see the mushroom cloud. “He did it.”

“I am become death, destroyer or worlds.” “I know who oppenheimer is.” Significant work.

Octavia and Lincoln. “There’s so much you don’t understand. The mountain men will come and kill us all.” Tech. Octavia returns the journal and says good by, she won’t go with him. “They’re her people.” That’s significant because she never belonged before. Tear and cheek kiss. Goodbye.

Harper sees Monty and Jasper back victorious. “There it’s them! Open the gate.” Finn and Raven come back. Poor Clarke is sad. But she comes to care for Raven. Clarke leave and nods to Murphy, he done good, right? right? (Murphy always liked Clarke.) Raven tells Finn she’s done with him because he didn’t hesitate to risk his life for Clarke but he did hesitate for her. “Not the way that I want to be loved.” Raven deserves that kind of love. Wick gave it to her, but that didn’t work. I want her to get a love interest in s5 that loves her that way, and no one has yet.

Outside of the wall, Clarke sad about the 14 graves. Bellamy worried about Murphy. Both worried about mountain men. She wants to keep Murphy for manpower.

Murphy checks to make sure Raven is asleep then...suffocates Conor. Not redeemed yet. At all. “Bygones.”

#the 100 #the 100 rewatch #the 100 rewatch 2017 #i am become death

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