#movies to survive a quarantine

[thagomizersshow]

Ranting about how JP is not a good critique of capitalism made me want to talk about a sci-fi monster movie that is an excellent AND highly relevant exploration of anticapitalistic themes: Alien (1979).

First I want to say that if you haven’t seen Alien, please do so before I spoil it for you. It’s not just one of my all time favourites, but also one of the greatest pieces of science fiction ever created. For real, please go watch it.

The biological aspects of Alien are often the most talked about themes in the movie, which is fair, because they’re simultaneously very interesting and in-your-face. Most viewers remember the movie for the gory sexual imagery, not for an authentic depiction of class struggle. I actually wrote a video essay a while back that I never made about how our innate disgust and resulting fear of parasites/parasitoids is the primary driver behind the xenomorph’s ongoing popularity. I’m not immune to this aspect of Alien’s eternal intrigue, that’s for sure.

However, there’s one narrative element that makes Alien ripe for class analysis, especially today, and that is the film’s portrayal of artificial intelligence.

AI in Alien is consistently shown to be hostile to the crew, but not because of a glitch, like HAL in 2001: Space Odyssey, or because they decide to rise up against their oppressors, like in Terminator. No, what makes Ash, the android, and MOTHER, the ship’s AI, so threatening is that they are doing exactly what they were programmed to do — whatever it takes to ensure corporate interests. In this case, they are programmed to ensure the survival of an extraterrestrial monster at the cost of the crew.

The audience isn’t privy to all the things that Ash does to meet this goal, but at the very least he breaks quarantine protocols, does a shitty job of watching the facehugger, lets Kane join the rest of the crew for a meal (when they still don’t know what it did to him!), plays dumb once the xenomorph is on the loose, and attempts to murder Ripley when she discovers his mandate. If it weren’t for Ripley being a determined badass, Ash might’ve gone unnoticed until the whole crew was dead and the Weyland-Yutani Corporation had their mitts on the alien so they can cause another catastrophe.

This horror, that you will encounter AI whose programming doesn’t care if you live or die, is what makes Alien’s take on the subject so relevant. Dipshits like Elon Musk or some shitty tech journalist might try and convince us that ChatGBT scary because it can fake being human, as if Skynet is right around the corner.

No, the real horror of AI is that the people in power (our bosses, our politicians, etc.) are going to use it to exploit us, just like how they use everything else.

In the end, it takes being skeptical of things that seem trustworthy for Ripley to defeat Ash. The audience finds out from the Nostromo’s captain, Dallas, that Ash was a last minute addition to the crew, as chief science officer. This is a role that inherently engenders trustworthiness in the face of the unknown, especially for a crew that is basically a bunch of working joes. It’s not unbelievable to conceive this was purposeful by Weyland-Yutani to make Ash above suspicion. That, combined with literally naming the ship’s AI MOTHER, of all things, shows that the company is deliberately weaponizing aesthetics to foster a positive relationship between the crew and their AI agents.

Alien serves as a reminder to be vigilant as we enter the AI boom, because these programs will be used to exploit us, and corporations WILL try to cloak this purpose behind relatability, convenience, and trust. The AI we encounter is more likely to be Ash or MOTHER than it is to be Data or Skynet.

#alien #movies #crit post

[writerslittlelibrary]

I'll protect you

masterlist apocalypse au masterlist

part 1 part 2 part 3

summary: infected had been roaming the earth for years, and you, being born after the outbreak, just had to be special. what happens when a certain redhead finds out about your secret? (based on tlou part 2)

pairing: Natasha x teen reader

warnings: angst, guns, fighting, injuries

genre: angst

words: 5223

a/n: finally the apocalypse au is here!!! I’m pretty sure I’ll just make this a compilation of one shots rather than an actual story, but we’ll see :) 

(reader is basically Ellie, just with some big twists 🫣) 

(If you played tlou part 2, but haven't seen any mcu movies, it is still totally possible to read this fic, as Natasha will just be an unknown character for you. If you've seen the mcu movies, but haven't played tlou part 2, it might be a bit more confusing)

You do not have my permission to repost, copy or translate my work

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Natasha walked through the streets, her gun in her hand, ready to shoot anything and anyone that would dare come her way. She had been in Seattle for a while, and even though the streets were destroyed due to the bombings, a lot of the building were still standing. They were probably fragile and looked extremely unstable, but they were still there. 

She carefully entered an apartment building, scared to get either jumped by Scars or Wolves again. She had run into both of them before, and she wasn’t much of a fan. 

Her shoulder still hurt from the arrow that Scar shot her with…

After going up the floors slowly, ensuring the hallways and rooms were clear, she found a stable, and somewhat clean looking room almost all the way at the top. The stairs were blocked, keeping her from going further up, and keeping others from being able to sneak up on her. 

The only entrance to the floor was the stairway, and that was exactly how Natasha liked it. 

She checked the room one more time before setting her backpack down next to a sleeping bag on the floor.

She checked the sleeping bag over, and it didn’t take long for her to realise it had recently been slept on. She reached for her gun immediately, keeping it close to her, and she searched through the room for supplies or a bag of any kind. 

It didn’t take long before she found one. An army green bag was stashed into a small hole under the desk. It was obvious someone tried their best to hide it. 

Natasha looked through the bag, finding nothing that she didn’t already have. Once she checked the smaller compartment, her heart stopped for a second. She had found a stuffed animal. The bag belonged to a child…

Natasha dug through the bag a little better, finding an old, damaged notebook. It had clearly been used a lot, and Natasha admired the artwork as she flipped through the pages. 

“Drop it,” a voice behind her suddenly said, and Natasha could hear a gun being loaded. She carefully laid the notebook down, raising her hands and turning around to face to gun. Turning around to face you. You were just a child…

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Walking around the city was boring, especially because you had to stay hidden and on the look-out for Scars and Wolves. Moving around the city was a lot harder and went a lot slower with those guys around. 

You had met some of the Wolves years ago, when they still called themselves the Fireflies and were on some holy mission to make a cure for all of humanity.

You never bought their shit, and even though you grew up in a QZ, close to a Firefly nest, you never believed for even a second that a cure could ever be made. That was, of course, until you got bitten, and you survived. 

You had tried to get out of the QZ, wanting to leave the quarantine zone and explore the world by yourself. You hated living in the QZ. It may have been safe, but it was far from ideal. 

When you left, you had to go past hundreds of soldiers, making your escape a whole lot more difficult. Luckily you had always been good at sneaking around, being quiet and not making a sound. 

Once you were out of the QZ, it didn’t take long before you ran into a hoard of infected, and when you managed to only kill a few, due to your bullets running out, you had tried to run, fighting off any infected that came at you with your knife. You were pretty successful, apart from the fact that one of the Clickers had managed to bite your arm. 

You were upset to say the least, and frustrated that you had been so stupid to leave a safe place for some idiot adventure. You spend what you thought was your last two days in an apartment you found.

You didn’t want to turn, but you were out of bullets and you were to afraid to kill yourself with your knife, so you didn’t, instead settling on just waiting it out.

After waiting two or three days, you still hadn’t turned, and after inspecting the bite, you settled on the fact that it had not gotten worse over the days. The infection seemed to have stopped, and even though you were confused, you didn’t really question it.

After travelling around on your own for a while, you were found by a group of Fireflies, who, during a medical check-up you had no say in, discovered your bite mark.

They locked you up, performing all kinds of tests to make sure you were still sharp and alert. Eventually, after about a week, they settled on the idea that you were not going to turn, and that you could be the answer to making a cure. 

You didn’t really know what that meant, and you didn’t really care as you were finally allowed to get out of the chains and go to an actual room. 

Occasionally, Fireflies would enter your room to perform some more tests, taking your blood and asking follow up question on what exactly happened, and what you did after you were bit. You didn’t really bother to question them, because if you were actually the key to making a cure, you would want nothing more than your life to mean something. 

You were only 12 when you got to the Fireflies, and you hadn’t met a single Firefly that was around your age. That was, until a 16-year-old girl snuck into your room. 

Her name was Abby, and she told you she was the daughter of the doctor who could make a cure. She became your best friend, and she was there for you when the Fireflies announced you had to go into surgery. Dr. Anderson assured you everything would be fine, and after the surgery a cure would exist. 

What he failed to mention, however, was that making a cure would cost you your life. 

You didn’t know that, of course, nor did Abby, as she walked with you to the operating room, trying to help calm your nerves. 

You were scared, and you didn’t really had a good feeling about the situation, but you didn’t really bother to question it, knowing the only goal the Fireflies had was to make a cure. They wouldn’t endanger your life, would they?

It was Abby who killed her own father that day. It was Abby who got you out of that hospital. It was Abby that helped you run as the Fireflies hunted you down. 

No one knew it had been Abby, except for you, and her father as he laid dead on the floor of the surgery room. 

Abby found out you wouldn’t survive the surgery, and she had asked the other Fireflies if you knew that. They lied and told Abby you did, and that you were still okay with it. Abby knew you better then that, and she knew you would never lay down your life for the possibility of making a cure. 

When Abby discovered you weren’t the first immune person the Fireflies had tried to make a cure with, she was furious, knowing you were just another experiment to them. You weren’t going to survive the surgery, and the chance of making a cure was near to zero. 

And so, Abby had made the hard call to try and safe you, even if it meant going against her own father to do so. She had told him to let you go, but he threatened her, saying the surgery was the only hope humanity had left. It was one of the hardest things Abby had ever done, but she was determined to safe your life.

After you two had left the hospital, she drove you far away from it, heading for Seattle. 

You two stayed in Seattle for a while, but it didn’t take long until you were kidnapped by the main group inhabitating it. 

The Wolves.

The Wolves had tried to get you on their side, but you simply refused, all the while Abby was pretty quickly convinced with everything they were offering. They had food, apartments, safe places to stay and work, and even schools. 

Abby had tried everything to get you to stay, but you had simply refused, saying you were afraid they’d find out about your immunity and they’d try to kill you to.

You simply didn’t trust them, and so, you and Abby went separate ways. 

You were 14 when you found Jackson, a town not to far from Seattle. They had taken you in and cared for you, and when Joel found out about your immunity while seeing you breathe spores on patrol, they hadn’t tried to kill you. 

Joel, Tommy and Maria were the only ones that knew about your immunity, and they kept it a secret as they helped you hide it.

Joel helped you when you tried to hide the bite with a chemical burn, and a girl from Jackson had given you a tattoo to cover that scar. You were pretty happy with how it turned out. It was safe and hidden, not to mention it looking absolutely badass. 

When you were 15 and a half, someone in the town had information of trading with an outsider group. They told you they wanted information on one of their deserters, and when you heard it was about a blonde, muscular woman around 20, you knew you had to go look for her. Abby was there when you needed her, and now you wanted to return the favour.

That’s how you ended up in Seattle, staying in the apartments high of the grounds, away from the floods and the Wolves and you avoided the Scars high up in the air.

You had been in Seattle for a least 6 months now, and you were yet to find Abby, although you were certain you were getting closer. You had gotten multiple leads of the scars looking for a woman that fit her description. 

What on earth had Abby gotten herself into this time? Not only the Wolves, but the Scars were looking for her as well.

That’s how you ended up in this position, gun pointed at the red-headed woman as she stood there with your stuff in her hands. 

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“What are you doing here?” you demanded, and Natasha tried her best to give you a reassuring smile. “I’m not here to hurt you, I promise,” she explained, but you kept the gun pointed. 

“I don’t mean you any harm. Do you think you can put the gun down?” Natasha asked you, but you just shook your head.

“How did you find this place?” you asked her, keeping the gun pointed at her head. 

“I just stumbled across it-”  

“Did the Wolves send you?” you interrupted her, and Natasha looked confused for a second before realising you must’ve ran away from the Wolves. She shook her head. 

“I swear I was just passing through, looking for a place to stay for the night,” she explained, carefully taking a small step closer. “You can trust me, I promise. I’m not going to hurt you,” she assured you, but you were careful to believe her.

“Why on earth should I believe you?” you asked her, yet Natasha merely shrugged. 

“I’m not a Wolf, and my face isn’t covered in scars,” Natasha reasoned, and you looked her over before slowly lowering you gun, keeping it loaded just to be sure. 

“I’m Natasha,” Natasha said as she slowly lowered her hands. “What’s your name?” “y/n” you told her, and Natasha smiled at you. “That’s a beautiful name. How long have you been here?” she asked, and you merely shrugged. 

“I dunno. I don’t care. I’m just passing through,” you said, repeating what Natasha had said just now, and watching as a smirk formed on her face. 

“Just passing through huh? You seem to be on incredibly high alert for someone who’s just passing through. Why would the Wolves have send me? Are they looking for you?” Natasha pushed, wanting to know what you could possibly be doing in one of the most dangerous cities she had crossed. 

You simply shook your head, putting the safety of your gun back on and putting it away in your belt. “You’re good with asking questions, but I’m not stupid,” you told her, taking a step closer and walking around her. 

Natasha seemed to get the hint, and she moved around you as well, taking a step away from your stuff and letting you put it back in your bag.  

“What are you doing here, all on your own?” she then asked you, and you smirked slightly as you shook your head. “Just passing through, like I said.” 

Natasha smirked at your stubbornness, before deciding to open up herself, hoping that would help you trust her. “I’m looking for my sister. The last message I got from her came from Seattle,” Natasha explained, and you stopped packing your bag for a moment as you looked at Natasha, confused as to why she’d tell you such a thing.

“Are you looking for someone too?” Natasha urged, and you sighed slightly as you finished stuffing your objects in your bag.

“Maybe your sister joined the Wolves. You aren’t allowed to have any contact after that,” you explained, and Natasha simply nodded, thinking for a moment before speaking again. 

“Did the person that you’re looking for join the Wolves?” she asked, and you looked down, not knowing what to say. “Maybe we can help each other,” Natasha suggested, and you looked at her confused. 

“Why would I trust you?” you asked her, and Natasha merely shrugged. 

“If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it by now,” she told you, and you glanced at the gun strapped to her thigh.

“Fair point,” you told her, walking to the desk and using a key to open the top drawer, taking out some bullets and medicine. 

“So that’s where you hid the useful stuff? Smart,” Natasha commented as she watched you load your stuff into your bag, making sure to keep her distance. “Are you planning on moving locations?” Natasha asked you, and you nodded.

“Scars build bridges high up to get around the Wolves and the flood. I’ve been using the bridges as well, but sometimes they sent patrols through the routes. The patrols are always small, yet I still don’t want to be here when they arrive,” you explained, walking to the door and checking if it was clear.

“Can I come with you?” Natasha asked, and you looked at her for a moment, contemplating on letting her go with you.

You didn’t really trust her, how could you, you just met. Yet you also didn’t get a bad feeling with her, and you liked that. You simply nodded at her question, and Natasha smiled as she took out her gun. 

“Did you see anyone come up here when you did?” Natasha asked, scanning the halls. 

You shook your head, taking the safety off your gun as you walked to the stairway.

When you made it to the stairway, you spotted seven figures on one of the bridges, heading straight towards your location. 

“I do now,” you said as you motioned for the group of Scars approaching you. 

“What do we do? This is the only way down?” Natasha asked as she loaded her own gun.

“Not exactly…” you told her, pointing to the other side of the hall. “There’s a stairway over there, and it’s never used by Scars…” you explained as you trailed off, checking the location of the patrol group before making your way towards it.

“Why do you say that with such hesitance?” Natasha asked, and you made an awkward face as you opened the doors.

Clickers could be heard coming from every direction, and Natasha grimaced as she realised that was your only way out. “Can you be quiet?” you asked her, and Natasha nodded as she screwed a silencer on her gun. She handed one to you, and you took it gratefully as you screwed it on your own gun.

You were so screwed…

-------------------------------------------------------------

After you and Natasha had cleared one floor, avoiding the Clickers and only taking out the Runners, you had made it to a second floor.

The only problem, you could see the amount of spores floating around through the small glass window in the door. Natasha took out her mask, but you didn’t, as you didn’t have one. 

“You don’t have a mask?” Natasha asked you as you slowly shook your head, not wanting to tell her about your immunity, but not really seeing any other option than to go through the spores. 

“It’ll be fine,” you assured her, but before you could open the door, Natasha grabbed your arm. 

“That many spores will take you life within seconds,” you told you, and you gave her a small smile. “Trust me, it won’t,” you told her as you opened the door, walking inside and breathing in the spores. 

Natasha was beyond confused, but when you didn’t start coughing she decided not to question it until after you had gotten out of the building. 

You and Natasha made your way across the floor, mindful of any Clickers that may have been on it, yet the only infected you had seen were the two Bloaters in the hallway. They were easily avoidable, but perhaps you had spoken too soon as you got jumped from the side, a Stalker on top of you, trying to bite you. 

You panicked and tried to fight it off, the commotion only alerting the two Bloaters as they now headed for the room you were in. 

For a second you thought Natasha had abandoned you to safe her own life, but that thought soon left your head as the Stalker’s limp body fell on top of you, a bullet hole straight through it’s skull.  

“Come on!” Natasha yelled as she pushed the Stalker off of you, grabbing your hand and dragging you to your feet, running to the nearest door and trying to open it.

“BLOATERS!” you yelled as you shot at the two infected behind you. The Bloaters were getting closer and closer, and yet Natasha could not get the door open.

“We’re gonna fucking die!” you yelled. 

“Like hell we are!” Natasha yelled back as she finally pushed the door open, pulling you through it and immediately barracting it from the inside. The two Bloaters ran against the door, and a loud ‘bonk’ could be heard as they tried to push it open. 

You leaned against the wall, hunched forward with a hand on your chest, trying to steady your breath. 

“You okay?” Natasha asked as she tried to catch her breath herself, already checking on which way you could go. You tried to speak, but you were breathing so heavily you opted to just raise your thumbs. 

“Why don’t the spores bother you?” Natasha then asked, and you looked up, surprised she asked so kindly. 

You simply shrugged, wanting to put off telling her about your immunity for as long as possible. “I just saw you breath enough spores to take down a dozen men! Yet you seem to be fine,” Natasha stated, and you sighed. 

“Spores just don’t bother me,” you told her, and she looked at you sceptically, wanting to continue looking for an answer, but when the doors started to get dents from the Bloaters running in to them so often, she decided against it, instead deciding to try and get down to the street as fast as possible. 

“We can move through here, but it’s gonna be a bit of a squeeze,” Natasha said as she pushed a fallen closet away from an opening. 

“I hope you’re not claustrophobic,” she then said, inspecting the small opening. 

You walked towards her, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I can fit,” you told her, and she nodded. 

“I’ll go first,” Natasha said as she pushed herself through the opening, turning back to you. “Try to stay close,” she told you, and you nodded. 

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” you told her before taking a deep breath in, squeezing yourself into the opening. “Cozy,” you mentioned, and you heard Natasha let out a little chuckle. 

“Let’s just go and get out of here as soon as possible,” Natasha said as she continued walking.

The two of you were going at a slow pace, but you were moving forward. That was until the ground beneath you became unstable, and after hearing a few cracks here and there, the ground gave up completely, sending you and Natasha tumbling to the floor below you. 

But the fall wasn’t one floor, or two. You fell three floors down until your back collided with the ground, and some of the rubble fell on top of you.

Natasha fell down next to you, she herself being seemingly fine. 

After a second of laying there, groaning on the floor, you heard growling and screaming coming from beside you. 

You turned to look at it, and when you did, you immediately regretted it. It looked like a Shambler, but even more mutated. There were arms and feet and heads sticking out everywhere, and you couldn’t even tell where the head of the original person was. 

It came running at you with an incredible speed, and while you tried your best to get the rubble off of you, Natasha scrambled up to help you, running towards you as fast as she could to help you get the rubble off. 

Once the mutated infected got to close, Natasha turned around, shooting it a few times, but it wouldn’t die. It didn’t even look bothered by the bullets Natasha impaled it with. 

You frantically tried to get the wooden planks and rubble from you, nearly crying when you realised you weren’t strong enough, and the mutated infected would probably get you. It came closer, and Natasha fell backwards as she kept shooting it. 

Once it got too close, the weight of you three and the rubble pushed the floor to collapse, making you all fall another floor down. 

Once you hit the floor, the rubble landed next to you, and Natasha helped you get up and dragged you as she ran to a place to hide. You both had landed in some sort of parking garage, a layer of water and old cars filling the space. The infected, which you had decided to call the Rat King, was quick to scramble to its feet, growling as it started to walk around, trying to find you two. 

“Are you alright?’’ Natasha whispered, her hand still on your shoulder as you both crouched down behind the car. 

You nodded, yet flinched slightly when you heard the Rat King growling. 

“What the hell is that thing?” you whispered back, and Natasha shrugged a little while glancing over the car, wanting to get the Rat King in her vision. 

“I have never seen anything like it before,” she told you. “It’s like it’s three infected grown into one…” Natasha trailed off, pulling you out of the hiding spot and out of the way, just seconds before the Rat King slammed itself into the car you had hid behind. 

Natasha started running, dragging you with her as she ran towards a wall, pushing you behind it. 

“Try and find a way out. I’ll distract it!” she told you, pulling out a gun as she started shooting at it. The Rat King seemed affected by the gun she used now, and it seemed stunned for a few seconds before it continued it’s way towards you two. 

You turned around, running towards the wall of the parking garage, hoping you could try and climb out that way. You didn’t find an opening, and you were about to climb up when you heard Natasha yell to turn around. You did, and the Rat King was charging straight at you, growling and extending one of it’s many hands. 

You ducked, running towards Natasha as she pushed you behind her, continuing to shoot at the Rat King. 

The Rat King stopped for a moment, a part of him ripping off, and a Stalker fell off. It ran towards a car, hiding behind it. The Rat King itself quickly regained it’s posture, charging back at you. You shuddered, standing behind Natasha closely as she kept shooting at the Rat King. 

You could have cried. You were absolutely terrified and it just kept going. It didn’t look like the Rat King had even suffered any amount of damage. 

“Keep looking!” Natasha yelled, and you took another look at the Rat King before turning to the other end of the parking garage, trying to see if you could find an opening there. You heard Natasha’s gun firing, and before you could even reach the wall, the stalker from before jumped you from the side, taking you down to the ground. 

You couldn’t move for a moment, the shock making panic run through your body. Once you regained your ability to think, you reached for you knife, stabbing the stalker in the head and killing it. 

You stood back up, using a car to climb on top of a truck, making you stand high enough to reach the ceiling. 

You found a vent, pushing some of the rubble away and finding a way to climb through. 

“Over here!” you yelled at Natasha, looking at her as she was still shooting. How many bullets did she even carry with her? Seeing Natasha trapped in a corner, you took out your own gun, shooting at the Rat King. The moment your first bullet collided with the Rat King, it turned around, facing you.

It started walking towards you now, and you froze as you kept shooting. It got awfully close until, suddenly, it stopped moving, falling to the ground. 

It groaned and screamed and moved for a few moments, until it finally settled, giving you and Natasha time to breath. You fell to your knees, moving into a sitting position to catch your breath. That thing must’ve been the scariest thing you had ever seen. 

Natasha quickly came towards you, climbing the truck and kneeling next to you. 

She laid her hand on your back, her other hand coming up to your cheek to turn you face towards her. “Are you okay, did it get you?” she asked you, and you shook you head as you closed your eyes. 

“What the fuck was that thing?” you asked her, and she shook her head as she replied. “I have no idea. I’ve never seen anything like it. It looked to be some mutated version of a Shambler.” 

You nodded, sighing deeply. 

“Maybe that was patient zero?...” you thought aloud, and Natasha seemed to think for a moment before looking at you. 

“Maybe, we are close to a hospital,” Natasha confirmed, and you nodded. 

“Let’s hope we never run into such a thing ever again,” you mentioned, and this time Natasha nodded. “I found some vents, maybe we can get out through there,” you said, pointing towards the opening.

Natasha stood up, walking towards the vent and glancing inside, shining a flashlight in it to get a better look. 

“It looks clear, and it’s probably the best shot we got at getting out of here,” Natasha confirmed, and you nodded as you stood up too, walking towards her. You looked around the parking garage one more time, confirming that there was no other way to get out.

When you turned around, Natasha motioned for you to get in first. You turned on your flashlight and crawled in, feeling even more squished than before. 

After crawling for a little while, you finally found daylight, pushing the vent at the outside away and crawling out. 

“Fucking hell,” you stated as you stretched, immediately recognising the three figures that were standing close by as Wolves. When Natasha crawled out as well, you pulled her up at her arm as fast as possible, ducking behind a crumbled stone wall. 

“This day just keeps getting better,” you mentioned as you reached for your gun once more, ready to take the Wolves out if they got to close. 

“Let’s try and get around them,” Natasha said as she laid her hand on your arm, pushing it down. “If they see us, we’ll just draw more of them,” she stated, and you nodded as you put your gun in your belt.

“What’s your plan?” you asked Natasha, and she thought for a moment before pointing towards a street. “We make it over there, follow the road down and we’ll get to a movie theatre. We can rest up there,” Natasha explained, and you looked at her sceptically. 

“Are you sure?” you asked her, and she nodded. 

“I’ve been staying there for a few days before I tried to make it further into the city,” Natasha explained, reaching for her silenced gun. 

You reached for yours too, and Natasha laid her hand on yours again. “Only for emergencies,” she stated, and you nodded as you loaded it. 

“I’m almost out anyway,” you told her, and Natasha checked her gun, mentioning that she was almost out as well.

“We’ll just try and not kill anybody then,” Natasha stated, as she checked the position of the Wolves before moving towards a cafe, climbing through an open window and disappearing behind it. 

You checked over your shoulder, seeing the Wolves still looking the other way, before you too moved towards the cafe, following Natasha’s movements. 

Moving through the cafe, staying low, Natasha led you to the back door, going through it and sneaking to the next building. You could hear the Wolves talking, but so far they seemed to be oblivious to the fact they were being watched. 

You and Natasha made it all the way to the end of the street, and you didn’t appear to have been followed when you looked back. 

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After walking a few blocks, you two finally arrived at the movie theatre. You two got inside, barricading the door and plopping down on a couch, finally being able to catch your breath. 

You sat down on the couch, dropping your bag at your feet as you sat back, exhausted from the days happenings. Natasha on the other hand, was still standing, telling you she was gonna try and find if the electricity was still working. 

You acknowledged her words, laying back on the couch. 

After a few minutes, the lights turned on, and you knew Natasha must’ve found some generator. 

Natasha made her way back towards you, setting her own stuff by the couch in front of you. 

“We can stay here for the night,” Natasha stated, sitting down on her own couch. You nodded, to tired to respond. 

Natasha chuckled, seeing your exhausted state and deciding not to push you to talk anymore. 

“Get some sleep,” she simply said, and you hummed in acknowledgement as you let sleep overtake you. Natasha laid down on the couch as well, she herself following close behind.

part 2

Permanent tags: @marvelnatasha12346 @lesbionion @nova-kyle @darkstar225 @saraaahsstuff @marvelwomenarehot0 @screechcat @slut4johansson

#black widow #marvel #natasha x reader #mcu #avengers #natasha romanoff #natasha x reader platonic #natasha x teen reader #natasha romanoff x teen reader #natasha romanoff x daughter #natasha romanoff x reader platonic #tlou #abby anderson #tlou2 #ellie tlou #abby tlou #joel tlou #tlou x mcu #post apocalyptic #apocalypse #apocalypse au #alternate universe

[theresattrpgforthat]

would you happen to know about any ttrpg that could run/emulate the tone of STALKER/Annihilation?

Frail humain beings entering a Fucked Up Zone with the intent if reaching the center and things getting weirder and more dangerous the farther they go in?

THEME: Eerie Fucked Up Settings

Friend I have some truly excellent games for you this week.

TRESPASSER, by Binary Star Games.

The Zone is an area that's been sealed off by a nation or group of nations due to its danger. It's filled with Anomalies, extremely dangerous areas where physical laws like gravity, magnetism, electricity, or chemistry can break down to lethal effect, as well as mutants and things considered impossible.

Like many, you have entered the Zone, but not legally. You are collectively known as Trespassers. Some inside are on their own, some in groups, some part of larger factions. But most want one thing: to reach the centre and claim what it conceals.

This game can accommodate a GM but it isn’t necessary - in fact, you can even play it solo! As this game is inspired by STALKER, I think it’s going to really give you the vibe you’re going for. Troubles in Breathless games escalate as you play, so the longer you stay in The Zone, the worse things are going to get. I definitely recommend checking out this game!

BLOOM, by Litza Bronwyn.

BLOOM is a solo gmless journaling game in which you play a teenage girl trapped in quarantine at a boarding school on an island infected by the Tox, a plague that makes the trees and animals grow huge and hungry, and mutates your body in strange and horrific ways. In it, you will draw cards and write journal entries based on specific prompts in order to craft a story of survival and love.

I’ve read the book Wilder Girls by Rory Power, and it has a lot of the same themes as Annihilation and STALKER, so it might fit the niche you’re looking for. As a solo game, this uses the Wretched & Alone SRD, so you’ll probably want a Jenga tower, and you’ll definitely want a deck of cards.

Navigator, by Micheal Klamerus.

Navigator is a two-player tabletop rpg created for the Just the Two of Us Jam. It's inspired by the movie Stalker and the games Alone Among the Stars, Memoirs of a Barbarian and Thirst.

In this game two players journey into a mysterious, restricted site known as the Zone to find a room rumoured to grant people their innermost desires. One player is The Client, a person who wants to find this room and have their wish granted, and the other player is The Navigator, a person with previous experience navigating the Zone that has been hired by The Client to help them find the Room.

This game is definitely inspired by media such as STALKER, but it doesn’t have to be inspired by that. When I played this game, we decided to go for something a bit more fantastical, but if you and the person you play this with agree on the same inspiration, you should have no trouble experiencing this as an eerie, unnerving, dangerous setting.

Exclusion Zone Botanist, by Exeunt Press.

YOU ARE AN EXCLUSION ZONE BOTANIST. GET IN. DISCOVER AND DOCUMENT. GET OUT.

Another one for the solo enthusiasts, and it’s inspired by Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation. Your character is specifically looking for plants, which you will locate by rolling 2d6. You get a little hex map to track your progress as you play. As you go, you risk being influenced by the corruption of the zone. Your goal is to document as many plants as possible before you become the forest - because if you are corrupted too much, they can’t pull you out. A delightfully time-sensitive game.

The Zone, by Laughing Kaiju.

The digital tabletop storygame of magical realism, mutant weirdness, and collaborative self-destruction.

This is a really cool digital ttrpg, with a physical version on the way. You can play solo or multiplayer, and the website will guide you through play step by step. The game is meant to be collaborative, so everyone will have moments where they direct play. The author also encourages you to play to lose - this is a tragic game, a horror game. The game itself uses a number of cards representing locations, laid out in a spiral to form an abstract sort of map. Each location will have its own scene, probably more. And rather than rolling dice to resolve tasks, you choose whether something is easily doable, or not-so-easy - in which case you pull from a deck. This is where the mutations may come from.

If you are interested in the physical version of this game, they’re currently taking pre-orders on Backerkit!

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #dnd #game recommendations #asks #STALKER #annihilation #horror

[justanamesstuff]

Chapter 1

Seasons

Matty Healy x f!reader

A/N: Hiii guys, I'm so nervous for this BUT very excited too!! I hope you like it <3

Warnings: swearing a bit?, typos maybe.

Word count: 3 K

MASTERLIST TAGLIST

Every season has its colours, has its smells, has its traditions. Like every season, this love has its particularities…

Around November of 2020, England

“Matty- Oh my god!!“ 

The constant banging on her wall and the high-pitched moaning at the other side woke Y/n up. Quickly, she took her pillow and placed it on top of her face, trying to muffle the horrible sounds reaching her ears. ‘God, is she having a good time? Or he’s killing her?’, the thought crossed the girl's mind. 

Most of the time they weren’t that loud, but during that morning they just seemed to not care.

It was useless, the sounds were getting louder and louder. Y/n couldn’t bear with it any more and knowing that even if they –luckily– stopped she wouldn’t come back to sleep. So, Y/n decided to go downstairs. Maybe one of the guys was making breakfast, which would help with the awful start of her day.

Her prayers weren’t heard. The kitchen was empty and no breakfast was made. She tried to cheer up a little, because Y/n needed to survive the day. To be honest, every day and morning it was getting harder and harder.

After a quiet but long sigh, Y/n started cooking for everyone. Nothing unusual since she tried to do it most of the mornings in exchange for their generosity letting her stay at the boys' studio –which was half Matty’s house as well. Spending the quarantine rent-free with them, listening how they recorded the new album and messing around was a true blessing if she tried to focus on the bright side of everything. 

Well, they kind of forced her because they were very against Y/n spending those months alone in her flat. The boys cared about the girl as a best friend and as a sister too. They were a bunch of drama queens most of the time, but deep down Y/n was enormously grateful with/for them.

Thinking about the first months, Y/n couldn’t deny those were amazing. The entire group spent a lot of quality time, doing the stupidest challenges, doing Instagram lives for the fans, watching a lot of movies, etc. Although everything took a turn when another person joined the party. When Nadia arrived.

It wasn’t like Y/n hated her, in fact, it was the opposite which created a big dilemma for her. Matty’s girlfriend was nice and the idea of having another girl was actually  comforting during the tough times. But Y/n wasn’t so fond of the situation for other reasons.

For a period –a very long one– if you asked her, she endured with it and put on her best –fake– happy face. Y/n’s acting talents were very handy at times. Although, her true feelings were still there, underneath the surface, where no one can notice them. Specially Matty.

 Time went by and the whole thing was making her more anxious, and although the idea of leaving crippled into her mind at every minute, she couldn’t really decide. Y/n didn’t want to leave but watching Matty 24/7 attached to the other girl’s side was taking the best of her mental health.

Y/n’s mind was running fast with thoughts while she cooked, which made her subconsciously ignore the tall man coming down after he heard movement downstairs. George watched his friend move around, knowing more than anyone in the house about her sorrows. George was probably the closest to her out of the four guys. He was the only one who knew all of her secrets and kept it secured as if it was his own.

The drummer stared at her, expecting for Y/n to notice him, but he acknowledged that the girl was in another dimension. She used to do that more than she liked to admit. George could bet ‘the morning moaning festival’ taking place half an hour prior was the main reason.

Y/n finished cooking a big amount of scrambled eggs and turned searching for a plate when she saw George standing in the partially lighted corridor. “Fuck G! You scared the shit out of me!” she exclaimed while resting a hand on her chest.

“Sorry!” the big man shrugged his shoulders. “Didn’t mean to scare you, love.” he apologized, approaching his best friend. “Good morning.” he greeted her properly, and she huffed.

“Good morning to you.” Y/n answered sarcastically after G placed a kiss on top of her head. 

“So, you heard, huh?”

“I can’t stand it any more, G.” she let him know. “It’s just a lot.” she continued, lowering her voice scared another of the boys could hear her.

“I know, love.” the drummer said with an apologetic expression. “But the lockdown is nearly over, and y’know none of us would like you to go.” G said as he searched for mugs.

“Why not? It’s my life, my freedom!” Y/n protested, starting to get annoyed. “It’s getting worse every day…” Y/n desperately moved her hands in the air trying to prove her point.

“Believe me… I know!” George searched for her eyes, keeping eye contact when Y/n looked back at him, waiting for his next words. “I’m not in your…situation, but I’m getting a little annoyed too.” G agreed with her.

“Yes, but it’s his house. He can do whatever he wants…”

“I half agree.” G nodded. “This might be his house, but it’s the place we choose as a studio, so for the time being its our place too…yours too!” George continued rambling, filling the mugs with hot water. “So, they need to stop with the noises.”

A comfortable silence fell between them until Y/n broke it again thinking out loud.

“What the hell can I do?” 

“About what?” A third voice came from the hallway. Matty made his entrance wearing a tired expression matching his gray sweatpants and plain shirt. He approached Y/n, leaving her a kiss on her right cheek. “What can you do about what, love?” he rephrased his question. 

“I- It’s nothing — Morning” she said without looking at him, instead walking towards the table bringing a mug with her.

“There must be something. You sounded worried.” Matty insisted.

“It’s something between Y/n and I, mate.” George said in a joking way, trying to distract him. “Something between best pals, you wouldn’t understand it.” he stated, rounding Y/n with his left arm meanwhile he winked at Matty taking a sip of his morning tea.

“Fuck off!” Matty protested. They usually have a competition about the title which Y/n find equally lame and cute. She easily felt the tension leaving her shoulders, relaxing thanks to their stupid discussion, knowing that for now Matty dropped his interrogation.

“Tell him, darling!” G urged her.

“It’s too early for this fight. Shut up and sit. I’ll bring the cutlery.” Y/n said, detaching herself from George. 

“Y/n is just too nice to tell ya, mate. She loves me more.” the singer continued joking, obviously unaware of the real implication of his words.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Matty.” George answered, sitting at his usual spot at the table.

“Who was the beautiful soul that made breakfast?” Ross entered the kitchen and stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes and inhaling dramatically.

“You know the answer.” John teased as he appeared from behind Ross. “You know you don’t have to, Y/n.” the musician approached her and helped with the forks and knives.

“Yes, for the hundred times…I know, John.” she looked at him. “But we all know that I would feel guilty since you all never let me pay for anything.”

“Because you don’t have to pay us, love.” Matty said from his place at the table with his sight fixed on his phone. He and the damn nicknames.

“But- “

“No but’s, Y/n. We’re happy to have you here!” Ross said as they all sat around the table.

They were serving breakfast when the conversation took another direction -something about the coronavirus and all of that. At the same time, the last resident of the house made her entrance.

Y/n sometimes envied her. Matty’s girlfriend always looked immaculate to a point that you could never think she just woke up. Y/n knew comparisons were wrong, but it was hard to avoid them. The girl felt awful: her hair was all tangled in a messy bun on the top of her head; only wearing an old t-shirt -from a not so famous band--and a pair of pyjamas short; and she was not wearing any makeup meanwhile she stuffed her breakfast on her face.

Nadia was all classy and perfect, the opposite of Y/n. Maybe that’s why he chose her and not his best friend. Y/n knew thinking like that was also wrong, yet again she couldn’t help it.

Y/n witnessed how Nadia greeted everyone and sat beside Matty, flashing him a cute smile he returned. They were in love, and it was obvious to everyone. Y/n was so happy for her best friend to find someone who loved him, although for many years she hoped that person would be her. For years, Y/n hoped Matty noticed her more than a mate.

When they first met, Y/n thought she felt a connection different from with anyone else in her life, although that changed quickly. Matty proved to her time and time again he didn’t want a relationship with her or nothing similar no matter how flirty he was during that first night. And Y/n forced herself her mind and heart to believe it.

Y/n was very unaware that, at the time she met the boys, Matty felt the same way she felt, but the old Matty didn’t want to lose the new friend he encountered. As another way to self sabotage himself, the young Matty did almost the impossible to show Y/n they were friends and just friends. A decision he took while being drunk became a life rule.

Since that moment, since that night, their relationship was kind of determinate. They were friends, the best friends. Not that night, but after a while, Y/n became part of the family and even Matty’s family –both sides– loved her as another member of their family. Y/n felt safe and loved, something she cherished so much since she hadn’t had that kind of love back home. Her family wasn’t like them, the opposite in fact.

For the longest time, Y/n tried to ditch her feeling for Matty. Every time a new girl showed up, tugged under his arm, Y/n decided it was the time to stop getting hurt and move on. Even though, her heart couldn’t do it. It hurt her. And with Nadia was the hardest since all of them could notice it was different, more mature…more serious. Nadia was more than a random girl for Matty and everyone was sure of that.

“Penny for your thoughts.” Matty interrupted Y/n’s inner monologue, staring at her, while his right arm was around Nadia.

“What?” Y/n answered, coming down to earth, with a question. 

“You were gone.” everyone was strangely in silence while they looked at each other.

“I was just thinking about the government lifting the restrictions. Meaning, now I can go home.” she half lied, while messing with the leftovers of her breakfast. Y/n did chat about it with G that morning anyway, and it was a reality Y/n needed to get away from the lovers for a time.

“I told her, none of us want that.” George interrupted their conversation.

“Of course not.” Jaime, who joined the breakfast table, said to her.

“I know, guys. But it’s been almost four months and I- This is not my- “

“Don’t finish that sentence.” Matty warned her, and she looked him directly in the eyes.

“It’s the truth, Matty.” she said, dropping her fork on the plate.

“It’s not, this is your house too, Y/n/n.” Ross, sweet Ross, reminded her. “At the same time, if you want to go back to your flat, I understand. We’ll miss your meals.” his comment made everyone chucked, except Matty who was studying every one of her movements. 

A weak smile was plastered on her face while she stared down towards her plate unable to make eye contact with Matty. “Don’t get me wrong. I love being here with you guys, but I need my space.”

“If this is about some couple…” Jaime looked at Matty and Nadia “Waking up the whole house.” he finished the sentenced winking like a cartoon.

“For fuck's sake.” Matty swore under his breath. “Is it about that?” he looked at Y/n.

“‘Course not!” she looked at him trying her hardest to hide her feelings.

“I wouldn’t blame you if that’s the reason. I’m sleeping on the other side of the house and I can listen to them. You’re right beside Matty’s room!” John emphatically said.

Before Matty could say a word, Y/n exclaimed, “It’s not about that, okay?” she simply lied. 

Y/n could sense George staring at her. “It’s what I said, I need my space, and it’s not like I’m going to disappear.” another white lie. Y/n was planning to do exactly that for a while until her wounds healed again. “You’ll still have to bear with me.” she finished her little speech.

“We can simply send the couple to your flat, and you can stay here in peace” Ross joked this time. All of them except for Matty laughed again.

“Stop with that, he will get angry.” Y/n defended Matty.

“I know it’s not my house either,” Nadia started saying. “If I can say something, I would like you to stay, Y/n.” she continued rather shyly. “It’s nice to have a girl around.” Of course, she was so nice. “I promised we’ll keep it down.” she looked quickly at Matty for reassurance and then again at her.

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry you’ll have to survive with these boys, but I really need to go.” Y/n explained. “Another reason is the fact that I have to prepare to get back to work soon.”

“So, when did you start thinking about leaving? Since you apparently have a lot of reasons to leave.” Matty said with a strange expression on his face.

“Matty-”

“Are you that eager to leave?” ‘He was pissed?’, Y/n thought. 

“Matty- “she protested, not knowing what else to say.  

“No, it’s okay. I get it! You want to leave, it’s okay.” he stood up from his seat gathering the plates to wash them.

“Matty!” Y/n said again.

“It’s fine, Y/n!” he said more sternly, obviously not fine with the situation. 

The rest of the group –included Nadia–, took that as a cue to leave the friends so they could talk. They made stupid excuses, leaving Matty and Y/n alone in the kitchen.

Matty went to the sink, beginning to wash the dishes. After letting a big breath out, Y/n stood up approaching where he was standing.

“Why are you so angry?” she asked him, folding her arms, standing beside Matty looking at his profile. Matty was stroking the plates with more force than needed for the task in hand.

“I’m not. I said that I got it, and it’s fine.” he answered.

“You’re obviously not fine, Matthew.”

“Do you want to know how am I? Perfect.” he stated, turning the water off and drying his hand with a cloth while he turned to look at her. “I really don’t get it why you want to leave so suddenly.”

“It’s not that I want to- “another big lie. She wanted to, she needed to.

“Bullshit!”

Y/n tried to defend herself, “I’m not going to disappear…”

“Bullshit!”

“Can you stop that?” Y/n stood directly in front of Matty. 

“I know you’re going to disappear. I know you. We’re best friends and something is bothering you, I can tell. It hurts that you’re not telling me anything and I fucking bet you told George already.” She couldn’t tell him the truth.

“Is this more about that competition?” Y/n tried to distract him.

“Yes- No- Of course, not- This is about you and me.” Matty said, melting her heart a little. He was obviously troubled with the idea of Y/n leaving.

“Matty, there is nothing…mayor going on. Trust me. I need silence. You said it, you know me. I crave my space…alone.” she told him sweeter this time.

“Yes, I know. But you can find somewhere here-“

“You know that’s a lie.” ‘What a hypocrite I am’, Y/n thought. 

“I know.”

“You aren’t gonna miss me. You have the boy and Nadia- “she moved uncomfortably in her place.

“It’s not the same, you’re my best friend. I’ll miss you, darling.” Matty looked at her with his best doggy eyes.

“Don’t!” Y/n pointed a finger at him.

“What?” he played dumb.

“Don’t give me puppy eyes, it won’t work.” she smiled this time.

“Shit, are you so certain about it?” he looked down, defeated.

“Yes.” Y/n simply said.

“Okay, I understand. You can go.”

“Thanks for your permission that I didn’t ask for.” Y/n tried to joke.

“But- “ he ignored her.

“But?”

“But promise me that you are not going to disappear for too long.” he said, staring directly into her eyes.

“I promise.” Y/n said way too quickly. After a couple of seconds, she had to look elsewhere.

“Can we hug?” he said very slowly. 

Y/n chuckled, placing her arms around his shoulders, at the same time Matty placed his on her waist.

“I love you.” Matty mumbled on her left shoulder.

“I love you too, Matty.” Y/n said, feeling it from the deepest of her heart. There lied the difference. 

Maybe, she couldn’t love anyone like she loved Matty, even though she had to try for the good of their relationship. 

-------------------------------------------------

Taglist: @hollybrislen

#matty healy fic #matty healy x reader #matty healy x y/n #matty the 1975 #matty x you #matty x y/n #matty fanfic #friends to lovers #matty healy #the 1975 #Seasons #matty healy fanfiction #the 1975 fanfiction

[applepiewinchesters]

A Moment of Peace (Joel Miller x Fem!Reader)

Word Count: 2.5K+

Tags: Mentions of character deaths, angst, comfort, crotchety old man Joel 

REQUESTS ARE OPEN: I’d be happy to write for other Pedro characters as well such as Javi and Whiskey! :)

Joel hadn’t felt peace in his life since the night his daughter died in his arms. It hardened the softness in his heart, turned him into the man everyone feared, if they knew what was good for them anyway. Now he was all gritted teeth and seemingly permanent frown lines. Surviving was what mattered. He did his jobs and otherwise kept his head down.

But then you showed up, taking on two armed guards at the perimeter to get into the safety of the quarantine zone and eventually being granted asylum, and you seemed to make it your mission to annoy the older man.

You met Joel doing odd jobs around the area for ration cards, like everyone else. You annoyed him to no end, asking him a new dumb, at least in his opinion dumb, question every day. Most of the time the daily question would go unanswered. All you ever really got was a grunt in return.

But then Tess, for a reason Joel could not understand, began entertaining your questions, maybe the same thing every day was finally getting to her. She told you her favorite color, song, food, movie. You had been young when the outbreak started, younger than Joel and Tess, at least. You loved to hear stories of what everything had been like before.

You only had flashes of a life you had before. A house, a school, a woman you assumed was your mother. None of the women in the group you’d been in for the last 12 years was her though, so you could only assume she had died in the initial chaos.

Then Tess invited you along on one of her and Joel’s smuggling missions, much to Joel’s dismay, Tess reasoned the two could use a fresh set of eyes. But in the end, you ended up being quite good with a gun, even saving Joel’s ass from a couple lone clickers.

A begrudging “Thanks," had been sent your way as Joel stepped over one of the bodies, brushing past you. You’d beamed at him when he did so, and for some reason, his face had flushed, something Tess spotted and teased him about in his apartment the next day.

“You’re sweet on her,” Tess had said over her glass of bourbon.

Joel only glared at his partner, “Am not,” he grumbled.

“Whatever you say, Texas,” Tess had said, only making Joel’s frown deepen.

Maybe he liked you, maybe he didn’t, it wasn’t like there was much room in this world for love anyway.

As the years went by Joel’s annoyance with you changed to an odd fondness, at least odd to him anyway. He found himself glaring at the men in the quarantine zone who flirted with you, when they’d catch him glaring, they’d almost always end the conversation and quickly disappear.

When you would look behind you to see what had spooked them, Joel would always be in your line of sight, pretending to be busy with something else. You’d even once caught him pretending to check the time on his long-broken watch before walking away in the direction of a dead-end street.

You confronted Joel that night at his apartment, demanding to know why he thought he could act like your father scaring away any man other than himself from being within five feet of you. For the first time since knowing Joel, you watched him scramble for the right words. The usually stoic and hardened man was stuttering like a teenage boy.

When you stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on his arm to get him to calm down, you watched his face grow red, and it clicked. Much to Joel’s dismay, you began giggling. Of course, an old man like him had no chance with you. His face only grew hotter, and his fists clenched at his sides.

But then you’d leaned up and placed a kiss on Joel’s cheek, his beard slightly scratchy against your lips. That was all he needed to turn his head and press his lips to yours, hands unclenching and moving to your waist.

You woke in his bed the next morning, Joel’s arms wrapped tightly around you, holding you to his chest. Tess just so happened to see you leave his apartment that morning, practically kidnapping you from your assigned job of the day to learn all the details.

Now, two years later Tess was gone and you and Joel had been tasked with possibly the most important smuggling job of your lives.

It turns out the Fireflies had been keeping a rather important young girl under their wing, Ellie. She was immune to the fungus causing the outbreak, something Joel was wary of, making the girl show him the bite on her arm practically every hour to make sure it hadn’t worsened. The original goal had been to get Ellie to an extraction team at the capitol in Boston, which only ended in finding the whole group dead, and losing Tess.

Joel decided the next best thing would be to find his brother Tommy in Wyoming. You suggested going to Bill and Frank, who could possibly help with getting a car. So, you, Joel, and Ellie began the ten-mile trek to Lincoln.

Ellie was quiet most of the trip. You could tell she at least half blamed herself for what had happened to Tess the day before. Tess had sacrificed her last moments so that you three could get away, she believed that Ellie could be the answer to fixing the fucked up world you were all living in.

You’d had to practically force Ellie from the building as she struggled against you and screamed that you couldn’t leave Tess behind. But the other woman was already dead, the second she’d been infected.

Ellie trailed behind you and Joel, watching as you interlaced your fingers with his. A gagging sound behind the two of you made you turn, Ellie making a grossed out face at the two of you.

“Are you guys dating?” she asked, scrunching her nose.

You laughed as Joel dropped your hand, a bit embarrassed, “Yes, technically.”

“Technically?” Joel asked, looking over at you, slightly offended.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” you laughed, playfully pushing the man slightly.

“Isn’t he like seventy?” Ellie asked, obviously still grossed out.

That made you laugh again, harder this time, as Joel grumbled something about “abandoning that kid in the woods.”

“55” you corrected Ellie, turning back around to face Ellie, apparently that answer didn’t curb her reaction as her face held the same expression from before.

You shook your head, smiling and turning back around, grabbing Joel’s hand once again, leaning your head on his shoulder for a moment while you walked. Joel squeezed your hand in return, not a huge fan of public displays of affection, but returning it nonetheless.

The three of you arrived at Bill and Frank’s around midafternoon. The sun still shone but was dipping below the trees, casting pretty shadows on the ground. Ellie looked around in wonder as Joel put in the code for the military grade gate surrounding the small town.

You hoped Bill was in the mood for company, he’d gotten crankier since Frank’s illness had gotten worse, but who could blame him. Those two had a love story most only dreamed about, you could only hope you and Joel could have a little slice of heaven like this one day.  

You and Ellie followed Joel to the house. It was oddly quiet, usually you could hear music playing, or even the older couple bickering playfully.

Joel knocked on the door, “Bill?” he called.

Your eyebrows knit together at the lack of response, you reached around Joel, trying the doorknob, surprised to find it unlocked. Bill was too paranoid, rightfully so, he always kept it locked even when he was home.

Joel moved you behind him, drawing his gun from the holster at his side, opening the front door all the way and calling Bill’s name again. Joel walked inside, you and Ellie following closely behind.

“Holy shit,” Ellie marveled at the home, it was probably the nicest place she’d ever been in, even if it was just some cranky old man’s house.

“I’ll check upstairs,” you said, drawing your own gun as you walked up the stairs.

Joel told Ellie to stay by the door while he searched the main floor of the home. You found nothing but empty rooms upstairs, so you headed back down. When you rounded the corner to the dining room, you found Ellie holding an envelope.

“It was in the table,” Ellie explained. When she handed you the envelope you could see “To Whomever (Probably Joel)” written on the front.

“Joel!” you called, tearing open the envelope and opening up the letter the was inside.

Joel appeared in the doorway, “What is it?” he asked you, and you began to read.

August 29th, 2023

If you find this, please do not come into the bedroom. We left the window open so the house wouldn’t smell, but it will probably be a sight.

Your throat tightened, but you continued.

I’m guessing you found this Joel, because anyone else would’ve been electrocuted or blown up by one of my traps. Hehehehehehe. Take anything you need. The code to the bunker is the same as the gate code but in reverse. Anyway…I never liked you, but still, it’s like were friends…almost. And I respect you. So, I’m gonna tell you something because you’re probably the only person who will understand. I used to hate the world, and I was happy when everyone died. But I was wrong, because there was one person worth saving. That’s what I did. I saved him. Then I protected him. That’s why men like you and me are here. And God help any motherfuckers who stand in our way. I leave you all my weapons and equipment. Use them to keep Y/N and T…

You stopped, choking on Tess’s name. Joel grabbed the letter from you, reading the rest to himself. He turned suddenly, pulling open the front door and leaving, slamming the door shut behind him.

“Stay here,” you told Ellie, sliding off your backpack and following Joel out the door.

He hadn’t gone far, he was standing on the front lawn, breathing heavy.

“Hey,” you spoke softly, approaching Joel and touching his arm gently.

When the man turned to you, you could see his eyes were glistening.

“I…” Joel choked out, “I can’t.”

“I know,” you told him, wrapping your arms around his neck, letting him bury his face into your shoulder, arms locking around you.

Joel breathed deep, shuddering as he attempted to curb the breakdown. He hated crying, especially in front of other people, in front of you.

But there had been countless nights where you’d held him after a nightmare. Before that though it had taken eight months into your relationship with him before he stopped locking himself in the bathroom, taking swigs from a bottle of smuggled liquor until the images of his dead little girl finally faded.

Joel’s hands gripped at your jacket, attempting to ground himself, to assure that you were there.

“We’ll be alright,” you told Joel, rubbing his back.

Joel only nodded against your shoulder, before lifting his head to look at you. You reached up, wiping away a few stray tears on his cheeks. He shook his head, leaning down and pressing a kiss to your forehead. He should be comforting you, not the other way around.

“I’m sorry baby,” Joel told you, making you shake your head.

“Nothin’ to be sorry about,” you reassured.

Joel leaned down, pecking your lips softly before taking your hand and heading back inside.

You both found Ellie sitting at the dining room table, messing with a loose string on her shirt.

“Show me your arm,” Joel told her.

The girl quickly stood, rolling up her sleeves and showing Joel her bite, which hadn’t changed, Joel nodded, signaling he was satisfied with what he saw.

“I’m gonna check on a few things,” Joel told you, making you nod.

His next sentence was aimed at Ellie, “You stay put, what she says goes”.

Ellie only nodded as Joel headed back out the front door, you sighed, leaning against the doorframe to the dining room.

“Is he always like that?” Ellie asked you, not meeting your gaze.

“Like what?” you questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Crotchety,” Ellie answered, shrugging.

You huffed out a laugh, “He’s lost a lot is all, takes a toll on you, on everyone. You probably just remind him of…”.

Cutting yourself off, you decided Sarah’s was not your story to tell, not without Joel’s permission.

“Of what?” Ellie inquired.

Shaking your head, you pushed off the doorframe, “Not my story to tell kid.”

Ellie only nodded, accepting your answer. She looked solemn, aged beyond her years. This was no world for a kid, you could only imagine what her mother had been thinking bringing her into it.

A thought crossed your mind and you smiled at Ellie, “There’s hot water, at least, there should be,” you told her, remembering the last time you’d been here and had helped Tess with the dishes from dinner, “there’s at least three bathrooms upstairs, pick one.”

Your smile widened as Ellie’s eyes lit up. “Don’t have to tell me twice,” she said, getting up from the table and bounding up the stairs.

Laughing softly, you listened until the shower turned on before walking across the entry way to the living room area, where the old piano sat. Frank had taught you a few songs when you’d first visited with Joel and Tess. Your eyes watered at the thought of the kind man but you pushed the tears down and you sat, placing your fingers on the keys.

You lightly played one of the songs Frank had taught you, one of his favorites from the 90’s, “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith.

A bit of time must have passed because you jumped when you felt a sudden hand on your shoulder but relaxed at the feeling of a kiss being pressed to the top of your head. Joel.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack,” you commented, playing random chords now.

“Sorry baby, just got done fixing a truck battery,” Joel told you.

His hands were covered if what you assumed was oil or grease, and you cringed.

“Oh, you’re definitely washing up before we leave,” you told him.

“Where’s the kid?” he asked suddenly, looking behind him.

“Shower, come on, our turn,” you told Joel, standing from the piano bench and taking his hand and pulling him up the stairs.

You knocked at the bedroom door at the top of the stairs.

“Yeah?” came Ellie’s voice.

“Joel and I are gonna clean up too alright? Be good,” you called through the door.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the girl called back, making you smile and shake your head before pulling Joel towards what had previously been the master bedroom until Frank could no longer make it up the stairs and the two men began using the downstairs guest room as the master.

Pushing open the door you’d left ajar earlier, you led Joel inside before shutting the door behind you and pulling off your jacket, tossing it onto the bed.

Your boots were next as you walked towards the bathroom. It was clean save for a bit of dust. A large clawfoot tub sat under the large window, the shower was in the corner of the room.

Sitting on the edge of the tub, you turned on the faucet, adjusting the temperature before stoppering the tub. You stood, beginning to take off the rest of your clothing, your shirt going first.

You looked up, noticing Joel watching you, unmoving.

“I ain’t getting in there,” Joel protested, pointing to the tub as you unbuttoned your jeans, pulling them down your legs.

“Yes, you are, it will be nice” you reasoned, pulling off your bra.

“Nope,” the older man protested again.

Once you were fully undressed you walked towards Joel, reaching up and beginning to unbutton his denim shirt.

“You take em’ off or I will,” you teased, making Joel crack a smile.

“Fine, fine,” he said, his hands replacing yours, attempting the grumpy old man façade, but that smile never left his face.

You eased into the now full tub after turning off the faucet. Once submerged you rest your chin on your arm on the edge of the tub as you watched Joel strip off the rest of his clothing.

Shimming forward a bit, you happily made room for Joel, who climbed in behind you, his muscles relaxing in the hot water. He had to admit, it did feel great.

Joel wrapped an arm around your waist, easily pulling you back against his chest. You settled in and rested your head on his shoulder, your hand covering his that was wrapped loosely around you.

You sighed contentedly, turning to look at Joel, who pressed a kiss to your forehead.

This was the feeling he was missing, the peace he’d been searching for, even if just for a moment.

“I love you sweetheart,” he whispered against your skin.

You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face, “Love you too.”

 A/N: Alright so this is is the first TLOU fic I've written but I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you think! ❤ 

#the last of us #joel tlou #tlou #tlou series #joel the last of us #joel miller #joel miller x you #joel miller x reader #ellie the last of us #pedro pascal #bella ramsey #tess servopoulos

[robsdiary]

GOOD LOOKIN’ GIRL

ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯

INCLUDES: loser!ellie, black!reader, masc!reader, fluff, ellie has NO game

You’d been working under your uncle, Seth. Ever since the pair of you arrived in Jackson. The late hour shifts of you two fooling around making new recipes. He had a knack for sandwiches. It was mind blowing how he’d be able to make a turkey sandwich different from the next ten times.

He wasn’t truly your uncle. He’d found you on your lonesome years ago. You were malnourished, one hand broken and damaged, the other clutching on an empty pistol like your life depended on it. Your nose bloodied, all you had to your name was bright yellow rain boots and a jacket large enough to be considered a dress on you, and your thick curls in a frizzy uncared for bun. It was astonishing you managed to last that long.

Deciding to take you along with him in pursuit of finding a place of his own. You were a tough case.

You never talked, face always holding a blank stare. You’d seen things, Seth knew, and he didn’t pry. Your eyes carried a haunted shine, something you could never shake. Being alone most of your life is just what you’d gotten used to. Your parents had decided to flee from the Louisiana Quarantine Zone. They’d been shot in the process. Your father killed on impact and your mother lasted long enough to get to the next town over. You were only ten.

You wondered in solitude with your fathers pistol. Slowly making your way into Arkansas. Being forced to use your fathers pistol for your own safety. Gunning down two runners and a man that’d been charging at you. Five bullets.

It’d been about a week. You ducking behind buildings, scavenging for anything edible. Having to narrowly escape hungers or hordes, surviving off pure perseverance and fumes clearly didn’t prove helpful for a 10 year old. You collapsed, face up at the scorching sun, you didn’t cry, just stared. Staring at nothing in particular you stomach felt as if it were twisting itself inside out. A soft groan leaving you lips as you slowly faded into unconsciousness.

Eyes opening one last time to see a figure with a beer gut standing over top of you.

So here you were. Wrapping your hundredth sandwich of the day. Handing them off to people preparing for patrol. That’s how you met Jesse.

Over a while, you began to break from your shell. You kept a small circle, a few people who volunteered to work in Jackson’s theater, putting on plays and performances when the movies available got stale. And Jesse. He mocked you for your accent, you mocked him for his, you’d sneak him extra food, have arm wrestled over the freshly polished wooden counters, and banter. You couldn’t ask for a better friend that understood you.

Your uncle seemed to think the opposite.

“You and that Jesse seems to be getting along swell.” He muttered quietly. Peeling potatoes hurriedly.

The Tipsy Bison was quiet. The wooden floorboards creaking intermittently whenever someone took a step. It was just the two of you. Prepping for open, you’d rather be doing anything else.

“He fine.” You shrugged dismissively. Washing the used cutlery and beer glasses.

“Look out for that boy. You know their type only want one thing.” He huffed. Wiping his nose against the sleeve of his shirt, continuing to peel the dirty skin.

You bit your cheek. Keeping quiet as a soft exhale left your lips. Blinking slowly, divulging into thought. Jesse was an alright guy, they got along, had fun hanging out. But you never considered him in such a way. It made you snarl and cringe at the thought, gross.

The door to the establishment opened slowly. Your head quickly wiping to the entrance. Ready to cuss out the same alcoholics that kept entering every ten minutes to question if you were open. But it was someone completely different.

Taking notice of the shorter girl who’d found her way inside. Short auburn hair being put into a lazy low bun, clothes randomly mismatched, and impressively dirty converse, soft freckles peppered her face. Her eyes quickly flickering from your face to look down at the polished table.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of you. Your brow furrowed in confusion. Waiting for her to state her business.

“Can I help you?” You questioned snappily. Cocking your head to the side, coming off more unpleasant than intended.

Her head swiftly came up. Seeming to come up from whatever daze she’d been in. Gulping and nervously clearing her throat.

“Two sandwiches, please?” She asked quietly, sounding more of a question than a order. Her voice cracked and brittle, a clear anxiousness on her face. A shake in her tone. Looking down at her hands as she played with them.

“We’re clo—”

“Nah it's good. Maria gave special orders for them.” Seth interrupted from the kitchen.

“Ellie.” A pale hand met your field of vision. Apparently so, you were left with her.

You returned the shake. Exchanging names with her. Returning back to your duties, a look of disinterest on your face. Scrubbing away at the cutlery.

Clearly, the situation was somewhat awkward. Ellie nervously shifted on her heels as your eyes bored through her soul. You weren’t one to catch onto social cues.

“So you’re friends with Jesse?” She piped up. Returning your gaze, anxious to look a way.

“We hang out time to time.” You responded dismissively. Unsure as to why she cared, specks of water from your scrubbing splashing onto your cheeks and the table

“Yeah. I see the two if you together all the time.”

“You’ve been watching me?”

You questioned. A stern look on your face as your jaw clenched. Head tilted as you watched her body language. Watching how her eyes nervously darted around the room to avoid yours. Taking a long exhale.

“I’ve just seen you around, I dunno, you seem cool.” She shrugged, a light tinge of pink on her cheeks

“I am?”

Time felt impossibly slow. Seth was able to make a sandwich in less than three minutes. It felt torturous as to how long it was taking him.

“Some friends and I were planning on sneaking out..” Ellie whispered, wide eyes peering up at you with hope.

“Jesse’ll be there…”

You choose to stay quiet. Not used to being around much people. You weren’t the social setting type. But that and spending your off week peeling potatoes and washing dishes. The choice was clear.

Uneven footsteps could be heard from behind you. Seth lugging two sandwiches in his hands. A thin lipped smile as he handed them off the the auburn haired girl.

“Two steak sandwiches.”

“Thanks, Joel will love ‘em.”

Silence fell between the two of you. Ellie biting her bottom lip, Seth standing wide with both hands on his hips, and you, straight faced and stiff.

Seth looked between the pair of you. Analyzing the both of you, Ellie’s poker face subpar at best.

“Right. Well, best get back to work.” He smiled at Ellie, softly patting your shoulder and turning away.

Ellie watched intently as Seth hobbled away. Turning her attention back to you as he turned the corner. A shy smile on her face as she looked up at you expectantly.

“Think about it. Alright? You could bring your boyfriend or whatever, and it’ll be fun.”She nervously stammered, voice slowly trailing off. Waiting for you to acknowledge her not so subtle inquiry.

“Boyfriend?” You questioned, tilting your head cluelessly. Your tone dull.

It was hard for anyone to truly have a conversation with you. A difficult girl to crack. The tension between you was palpable. You on the other hand, none the wiser.

“I’ll come.”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up. A dorky grin etching across her face. A soft uncontrollable giggle leaving her lips

“Alone.” You clarified. Arms crossed against your chest defensively, for what? You weren’t sure.

She smiled like a child. Feeling giddy enough to race around the bar. Settling on controlling herself.

“Okay, i’ll see you around— tonight! I’ll see you tonight and around.” She placed an emphasis on the ‘and’. A blush creeping across her face as she slowly crept towards the door.

“Bye..”

“Bye, Ellie.”

She pushed open the door. Scurrying out of sight. You watched from the windows as she walked to the stables. A small pep in her step.

You felt.. odd. Blinking irregularly, you’d never interacted with a person like this. It felt nice, enjoyable even.

Hearing familiars rough footsteps heard from behind you. A calloused hand landed on your shoulder. Seth’s eyes following yours.

“I know a cat fight when I see it.” His voice rasped. Eyes narrowed as he watched Ellie practically skip away.

“Don’t fight over that, Jesse. There’s better guys here, you’ll find the one.” He gently patted your shoulder, walking off.

You shook your head in amusement, Gripped the dish rag tightly. Brows knit together. Something that could be considered a smile etching across your lips.

You looked forward to tonight.

#ellie williams x reader #tlou #ellie williams x black!reader #joel miller x reader #loser!ellie #the last of us

[fearlessword]

I’ll meet you in my dreams - Chapter 1

Summary: You dreamed of the boy who played piano before you knew who he was. Humming the melodies you heard in your sleep brought BTS into your life and you thought it was just meant to be.When you finally have the chance to see him perform live, you realize that the dreams you have are more than a coincidence. You hope he dreams of you too.

Masterlist

Chapter 1

Wake up. Teach. Eat. Plan. Overthink. Cry. Sleep.

Repeat.

You didn’t know how your life turned out to be like this. You hated it. You hated the city streets were empty. You hated that the principal kept watching each lesson just to criticize your teaching.You hated teaching online and how burned out you were because of it. You hated not being able to see your friends, or what’s left of them. You hated that fucking virus that postponed all of your plans. You hated how much you missed your cheating ex and that traitor you once called best friend.

Everything sucks in 2020.

At first, it seemed like it was just for a while, which also meant a good break before the craziness that came with Spring and the end of the school year. Two months after the government announced the quarantine, you were burned out, rethinking life choices, crying yourself to sleep because of a break up you thought you had moved on from. Your roommate and coworker Camila was the only good thing. She became a nice friend who could relate to you. Both of you were just two tired teachers trying to survive in New York City during a pandemic. The growing friendship you had made it bearable. When nights were especially hard for you and you’d sob and cry at 3 am, your friend wouldn’t say a thing, only to greet you with open arms, a mug of hot coffee, and a silent promise of ice cream and movies after dinner. You didn’t deserve it, considering you were the reason she’d wake up in the middle of the night, but she didn’t hold it against you, and you were grateful for that.

If you were being honest with yourself, you knew you shouldn’t be crying for a relationship that finished two years ago. It was hard not to, especially now that there wasn’t much, besides work, to keep you busy. It was the last week of May, Summer was just around the corner and you yearned for the joy the season brings. At the same time, shaking off the feelings that came with the isolation was not an easy feat. He cheated on you with your best friend, after all! You tell yourself he doesn’t deserve your tears, but it takes time to erase things like that.

You are lonely and confused, angry to feel the way you felt. Grieving the youth you’re giving away while staying at home. So, on that night of May, you did what you should’ve done 2 years ago. You got your blue journal, a pencil, bursted your earbuds with the saddest songs you could find, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, you wrote.

The words spilled from your mind to the paper, a letter addressed to the one who made you feel like this. How you met, how you became friends, the moment you realized you loved him. The memories you wanted to erase flowing so easily through your hands. The story was kept in your head for so long, suffocating you a little bit every day, it was like you could exhale for the first time. How you missed this!

You were so focused on revisiting all of the moments to write, that you didn’t check the time. It was late, so late. And you needed to sleep now if you wanted to have energy for the long day of teaching you had ahead of you.

You checked the amount of words you’ve written. Seven pages. It was still just the beginning. Your eyes were red and wet and you got yourself a headache. As cathartic as it was to write like this, it had left you with zero to no energy to keep going. As you were embraced by your sleep, you wished the part of your brain that processed traumatic experiences just did its job.

That night, you dream of a man and a piano.

Not exactly a piano, it was more like a keyboard.

All you could see was that he was making music.

The room was compact, so much it didn’t look like a room. “Maybe he’s camping”, you thought. There was a bunk bed and a tiny table underneath it, which was where he was working with a yellow notepad and pencil positioned close to the laptop. His pale skin was in contrast with the black straight hair covering part of his face. Still, you were able to see some of his facial expressions. He was so concentrated in his craft, long fingers testing notes in the mini keyboard connected to his laptop.

You wish you could listen to the melody he is so focused on, he was clearly showing signs of conflict, while listening to it on his headphones. He throws his head back and breathes loudly, like he needs a break, the hair moves out of his face and you can see his eyes now. Deep, dark, catlike eyes.

Oh God. He 's beautiful.

You could feel a pull, an inexplicable warmth inside of you… You were curious about him. You were curious about the circumstances. Why were you consciously dreaming about a man you have never seen in your life? Why aren’t you in this dream? How could he fascinate you so much in minutes?

A door opens and there’s light in the room. You hear a voice speaking a language you don’t understand. You hear a deep voice, his voice, replying in the same language. Then, everything goes black.

You were pulled out of the dream, eyes open, back in your room, but with remains of the comforting warmth inside of you.

It stayed with you the whole day, just like the memory of the boy making music.

That night, the crying is not that loud, your writing process still hard, but not unbearable.

You were still tired, still heartbroken. The routine was the same.

But there was that warm feeling in your chest. And as your head touches the pillow in the middle of the night, you hope to dream of him again.

>>> Next Chapter

#bts yoongi #fanfic #reader insert #soulmates #yoongi #d day tour #canon divergence #strangers to lovers #min yoongi x reader #min yoongi x you #min yoongi x y/n #slow burn #slow build #idol min yoongi

[silverskye13]

Silver I know next to nothing about the alien franchise and movie, I am giving you full permission to use this ask as an opportunity to spread propaganda to get me (and anyone else) to finally watch it

So it's, so like, the thing is, right. I'm not a movie tech kinda person [though it is technically impressive, the funny little tricks they did, like not having the budget for a Big Space Ship Derelict so they are a scaled down model that the director's kids in space suits walked up to so it would look bigger, and it was shown to the audience on a shitty CCTV because they didn't do a big matte painting of the set they filmed the tiny one, projected it onto a wall, and then filmed that.] So my rant isn't going to be about how technologically cool the movie was for 1979 on a less than optimal budget. But what I do like, what I excel at, is breaking down themes and tropes. And my god. My god. Just. Ugh. [Flails my arms.]

So a basic rundown for the movie, spoilers ahead, and my analysis of how fucking cool it is:

Basic gist of the movie: The crew of the commercial mining vessel Nostromo are awoken halfway through their trip back to earth by a mysterious signal, calling for help on a far away planet. Upon going down to investigate, one of their crew members is attacked by a strange alien parasite which attaches to his face. This kicks off a tale of increasing horror as the new alien kills off the crew one by one, culminating in Ripley [the main character] blowing up the ship and fleeing in an escape pod, not sure if she'll ever be picked up in the vastness of space -- with the ships cat, who miraculously also survives. [We all know Jonesy is the real main character 💜.] Along the way a plot by the Weyland-Utani corporation is revealed, one of the crew is discovered to be an android, and there is a lot of alien screeching.

Now! The themes that I go absolutely feral over can commence.

The horror of the movie, the reason why the alien is scary, and lethal to humans specifically, is it is a creature built for efficient survival, and this is a trait that Ash, the ship's science officer [and resident hiding android] highly praises in the critter. He describes it as beautiful, elegant, pure in its efficiency. The perfect organism. Efficient.

Humans, by comparison, aren't efficient. We are social. And efficiency preys on social needs. For example:

The xenomorph eggs can survive for ages [in the derelict they're found on, the dead alien who drove the ship is described as fossilized. These eggs have been here for thousands of years. But they activate immediately when a curious human pokes around them. It isn't a fast process. Kane is poking around for a few minutes, looking at the movements of the creatures in their eggs, making observations. Curious. Curiosity is an inefficient trait -- he would have survived if he had climbed out of the hole the eggs were in and left, or even waited for the rest of his team to enact quarantine and investigation procedures.

Speaking of quarantine! When Dallas and Lambert bring Kane, newly infected by an alien parasite, back to the ship, Ripley locks them in the airlock. There are quarantine procedures. We can't risk the whole crew. But they are scared for Kane's safety. He might die without help. They break quarantine. If they hadn't broken quarantine, the baby alien would've been born in the airlock, where it would get spaced the moment it was born.

When the face hugger parasite dies and Kane seems to return to normal, what they should have done to attempt to reinstate quarantine was put him in hyper sleep. His body would have been frozen in a stasis which might have frozen the parasite or, if it hadn't, would have left the new baby alien trapped in a stasis pod. But Kane, haggard and scared from his ordeal, asks can we please have one more meal together before I go to sleep? And that one meal is long enough for the new xenomorph to be born, and release terror on the ship.

There is more. Parker would have lived if he hadn't gone to find the cat by himself, leaving the safety of his group. Dallas would have lived if he let Ripley go through the vents, but he was the captain and he didn't want to risk someone else's life so he went instead. Brett would have lived if he'd left Lambert behind when she was being attacked, or if he'd hit the xenomorph with the flamethrower instead of insisting Lambert get out of the way first. And Lambert would have lived if she'd run instead of being paralyzed in fear by the creature killing her friends. And the xenomorph? Wasn't even eating it's kills. No gore. Little blood. It was killing them because it knew they would kill it, and it was neutralizing threats. Efficient.

The xenomorph is very clearly engineered for survival, and it's survival depends on killing the inefficient organisms around it. Even it's acid blood is described as a survival mechanism, not an offensive mechanism.

Okay Skye, we hear you talking about how scary the critter is because it's not a social creature. That's an interesting observation, but it's still just a monster story, right?

Well, let me tell you an alternative story. Just a little to the left of the original, but one I would argue is still very very canon.

You are an android built by Weyland-Utani, a company which is jealously hunting alien tech to use for its many space programs. You are placed on the Nostromo because there is a known anomaly in the area, and they want to find it. Your job is to get a specimen back to the company, all other protocols expended.

You are programmed to be efficient, so you get to work.

You wake the crew when you find the signal. You give them only the information they need to investigate: it is a signal that repeats every 12 seconds. You let them make the conclusion it is an SOS. Humans are social creatures. They want to help other social creatures in need. There is some arguing about whether they should go, but in the end an extra push from you sends them. Ripley, one of the more efficient members of the crew, keeps asking you why you haven't decoded the message.

"Mother [the super computer running the ship] is still working on it." This is true. She has only translated part of the signal. By the time Ripley realizes it's a warning, the crew is already on the way to the derelict. You tell her if she walks out there, they will have already figured out if it's a warning or not by the time she makes it to them. She agrees.

When they return with a specimen, Ripley [efficient, following protocol] doesn't want to let them on. But Ripley doesn't know you're an android, so when you break quarantine, and you tell her you just wanted Kane to be safe, she begrudgingly believes you.

When the alien is loose, it is easy for you to keep them from killing it. Humans are social, inefficient creatures, and you feel no empathy for their deaths. You do pity them though. Between you and the alien, their chances of survival are slim.

If only they were more efficient.

The horror in Alien is not the xenomorph. The horror in Alien is when anything, primal creatures, androids, a particularly greedy corporation, preys on human social needs in order to get what it wants. There is significance in that Ripley, despite everything, chose to save the cat. She needed companionship. All humans do. She needed to save that cat. A cat that was cantankerous and mean, and hissed whenever it was held, was better than the cold efficiency of empty space.

Any system that prioritizes absolute efficiency will be inhospitable to human life.

#spazzcat barks #alien 1979 #xenomorph #i could go on actually #the entire second movie Aliens is about a colony falling prey #about families torn apart #about a little girl who survived because she was quiet and saved by her brother #about how a thousand times they should have left that child behind to save themselves but they didnt #and how an android not powered by the company helps them survive #i just..... the movies are about corporate greed #wait it was about the dangers of capitalism all along? always has been

[ateez-himari]

'HIMARI' PROFILE

... BASICS

Stage Name: Himari (히마리) Birth Name: Min Himari (민 히마리) Korean Name: Min Ha-Yun (민 하윤) Nicknames: Sunshine, KQ's Princess, The Siren, Korea's Angel, White Swan, The Holy Maknae, Hima, Hime, God's Touch, Hand of Midas (w/Yoongi)

Representative Animal: Tiger 🐯 MBTI Type: INFP Position(s): Lead vocalist, Sub-rapper, Producer, Maknae

Date of Birth : November 23, 2001 Birth Place: Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan Association: Yeoheung Min Clan Family: Min Won-Shik (father, 1967-2012), Endo Asuka (mother, 1970-2012), Min Hanzo (older brother), Adoptive Mother, Adoptive Father, Min Geum-Jae (adoptive older brother), Min Yoongi (Adoptive older brother)

Blood Type: O Height: 157cm (5'2")

... CAREER

・As of April 2024, Himari has 173 KOMCA credits

・Was the first 4th generation artist promoted to a full Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) membership in 2022

・Joined JYPE in late 2014 to be part of girl group Twice but was deemed too young to debut after 10 months of training

・Was the first trainee to join Hongjoong at KQ Entertainment and the last to join ATEEZ - following survival show 'Last of 10' (the group was originally going to have ten members but Lee Junyoung didn't debut)

・Became a producer during 'TREASURE EP.1: All to Zero' with credits on 'Stay', 'Twilight', 'Treasure' and 'My Way'

・Officially a part of ATEEZ's 'Demon Line' alongside Hongjoong, Seonghwa and San

・Made a special appearance on the 6th episode of MNet's show 'Good Girl', aired June 18 2020, to perform a cover of Dreamcatcher's 'Red Sun' against the cast.

・Made her acting debut in the K-Drama 'Hellbound' where she played the role of Jin Hee-Jeong. She then obtained the lead role in 'Where We Fall' alongside Yunho in September of 2023.

・She sang the OST 'Suzume' for the animated movie 'Suzume no Tojimari', 'Long Black Night' for K-Drama 'The Glory', 'Rewrite Me' for 'Where We Fall' and 'Blue' for 'The Killing Vote'

・Her fans are called 'Hirangies' which is a play on her representative animal called '호랑이' in Korean as well as her own name and '사랑' which means love.

... INTERESTS

・Her hobbies are traditional ink painting as well as photography and she enjoys leaning how to reform clothes from Hongjoong.

・Loves Studio Ghibli movies, her favorite being Grave of the Fireflies, and K-Dramas, her favorites being Death's Game, The Glory & My Name.

・Aside from the many groups whose fandoms she is a part of, there are quite a few soloists she tends to fangirl over, those being: Gemini, Penomeco, DPR Live, Han Seung Woo, Woodz, pH-1 and Zico. During her room tour in a recent live several albums of B.A.P could be seen resting on a shelf and she admitted to being a BABY whose bias is rapper/leader & soloist Bang Yongguk, whose albums were also spotted in her room. She calls herself a lucky fangirl as she has filmed the 'Bouncy' challenge with him as well as Woodz and Penomeco.

... HEALTH

・Was diagnosed with anxiety around 6 months following the group's debut, then a major depressive episode in the beginning of 2021.

・Had a large fear of being left alone while the members went somewhere else due to what happened to her parents - a lethal collision with a drunk driver.

・Has stress induced nightmares, though not as frequent as earlier in her career.

・Fractured her left ribs during a rehearsal for the first stage of 'Kingdom: Legendary War' in February of 2021, then again during the shooting of the 'Guerilla' music video in 2022.

・Since contracting COVID during the quarantine period she has had breathing problems which have permanently weakened her cardio and cause frequent needs for an oxygen mask especially when fatigued. The condition still remains unknown.

... MISCELLANEOUS

・Her favorite color is white because she feels like it is elegant, which is why she chose it as her microphone color.

・Her birth name means 'Sun' and her Korean name means 'Beautiful Summer' , chosen because the sun symbolizes hope

・The youngest of her brothers, Hanzo, is the National South Korean Soccer Team's captain and currently contracted with the PSG after leaving the Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at the end of 2023

・When speaking quickly or passionately about something she tends to slip back into satoori (Daegu dialect)

・A palm reader stated that it was both her and Seonghwa's first life, which is why they approach things with such excitement.

・She can play the Koto (Japanese stringed instrument).

・The members tend to refer to her as '우리 Hime' which means 'Our Princess' using the Japanese word for the title and is also a play on words with Himari's shortened name.

・While other members claim that Halazia has one of the easiest choreographies, she finds it to be one of the hardest songs to perform as she has to sing background vocals through nearly the entire song while keeping up with the steps.

・Loves to cook but often tends to be careless when it comes to the amount of spice she puts in. In addition to this, she loves beef and hates any seafood that has a shell.

・Her ideal type is someone warm hearted with a sense of humor and who can accept her care when they need it.

#ateez 9th member #ateez au #ateez extra member #ateez female member #ateez imagines #kpop oc

[ape-apocalypse]

Road To The Kingdom - Before The Dawn YouTube Shorts

The three 'Before The Dawn' short films were created by Motherboard in association with 20th Century Fox, the studio running the Planet of the Apes films. They were aired as promos in the months before Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, meant to bridge the gap between Rise and Dawn. They focus on human survivors trying to make it through each day as society falls apart around them.

Spread Of Simian Flu takes place in Year 1 post-outbreak and features a family where the mother is locked in quarantine while the father and daughter visit her. The mother tries to be cheery for her daughter while the father lies about them having a safe place to live. It is bittersweet to see the family on both sides of the quarantine glass lying to the other to keep their spirits up. They hold onto hope for one another while searching for food and shelter.

Struggling To Survive is five years after the outbreak. The focus of this short is a woman and the boy in her care trying to survive while power begins to fail in the city. She finds luxury items and trades them for food and other necessities, thinking on how those she trades with are clinging to the past rather than planning for the future. This internal monologue is very condescending, a stark contrast to the strained but still present hope of the family in the first short. Perhaps that was the intent, showing the bitterness needed to survive as the years go on.

Story of the Gun covers a full decade through the fall of society. As the title states, a shotgun is the main character of this video as we follow it from human owner to owner through the years. We don't spend enough time with any one person to get attached to any particular character (though I do enjoy the conspiracy rambling guy, he gets a chuckle out of me) but the whirlwind of moving from person to person really conveys the chaotic feeling of the apocalypse. The ending, with the shotgun being abandoned at the feet of unseen apes, hints at the violence to come in Dawn, one that will lead to the film getting nicknamed as simply "The Apes Riding Horses With Guns Movie".

Motherboard also released a 15 minute documentary alongside the fictional shorts called The Real Planet Of The Apes, a true story that I'd never heard before: an island in Liberia where chimpanzees who were once laboratory test apes are the sole inhabitants and many humans fear to visit. Though not having anything to do with the fictional POTA, it is interesting to see apes interacting with humans. They are gentle and playful with humans they trust but can be aggressive to those they don't know, with locals telling tourists they will be killed if they go there. Major content warning for this short; it talks about and shows videos of real world ape testing and injuries, as well as human death/murder, starvation and violence. The good news is that, as of a 2022 article, the apes are still being cared for by the locals.

The video shorts are a fun little dive into the collapse of human society; personally I'll never pass up the opportunity to see that in fiction. They're good quality for being promotional videos on YouTube. The main downside is there is very little to make them stand out as being part of Planet Of The Apes. No apes are seen (which makes sense; they likely didn't have any budget for a CG ape), just alluded to through shadows and sound effects. Because of this, they feel pretty typical of any apocalyptic story without being entirely unique to the POTA franchise. But they're still well done, even eerier now after 2020 Covid lockdowns than when they first released in 2014. Watching all three fictional shorts back-to-back-to-back takes only 30 minutes so, even without any apes, they're a quick but enjoyable viewing experience. 

Intro / Previous / Next

#dawn of the planet of the apes #rise of the planet of the apes #planet of the apes #kingdom of the planet of the apes #war for the planet of the apes #war of the planet of the apes #pota #reboot pota #motherboard #caesar #mine #before the dawn #andy serkis

[five-rivers]

Optimism Chapter 1

AO3

@warvikwrites

.

At heart, Vlad was an optimist.  Genuinely.  Really.  Truly.  He suspected that every ghost was.  How else could they linger after the cruelest thing in life had occurred to them?  How else could they survive after death?  How else could they keep going when all hope had been stripped away?

Optimism.  Pure and simple.  

Vlad was optimistic about many things.  His recovery from ecto-acne.  His business prospects.  His romance with Maddie.  His plans to murder Jack.  

The possibility of there being someone else out there who was like him.  

If anyone else was privy to his thoughts, they might have called him delusional.  Hah.  Could a delusional man have built such an empire of theft and lies?  Could a delusional man have risen from the ashes so majestically?  No.  But he was getting off track.  

The point was, Vlad had set aside some of his prodigious fortune for a search.  

Well, more of a listening station than a search.  A network of listening stations, stretching across the globe, reporting their findings back to him.  

Less metaphorically, Vlad funded a lot of hospitals.  A lot of doctors.  A lot of medical research.  He made sure those funds bought some very grateful people who were more than happy to let him know when certain interesting cases crossed their paths.  He also employed a number of ghosts via less monetary means.  

It was a great expense.  But Vlad thought - Vlad was optimistic that - if his search should bear fruit, that fruit would be priceless.  

It also gave him a great reputation for charity, which was more broadly useful than optimism.  

Still.  It was a longshot if there ever was one. As he approached the date of his Gatsbean triumph, his defeat of Jack and his reclamation of Maddie, he was beginning to doubt that anything would ever come of it.  Beginning, even, to start to neglect the reports his many listeners and watchers were sending him.  

But he was optimistic.  He hadn’t given up hope yet.  

Which was why, as he lounged in his velvet dressing gown, sipping a glass of port, he scanned morosely through a stack of medical reports.  The doctors were always very careful not to give him any personally identifiable information.  Just… points of interest.

So he paused and stared when he saw the summary ‘Adolescent male admitted to Amity Park hospital with electrical and chemical burns.  Chemical burns formed blisters filled with green, unidentified liquid within minutes of admission.  Liquid could not be removed from blisters.  Possible similarities to Study VM1984.  Electrical scars also carry unusual green tint.  Patient smells strongly of limes and peppers.’

Vlad read the summary half a dozen times, his heart beating faster with each readthrough.  He’d gotten his hopes up before.  He’d been led on before.  But even that history couldn’t stop him from tearing open the file and devouring it.  

And while the doctors had scruples, the ghosts did not, even if remembering human names were occasionally beyond them.  

Amity Park.  South Mercy Hospital.  Room 724.  That’s where he needed to go.  

.

Danny was miserable, but he guessed that it was better to be miserable and alive than… dead.  

He’d thought for a bit there that he was dead, on the floor of the lab, floating just above, well…  Point was, though, that he wasn’t dead.  Just miserable.  

Just miserable.  

He blinked slowly at the plastic sheeting around his bed and tried not to think too hard about why his skin felt like it was stuck to the sheets.  He’d watched a documentary once about Chernobyl.  It had been rated R, but his parents had thought that the educational value was greater than the risk of trauma or whatever.  The quarantine room he’d been shut into shared a great deal of similarities with the set of the hospital where the firefighters were dying.  

Then again, it also had similarities to sets in zombie movies, so what did he know?

Both of those things had a lot of death in them, though.  A whole lot.  

He should stop thinking about this.  

It was just too bad that there wasn’t all that much else to think about.  He was stuck in the bed, stuck in his head… and if he started to rhyme like that he’d definitely evolve into some kind of supervillain.  Maybe radiation man.  Evil ghost radiation man.  Whatever.  

The TV in the room was on the other side of the plastic sheeting.  The screen was distorted, the volume too low to accurately hear, except for commercials, because it was set to one of those channels that shifted the volume of commercials up about a hundred percent from the volume of the actual show.  They should be sued for that, actually.  Danny would sue them, if he had the money for it.  Maybe.  Something like ‘deafening a nation with cheese ball ads is still deafening a nation.’  

He didn’t have the remote.  Didn't even know if there was a remote.

The problem with this was that even for the most exhausted human on Earth - a distinction Danny was surely at least in the running for - there were a limited number of hours a person could sleep a day.  While in theory that number was twenty-four, in practice it was generally lower.  

Danny knew he was feeling sorry for himself, but he thought he deserved to feel sorry for himself.  He couldn't even roll over.  On the last video call, his parents had said they’d had a friend in college who’d recovered from something ‘similar,’ and they were desperately trying to contact him to see how, but Danny had his doubts at this stage.  No way something as serious as this had a name as dumb as ‘ecto-acne.’  ‘Green bubonic plague’ seemed more appropriate.

But it was better than the alternative.  A shiver rolled through him, and suddenly he was so cold he’d almost swear he could see his breath.  That split second where he was dying, dead, a ruined ghost in the mirror, the hallucination of falling through his friends hands…

Or, worse, the second before it, when, hearing Sam and Tucker scream, he thought he’d killed them, too.  He really hoped they didn’t have any side effects from standing so close to the portal.  He didn’t really remember what they looked like when he saw them, after.  

Someone would have told him if they weren’t okay, right?  Except that no one seemed to want to upset him.  As if he could get more upset.  

Okay.  Actually, he’d give them that one.  

He shifted his weight slightly, half intending to get up despite the way agony shot through him whenever his blisters brushed against anything.  But even as he did so, grogginess swept through him, and the little weight he’d managed to lift sank back onto his pillows.  His eyes drifted closed.  

.

Vlad reset the dial on the morphine drip carefully.  He might have given the young man, the boy, a little more than the doctors would have prescribed, but Vlad had been there.  He knew what it was like, the feeling of your skin swelling, peeling, rotting, dying, the ectoplasm worming its way ever-deeper, and, more selfishly, he also wanted a chance to… observe.  To see.  

To determine if his first impression was at all correct.  

He reached down, and gently lifted the boy’s hand from where it lay limply on the bed, the ectoplasm-pus-filled boils on it glowing weakly where they intersected with Vlad’s aura.  If anyone looked in, it would look like the boy was raising his hand on his own, but Vlad doubted they would.  He’d passed something of an argument on the way in.  

The boy’s ecto-acne had spread all the way down his arm.  It must be progressing much more rapidly than Vlad’s had.  Or… no.  It all looked like it was at about the same stage of development, although it was somewhat less severe than it was on his face.  He must have gotten a massive dose, but perhaps he had been wearing some form of protective gear on his body and hands.  Or simply clothing and gloves.  Whatever he’d been wearing, it had protected him from neither the ectoplasm nor whatever had caused the Lichtenberg figures forking down along his arms and up his neck.  

Had he been hit by lightning?  On his chest or torso?  Had he stepped on an electrical wire?

He put the boy’s hand down and circled the bed, observing further, taking in the distorted lines of the boy’s face, the fall of his hair, the soft, slow rise and fall of his chest, the muddled and, possibly, transitory ectosignature.  

Vlad was optimistic that the ectosignature was not transitory.  That it was permanent.  That it would stabilize.  That the boy would, after a fashion, live.  Always optimistic.  He brushed his fingers against the boy’s cheek.  The boils here flared brighter than the ones on his hand.  

Lovely, in some ways, disgusting in more.  He withdrew.  

As miraculous as all this was for Vlad, he couldn’t help but wonder how the boy had come to be so contaminated, and in such a way.  All his attempts at making half-ghost animals or even plants had met with limited success.  Had he been intersected by a natural portal?  Struck with lightning while passing through one?  

Briefly, Vlad entertained the idea that the boy might be from another time period.  How fortunate that would be for him.  Vlad, of course, would serve as his guardian as well as his mentor in that most ideal of situations.  

There was always the outside chance that the boy had somehow managed to find himself in the same situation as Vlad, in the path of an artificial portal, but, surely, that possibility was beyond laughable.  Even Jack wouldn’t let a child into a lab researching the nature of death, to say nothing of Maddie, and no one else had the knowledge.  

The strange thing was, the boy almost seemed familiar in some ways… Incredible, verging on impossible, considering the swelling caused by the ecto-acne, but, still, there was something…

The door of the room burst open, and the devil himself walked in, wearing a biohazard suit.  

A devil who went by the name of Jack Fenton.  

Vlad threw himself out of the way.  He could have gone intangible, yes, but he didn’t want his molecules to touch Jack’s at all, even intangibly, thank you very much.  

Jack was followed by two others.  A smaller figure, a teen, and…

… Maddie.  

The love of his life.  She was as radiant as ever, even through the plastic faceplate of a full hazmat suit.  

But why was she here?  Why were any of them here, in this room, with his boy?

Transfixed, Vlad watched the tableau.  Jack, Maddie, and the teen in their biohazard suits, leaning over the boy, holding his hand, whispering to him, tears impacting the insides of their face plates.  

Rage boiled within him when he saw Jack, the fool, the oaf, take his boy’s slender, delicate hand with no regard to how painful the ecto-acne on it must be.  But that rage was equalled, if not exceeded by the confusion engendered by the presence of Maddie and the girl.  

Surely, they couldn’t have been called in as experts.  Vlad would have been contacted long before them, as the only survivor of this kind of poisoning and pioneer and patent holder for its treatment.  

“Mister and Missus Fenton!” snapped a doctor wearing similar garb.  “I don’t care if you’re ‘properly dressed,’ you cannot be here until we figure out what the contaminant is!

“This is our son!” said Jack.  “We can’t not be here!”

“And we’re the experts in this ‘contamination!’  It’s ectoplasm.”

The doctor looked like he wanted to strangle them.  Vlad sympathized, but he was still reeling from the revelation.  His boy?  Jack’s… son?

Maddie’s son.  That was a much more comfortable thought.

“I thought you said we had permission,” hissed the… daughter?  Yes, surely, that young lady must be Jack and Maddie’s daughter.  

Wonderful, in some ways, disgusting in more.

“Why should we need permission to see Danny?”

“That question would make more sense if it wasn’t your fake ‘ghost portal’ that did this to him!”

“With the hazmat–”

“What if it’s not safe for him?”

That shut Jack up.  

“Thank you,” said the doctor.  “We will let you know when you can come back and visit properly.  In the meantime, you need to leave.  You can keep having video conversations like you have been.”

They left.  Vlad dropped himself into a nearby visitor chair, just outside the plastic sheeting they had the boy surrounded by.  Maddie’s son…  And he had been changed by a portal.  

Incredible.  Beyond optimism.  

On the counter beside him, there was a folder.  Probably a copy of something that had been left behind accidentally.  He picked it up and opened it.

At the very top of the first piece of paper, was the name Daniel Fenton.  

Daniel.  

Daniel was a lovely name.  Maddie must have chosen it.  

Daniel Fenton.  

Daniel Fenton.  

Daniel.  

Soon enough, it would be Daniel Masters.  

Vlad liked the ring of that.

.

Danny was nervous.  His parents had gotten in touch with their friend who’d had ‘ecto-acne’ and he was coming to visit the hospital to do an assessment.  His parents hadn’t mentioned before today that he was the patent holder for the only effective treatment of ecto-acne, and that the treatment was still classified as experimental, so he could withhold it, if he decided to.  They hadn’t mentioned that he was the only expert in the disease, and that he’d virtually cured himself.  They hadn’t mentioned that the treatment was extremely expensive and their insurance wouldn’t cut it.  They hadn’t mentioned that their friend was Vlad Masters.  Or that he payed most of the bills for this hospital.  

Danny was realizing that his parents had a tendency to not mention really important things.  

Like, hey, the stuff we sometimes store in the fridge can cause a debilitating and potentially fatal illness!  Yeah.  That would have been great to know forever ago.  

… the CPS case that was taking up so much of their time recently might hold more water than Danny had originally thought.  

One of the nurses, wearing a huge, bulky version of hazmat, had brought the video call computer up to his bed.  She’d be assisting Mr. Masters with his assessment.  

Mr. Masters.  Danny was a bit confused that it wasn’t Dr. Masters, when he’d gone through most of the same schooling as Danny’s parents and then learned at least enough about medicine to be considered an expert in something like this, but apparently the man preferred it that way.  

Danny didn’t get it.  

But Danny had other things to worry about, like not annoying the man who could decide whether Danny could get better now or if he’d have to wait until his parents figured something out.  Danny… was not particularly optimistic about his parents figuring anything out.  At the same time, he could read between the lines.  Mr. Masters had cut contact with his parents for nearly twenty years and then only responded to their frantic calls about Danny after days had gone by.  

Danny didn’t think Mr. Masters liked his parents very much.  

But he was seeing Danny, so… Maybe Danny could be optimistic.  Less pessimistic.  Whatever.  

The loading circle on the screen vanished, replaced by a picture of his parents sitting side by side.  

“Oh, Vladdie’s not here yet?” asked Jack, his voice tinny through the speaker.  

“No, you’re the first ones on,” said the nurse.  

“Hi, Danny,” said Maddie, giving him a little wave.  “How do you feel today?”

“Tired,” said Danny.  It was a real question, but he didn’t have the energy to describe the… everything.  His skin was too hot, his insides too cold, every movement was pain, sometimes he’d randomly be freezing for no reason, and he wasn’t sure if he had started to have hallucinations, or if the awful green stuff had migrated to the inside of his eyes, because it looked like there were blobs of it everywhere.  

She smiled halfway.  “You just have to hold in for a little bit, Danny.  I’m sure Vlad won’t be long.  He’ll see the same things we do.”

Just as she finished her sentence, another loading circle popped up and was quickly replaced by the image of a silver-haired man in an expensive-looking suit.  He sat in an opulent office, backed by shelves full of books and knick knacks.  

“Hello, Maddie.  Ah, you must be Daniel.”

“Yeah,” said Danny, he tried to smile, but the motion pulled at one of his blisters, and he stopped.  

“Vladdie!” exclaimed Jack.  “It’s been forever!  It’s great to see you looking so, so–”

“I would say that it was nice to meet you, Daniel,” interrupted Mr. Masters, entirely ignoring Jack, “but under the circumstances… It probably doesn’t feel nearly as nice to you.”  He looked down at something below the range of his camera.  “Now, I have a few photographs here from your parents and your doctors, but I will need to get a better look at some things and ask some questions before I can really tell if your contaminant is ectoplasm based, and, if it is, whether or not your problem is the same as mine.”

“Vladdie?  Does he not hear me?  Is our microphone not on?”

“I can hear you just fine, Jack, but there are more important things at hand.  Daniel, is it alright for me to examine you?  I know this is all very irregular.”  Mr. Masters looked up.  “This would be so much easier if I could do this in person, but time is of the essence, unfortunately, and this is such a surprise.”

Danny understood.  It was a surprise for him, too.  

“Yeah… It’s okay.”

“Good.  Then, if you’re ready, let’s begin with…”

The assessment was blessedly brief, mostly consisting of the nurse helping Danny move to show off different blisters.  

“Well,” said Mr. Masters, “I have to agree with Maddie’s diagnosis of ecto-acne.”  He shuffled together a sheaf of papers.  “I had been optimistic that my sickness was a one-off, a fluke, but I’m glad I prepared for the worst.  “Daniel will need–”  Mr. Masters started to rattle off a list of… It was a list.  

“Mr. Masters,” said the nurse, “I don’t think this hospital has all of that equipment.”

“I am aware.  I will, of course, arrange for you to be moved to my private clinic, near my home, Daniel.  It’s where I get treatments for my flare ups.”

“Oh, Vlad,” said Maddie, “I don’t know if we can afford–”“Nonsense, Maddie, dear,” said Mr. Masters, smiling.  “I’ll pay for everything.  Transportation, board, treatment… Even a place for you and your daughter to stay nearby.  After all, I know exactly what Daniel is going through.  I could never leave someone to suffer like I did.”

#danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2023

[theexaltedbride]

Dead Island 2 Slayers X New Numen Reader. (Female).

You failed to get to the evacuation zones in time. There were just so many zombies around, so much chaos, and the earthquakes damaged the roads, preventing you from taking any of the pre-prepared routes. By the time the military pulled out and set up the quarantine zone, it was already too late. 

You were trapped in Hell-A, and you had no choice but to run, hide, and pray for the storm to pass. Days turned to weeks, and the earthquakes continued, causing power and water to be inconsistent until it shut down completely. You had to survive by moving from house to house, hoping to find enough resources to live just one more day, and not to run into any marauders who might be interested in taking advantage of the situation and a lone woman without a group.

You were pretty lucky at first, none of the infected around you were anything more than rotting Shamblers who could be outpaced by a fast walk or a light jog. But your luck was set to run out, as a Butcher moved into your area, and began stalking you. It could smell your blood, hear it pulsing in your veins, and it wanted to hear the musical rhythm of your heart beating in terror as it slaughtered you. Like a skilled predator, it waited until you were vulnerable, when it came in for the lunge, and you first knew of its presence by being impaled in the side by one of its bone spikes, then by a bite on your face.

You were mauled by several of the infected, tossed about like a ragdoll, bitten into. You only barely escaped with your life by biting the Butcher right back and tearing off its nose. While it was confused and in pain you fled and found an alleyway to recover and think up a better plan, hiding in a dumpster, where the stink of it hid your scent from the Butcher, long enough for the virus to course through your body and begin repairing you. Parts of your body are different now, your eyes are a different color, almost like one of the infected, your jaw feels strong enough to crunch bone (like a dog does), and you feel like you have way more energy than you did before your infection.

Something in your blood responded to the virus, and it began to work with you rather than against you. It called out to others like you, and you could sense them nearby, but so could the Butcher, as it finally chased you out of the dumpster and into the streets, where someone else finally came to your rescue. 

Amy:

-Amy saved you from the butcher by running in with a war cry and a pistol, firing off bullets as fast as she could pull the trigger. While the Butcher was fast, she was even faster, moving like the wind. She ducked and weaved round the Butcher’s strikes, using some old cavalry sword that she’d made sharp with some mods to slice the Butcher up. Once it was dealt with, she focused on getting you to safety, and has been by your side since then.

- Amy has been a great help in getting you used to your new status and keeping your spirits up. She’s had to go through the loss of a leg, and turning that into a positive, as well as the shock of discovering she was a Numen. She knows what you are going through even more than you do, and is always there to empathize with you.

-When Amy trains you she focuses on building up your stamina as much as possible. Even if you have super speed you wont always be able to use it and sometimes being able to outlast an enemy in a fight is more important than being stronger than them.

-Whenever you feel ashamed about your bite and stab scars, Amy will take time to ask you to help her adjust her prosthetic leg as a subtle way of showing she understands, and to show how much she trusts you by letting you help her in that way.

Bruno:

-Bruno showed up by doing one of those action movie slides over the hood of a car and shouting for the Butcher attacking you to “Pick on someone who hits back!”. Bruno brought the hurt on the Butcher with an electrified machete, that sent the monster reeling back and screaming as 1.21 Gigawatts of ‘payback’ flowed through its body. Once it was dead, he used that same electric machete to jumpstart a car and use it to take you back to Emma’s mansion where you could be given first aid.

-While you were recovering and still healing from the Butcher’s attack, Bruno was always there to help you out and had several calming playlists to keep your mind from panicking too much as your body put itself back together and the group slowly introduced you to what they knew about being a Numen.

-Bruno teaches you a lot about gadgets and inventions (almost as much as he does about music and videos) and wants to make sure you always have some trick up your sleeve if you are ever in danger.

-You’re starting to pick up that Bruno goes out of his way t make your music playlists empowering to you or to help you come to terms with being humanity 2.0, but in a good way, more heroic than what the Eschaton Group is like.

Carla:

-Carla came roaring in on one of her fixed up motorcycles when she sensed you in danger. Like something out of an action movie she jumped off the back of the bike and let it slam right into the Butcher, knocking it off its feet, while she pulled out a tricked out mace to smash the Butcher’s head in. Once the threat was dealt with, she put you into a princess carry and ran with you all the way to Emma’s place, kicking zombies to death along the way while constantly talking to you to keep you from going to sleep.

-Carla knows your fast, but she trains you to build up some upper body strength. You can use both speed and strength to get the upper hand on any Butchers who come after you in the future. Carla won’t always be around, but she wants you to be safe.

-Whenever she gets a motorcycle working again, she loves pulling wheelies and showing off that same trick which helped her to save you. Sure she’s wrecked a few bikes, but its worth it for her to see that glimmer in your eyes.

-Carla sometimes struggles to train you as much as she wants during sparring sessions because she doesn’t want to accidentally hurt you.

Dani:

-Dani’s accent was one of the first things you noticed when she came to your rescue. Matched only by the constant cacophony of gunfire from her. She seemed to have guns hidden in hammerspace, as each time a magazine ran dry, she just pulled out a new one and kept on firing, even with how a Butcher seems supernaturally able to block bullets, it wasn’t able to stop every single shot and soon Dani had turned the Butcher into paste, before taking the time to provide you some initial First Aid. 

-Dani comforted you as you were taken back to Emma’s mansion, and you learned that a lot of hard swears can actually be pretty endearing when said with a comforting tone and some genuine care. 

-Dani has put you through a full gun safety course so you can soften up a Butcher (or any other threat) from afar before it can get too close to you, as well as teaching you to swear like a sailor and get yourself hyped up. Don’t get scared, get angry!

-She’s started trying out some different hairstyles to find something which matched your hair to your new Numen eyes, so you wouldn’t have to be afraid of looking different.

Jacob:

-Jacob played the role of the dashing hero out of nowhere, ducking and weaving through the attacks of the Butcher, while sometimes taking hits and managing to turn it around against the Butcher. Once he dispatched it (by turning a feint into a suplex that broke the Butcher’s back) he dropped his normally comedic attitude, and promised you that he’d get you help as he slid his arms under your own and started to pull you towards the mansion. 

-Jacob has always got a kind word or smart comment ready to help lift your spirits up, which proves very useful during training when he teaches you how to fold your body and handle getting hit, and turning it around against an enemy.

-The two of you tend to hang out a lot and just talk about things, a Jacob really impart his devil may care attitude about being a Numen to you. Its just the same as being a regular human but with extra steps.

-When you admitted fear and shame over other people seeing your mutated eyes, Jacob took the moment to gently remove his own sunglasses and show how he has one discolored eye, effectively blind in one eye even after becoming a Numen. He knows a lot about how you feel.

Ryan:

-When Ryan initially found you he was full on using a fake firefighter voice to sound heroic as he fought off the Butcher and eventually stomped the monster’s head in. He then put you into a fireman’s carry and ran with you all the way back to the mansion. Ryan didn’t know much first aid, but he had the strength and stamina to get you back to the mansion for treatment, where he chose to be by your side the entire time.

-It took you a while to learn Ryan’s secret, as he kept up an act of being a real First Responder to keep you calm and feeling safe. It wouldn’t be until after you made a full recovery that he told you the truth.

-Ryan’s training with you has been focused on helping you think on your feet and come up with responses and plans quickly when under attack. He isn’t much of a planner, but when the going gets tough he still manages to keep his head.

-When you both grew to trust one another more, Ryan admitted that he is always afraid. The mask of bravery he wears is an act for everyone else. So he can sympathize with you when you admit you are afraid of Butchers, but he also helps you to learn to mask that fear and keep it behind a mask, until the mask becomes real and the both of you are genuinely brave enough to fight whatever horrors Hell-A throws at you.

General Headcanons:

-The Eschaton Group tries to recruit you into their faction and pull you away from the Slayers. They know you have powers that the rest of your friends don’t, and they want that on their side. They tell you that the age of baseline humans is over. Numen are inherently superior and should rule the world to come. But you recall the fear and pain you endured while you were still a ‘baseline’ human. It pushes you to save others, and use your powers for the better. Great Power comes with Great Responsibility, and those with the means to protect others have a duty to do so.

-You’ve taken to wearing sunglasses to cover up your Numen eyes, so you don’t scare anyone with how different you are. Its even become a bit of a game for everyone to bring you some new sunglasses and see which one works best for you. Sometimes this leads to some very good finds, and other times it leads to hilarity as you are running around Hell-A slaying zombies in the most ridiculous sunglasses your friends could find.

-Your own Numen powers are beginning to develop the more you test them. While the others get things like super strength and rabid fury, you are developing the same kind of regeneration as them mixed with an incredible movement speed. When you trigger it you move faster and smoother than everyone else, its like they are all walking through water or mud while you stroll past them. It’s fast enough you could even dodge the strikes of a Butcher if one were to attack you again. It only lasts about ten seconds, but that is still just enough to finish off a zombie or to pull someone out of danger. 

-The sight of the Butcher infected still sometimes inspires fear in you. But you know you can handle it. You’re a Numen now, you have the power to beat the shit out of these monsters, to save people, and you have friends and a lover with you who have that same power. It will take some time to conquer this fear, but you know you can do it. 

-Since you have other Numen allies to help you master your new powers and status, you’re discovering that it is easier to control your abilities with those who support you and you’re learning it faster than the other Slayers who had to learn it from trial and error. It almost acts as a direct challenge to the ‘Sink or Swim’, method that the Eschaton Group uses.

-Your vision is slowly changing, you can see things, almost as if you can see through walls to pick up on when infected and uninfected are around, its let you get the jump on some of the more dangerous autophage variants out there. 

Bonus: Bruno’s Playlist for you.

-Disturbed “The Curse”.

-Transistor ”She Shines”.  (The one by Supergiant Games)

-Skillet “Feel Invincible”.

-Disturbed “The Light”.

-Karl Sanders “The Elder God Shrine”.

-Matthew Good “Weapon”.

-Matthew Good “Fated”.

#Dead Island #dead island 2 #Dead Island Slayers x Reader #Dead Island Slayers x Numen #Numen #Di2 #dead island headcanons #Character x Reader

[apehome]

Hello fellow PoTA fans!

Since it’s been a while and I’ve now seen the new movie, here’s a few quick updates to this blog: 🦍🦧

This RolePlay/discussion blog is based on these movies/books: 📺📚

- Rise of The Planet of The Apes

- Firestorm book

- Dawn of The Planet of The Apes (movie and novelization)

- Revelations book

- War for The Planet of The Apes (movie and novelization)

- Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes

- Comics based on the reboot series

On here, I do:

- Role plays

- Discussion threads

- Headcanons or thoughts

- Answer asks

What’s Allowed: ✅

- Violence, murder, blood, gore, spoilers to any of the movies (including Kingdom), any themes explored in the reboot movies (war, betrayal, trauma, redemption, survival, abuse/torture, etc)

- OC’s and OC x Canon characters

- Shippings from the movies or made up shippings

What’s NOT Allowed: 🚫

- Sexual themes of any kind

- Real-life political themes (unless it’s based on the reality of the reboot series-such as status inequality (Kingdom), distrust of government (Rise/Dawn), body autonomy (Rise), quarantine/pandemic themes (A113, Rise/Dawn), animal cruelty (Rise), etc)

This will likely be added to later. Thanks for reading! 😊

#planet of the apes #planetoftheapes #pota #pota rp

[thatlonelycactus]

It will always fuck me up that there are pieces of content that we look at today and go “oh yeah” or “I remember that” or whatever but in a couple of years, when these events have moved out of the majority of the public’s memory people will need to understand the historical context to understand it. Like I know that but it still screws with me.

Like Bo Burnham’s Inside is one that comes to mind. If most of us watch it now we’ll not only get the references but be able to relate to the whole thing about being stuck inside. In a couple of years people will probably be going on web deep dives to understand the full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worldwide quarantines just to understand a Netflix comedy special. In fact, at some point all of the COVID era literature (books, series, news articles, movies, even obscure memes) will need some form of historical understanding to even be understood in some capacity. I mean, a similar thing happened to 9/11 (Different kind of historical tragedy ik) but less than 30 years after it happened, the September 11 terrorist attacks are being taught in history classes.

But no matter how much historical context people have when they interact with [insert period] literature they’ll never truly understand what it was like to live through that event.

That’s not necessarily bad because a) much less suffering for those individuals (at that point in time) and b) the fact that they’re taking time to learn that context and consume that literature allows the memory of both the positive and negative effects these events had in the world and how they were catalysts for change.

To take that time to learn the struggles of those before, even if it is just to watch a Bo Burnham comedy special, is to attempt to help stop history from repeating itself.

But seriously, if humanity survives that long, people may look back at now like we look at the Victorian era.

#anyway sorry for my shit #Im just bored waiting for my #History #assessment to upload #And got bored #Sorry for my incoherence #covid #I know that #covid isn’t over #but yeah #history #random shit #random thoughts #random #bo burnham #bo burnam inside #sorry lots of tags lol

[darsynia]

do you take requests? if so, I’d like to formally request reader comforting Tony and just showering him in praise because he truly deserves it and we never see him get treated like that in the movies

it can end with smut if you’d like, up to you 🫶🏻

I wrote this with my friend purplefeathersandblackleather in mind, to be honest. I wanted to write something they would appreciate, and this prompt fit perfectly with what they hinted they'd like. I am pleased to have written it and I'm sorry for any offense that may have been taken.

Summary: Tony Stark was a broken, angry man after he survived his snap to save the universe, but you've brought him back to life slowly, carefully, lovingly. He comes home with bad news after a meeting with his doctor, and you offer him as much comfort and encouragement as you can. Warnings: hurt/comfort, toxic anger, mentions of amputation (story is set post-Endgame, Tony lives) Pairings: Tony Stark/GN!Reader Square Filled: Cuddling Word Count: 3,171

Build Me a Cocoon So I Can Crawl Inside Your Love

Tony’s back from the specialist’s appointment he didn’t want to let you come along for, and he looks really discouraged. The gamma radiation damage had required an amputation above the elbow. It was a strategic choice, designed to offer the best possible outcome for prosthetics. The problem is, it hasn’t been healing well enough to be fitted yet, and by the look on his face, that’s still the case.

Every time he goes in to be assessed, the fitting date is pushed back, and Tony comes home feeling some kind of way. This time he’s sad, resigned even, which you suppose is better than when he was angry and ready to burn off enough flesh to start over. Tony Stark’s righteous anger is hard to refute, but his sadness? It breaks your heart.

You’d met Tony after the heroics, after the messy divorce, after the custody battle. He was never a man who knew how best to heal, and healing the whole universe of its colossal loss was meant to kill him. When it didn’t, he… didn’t handle that very well. 

If you had been a home health nurse, one of the court-ordered psychologists, or even among the number of Morgan’s many home tutors (the daughter of the savior of the universe was too valuable to go to regular school, one of the things Pepper and Tony had fought over, with Tony on the side of ‘I know what boarding school and isolation does to a rich kid, you cannot do this to our daughter.’ He’d lost.), Tony would never have given you the time of day. He wants nothing at all to do with anything from before, not even by association.

No, you’re an artist. He’d run into you completely by accident on one of the worst days of his new life, though the events did end up creating an accidental bond. In a bid to completely revamp his life, Tony had been spending time at national parks, and, woefully unprepared for the heat, he’d stumbled into your day camp set up. You’d fed and watered him, but then he’d had a phantom pain attack, and in response, an attack of temper.

“-- not expect to spend the rest of my life in this much fucking PAIN!” Tony had roared, his remaining hand scrabbling at the knot made out of the empty bottom half of his right sleeve, trying to untie it. You’d come over to help, and in blind frustration, he’d shoved you away, probably remembering someone else, someone who made him feel guilty for being angry.

You’d fallen back into your easel, your ass sliding across your unfinished art, ruining many hours of work.

There was no way you wanted to make things worse for him-- after all, he was the reason you got some of the people you loved most in the world back! --so you’d tried to minimize the damage. They were only things, after all, and you could recreate what you lost. The two of you had quarantined yourselves at either side of your camp, each tending to your own ‘wounds.’ In all honesty, you’d expected him to walk off, but he hadn’t.

An indeterminate number of minutes later, after you’d cleaned everything up and were trying to decide how best to carry it back down to your car, Stark’s left hand thrust into view. He was holding a piece of paper, a receipt, it looked like, with some information scrawled onto the back of it.

“Figure out how much that all cost and I’ll reimburse you. Send me a message on that. It’s private, so,” Tony had heaved a sigh, then continued, “--don’t share--”

“Are you kidding?” you’d said, covering his shaking hand with yours instinctively, to steady it. “I wouldn’t dream of making your life worse, after all you’ve done!”

“Please.” You can still remember his voice, how weary he’d sounded. “No Thanos.”

“Yeah, I’m with you there. Fuck that guy,” you had blurted. “I meant your inventions, the prosthetics! Not just that, but in three months you’ve revolutionized the entire industry, created a whole new sweat-wicking fabric-- can I ask you?” You’d turned around, still holding onto his hand like a complete idiot, too excited to realize you were holding him physically captive. “Is it the same stuff you came up with for Banner? Because that is just genius-- though, I guess I don’t need to tell you that! You’ve always been a genius. I bet you have fifty hard drives full of that kind of stuff, really useful inventions, but people like Obediah Stane and the jerks in the army weren’t ever willing to listen.”

Tony had just blinked at you, a tiny, molecule-thick smile forming on his lips. You knew he’d been in self-destruct mode for months, but impossibly, you did not choose that moment to keep your mouth shut.

“I’m sorry you’re in such pain still. I follow tech news but don’t know much about the actual process, but that’s even more amazing, you know that, right? Pain saps creativity, and so does sadness. You’ve done all that while you’re hurt and miserable? True hero, I swear it.”

“Are you for real?” he had asked, his face a mix of consternation and reluctant happiness. “No one put you up to this? Rhodey?”

“No offense, Mr. Stark, but if War Machine flew my ass up here to make you feel better, do you think I’d have the guts to tell you that?”

It’s been ten months, the first six of which had been full of affectionate-antagonistic messages sent back and forth, sometimes with large gaps. You hadn’t wanted to take payment, he’d insisted, and you’d both found creative ways to either send money or send the sent money back, right up until the time he’d found out you were about to become homeless.

Tony Stark had moved you into his house. He’d risked the headlines, the speculation, the condemnation, and done it anyway. It didn’t feel like billionaire behavior at the time, and it still doesn’t now that you’re in the clandestine relationship the media speculated about. It felt like something someone does because they love you.

You’re not sure you’ll ever get over that. You don’t want to.

Even so, he’s hard to live with sometimes, even especially on days like this. You almost miss the anger. His attitude today feels like resigned, miserable acceptance, the thing he’d already gone through when he’d lost custody of Morgan to Pepper. You two had already hashed that out, and he’d agreed he wasn’t any kind of parent, might not be for a while. He’d tried to say he wasn’t any kind of partner, and you’d spent a few nights specifically proving that was bullshit.

Sometimes you want to scream at the whole world. To you, Tony Stark is the best of them, because he didn’t have an unassailable moral code. He hadn’t been a model of perfect humanity, and he still isn’t. And still he’d saved everyone. He’d saved people on planets ‘hitherto undreamt of,’ to quote an interaction he’d be upset you’d found out about. You’d thought about trying to rehabilitate his relationships with the people from Before, but it’s going to take a few more years of love, affection, and encouragement to get him there.

It used to be one step forward and four steps back, but now it’s more the reverse. He’s thriving, and you know it’s because he’s getting to hear the good things first, instead of constant critique.

“You’re too quiet,” Tony says from the couch.

“I was gathering rose petals,” you lie. It’s a running joke between you, but one of these days you’ll actually do it, set up a bath or something, knock his socks off.

“Please say it’s for some kind of mind-numbing tea that lets me skip forward a few days,” he groans, scrubbing his hand over his face. “I need the stronger painkillers. I know I said I wouldn’t--”

“Hey, hey,” you soothe, coming over with the pills already in hand.

Tony makes the same face he always does when you anticipate his needs. It’s surprised, pleased, even confused, but the percentages have steadily changed to be more pleased, less confused, and almost never surprised anymore. That’s progress.

You sit on the arm of the couch, next to his residual limb, and he frowns up at you.

“Don’t think I don’t notice that you keep doing that.”

“Do what?” You know, but you want him to address it.

His glare is sexy as hell, but you push your desire back and focus on his emotional state. In your head, you’re cheering him on, and maybe he can feel it, because he says, “I can’t touch you with my hand over there. Not without twisting around.”

You run your hand through his hair to soften his reaction to your response, and thrill at the rumbling ‘mmmm’ sound he makes. “Because I love all of you. If I don’t shy away from your pissy attitude when you’re an entire grump, I’m not going to shy away from--”

For the first time since you’ve been together, he reaches out with his right arm and sweeps you off of the arm of the couch and onto his lap. You try not to react, try not to show how important the moment is, but Tony’s looking right at you, and he can tell something’s up.

“Really?” he says, shaking his head in confusion like you’re some sort of bizarre cryptid.

“You never touch me with your right side on purpose,” you say carefully.

He leans down to kiss you, and it’s not a lust kiss, it’s gratitude, and something about it is sweetly calming. You can tell he got bad news today, but he’ll tell you when he’s up for it, and until then, you can show him he’s loved. When the kiss ends, he leans his head in the direction of the bedroom, and you nod. 

It’s mid afternoon, but the blackout curtains on the windows lend an air of evening finality to the room, which you maintain by putting on a small, dim lamp by the bed. Tony changes out of his formal clothes while you watch appreciatively, and when he’s in his sweats, he walks over and lets himself fall onto the bed.

“Fuck,” he says. “Would it be crazy to just--”

“Sleep?” you finish with him. In response, Tony hugs you to him, and you kiss his chest. “Alarm?”

“No, I’ve figured out you’re mostly harmless by now,” he jokes, the words broken up by a ferocious yawn.

The two of you wake up in a jumble. Tony’s rolled over and thrown his right leg possessively over your hip. He’s awake, as it happens, and when you meet his eyes, he gives a little tug of his left arm, which you’ve been sleeping on. The two of you adjust, which mostly means you end up facing each other, each on your own pillow pile.

“Did the nap help any?” you whisper.

“Always and never,” he says back, and you get it. Some things just… stay broken.

Girding yourself mentally for a negative reaction, you reach up and set your left hand against the spiderweb of scars on the right side of his face.

“I have wanted to say this for months, but every time I thought about it, I recognized that you were too hurt, too full of distorted, hateful thinking to accept it.”

He breaks in, his wry expression undergirded with iron. “You’re so sure I’m ready to hear you now? After the news I got?” You can feel the tightness to his jaw under your fingertips, and you lean over to kiss it away. The way the tension eases almost as soon as your lips brush against his skin is answer enough.

“Yes.” You slide your hand down to rest against his chest, partly to feel the steady beat of his heart. “Your father did too little too late, and it’s okay to acknowledge that.”

“You’re starting there? I need a drink,” he teases, but he doesn’t take his eyes off of you, and his leg doesn’t tense up like he’s ready to get up and run away from what you’re saying.

“Hell yes I’m starting there. You watched me try to live up to my friends’ expectations, do you remember what you said?”

His lips twitch with reluctant amusement. “I said ‘those fuckers want to make you into the friend they want, not the friend they already have.”

“Exactly.”

“Point taken,” Tony grunts. “Next?”

“It’s not your fault that you made things that were misused by people with shitty intentions.”

He turns in bed, shifting so he can lay on his back. You cuddle up, rest your head on his shoulder. “And when those people were the government?” he asks.

“What’s the alternative? Watching them self destruct with Hammer’s shit? When you saw the weapons dealing get too far, you cut it off. You lost a ton of money. You gotta let that go, Tony. You were misled, you lived the life you thought you were meant to, right up until you didn’t.”

“Noted.”

You skip over some things. They’ll keep, and the last thing you want to do is have him sit there worrying about what you’re going to say next.

“Last one for now: that thing with the nuclear warhead and the Chitauri is the most heroic thing you’ve ever done,” you say, scooting impossibly closer. He’s gonna challenge this one.

Tony’s scorn as he turns his head to look at you is palpable, as expected.

“Hear me out: it was amazing that you built the suit for the stones, ok? But you had time to figure that out. You decided about that ahead of time. You had the choice. But the nuke? You just worked on instinct. Do you understand how amazing that was? You knew you could do it and you did it-- and you were afraid. You were terrified, Tony. That’s heroism.” His jaw is working like his teeth can’t settle against each other, and you run your fingertips through the too-long hair spilling over onto his forehead. “You also sat through that even though you wanted me to shut up.”

“True.”

“You want to tell me more about your day?”

“Not even a little bit,” he grins, but you start rubbing comfort along his chest, kissing his shoulder, and he sighs. “They’re going to take more off. Reset the stump, basically. They say that will give it a better chance of actually healing, so I can end up with something I can actually do something useful with.”

“You’ve got a million ideas for prosthetics for your suit, don’t you?” you guess. “It dawns on you that this is the issue. He hasn’t been himself without the fucking Iron Man suit, because even though it’ll conform to him, it’s not pain free until his arm heals. Tony’s been knocked back to larval form for over a year.

This whole time you thought he wasn’t doing anything with the suit because it nearly killed him, because it reminds him of Before, but that’s not it at all. Tony Stark’s suit has always been his saving grace, and he hasn’t really been himself without it.

You extricate yourself and sit up. “Holy shit.”

“Now what?” he says, vulnerable, irritated.

“This is it, this is the thing we’ve been waiting for. When did they say they’re going to do the surgery?”

“You’re excited about this?”

You stand up, too full of energy and excitement to stay still. “Tony, you’re not seeing the big picture! You’re, you’re…” You light on it, a remnant of the very few visits he still has with Morgan. That light at the end of the tunnel is so distant as to be physically painful, but you go for it, because he needs this hope, and so do you. “You’re like a cross between the seventeen-year cicadas and the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Tony!”

He’s shaking his head, sitting up in bed, hand going to massage his stump, brows furrowed.

“The suit! You’ve been exiled from it, right? Because it hurts. It hurts to leave your most vulnerable part exposed and unarmored, and the effort it takes to be the old you long enough to code it to account for what’s missing hurts too. It’s been symbolic, all this time, right?”

His left hand is fisted in his lap, and his jaw is tight, but Tony nods.

“You’ve been buried in the ground without it, it’s the only place you’re safe.” You’re probably pushing the metaphor too far, but you love this beautiful, glorious genius, and it’s not your fault you weren’t smart enough to figure this out before. “You had to heal your heart first, in order to have enough physical capital to heal your arm. You had to be willing to give something up for both-- your privacy, your right to avoid being vulnerable around someone else. Literal inches of the precious amount of arm you have left.”

“Breathe, will you? You’re turning purple,” he teases. It’s a deflection, but a gentle one. You can tell he wants you to continue, even if he can’t bring himself to admit it.

“It’s almost time to come up from the ground, Tony-- and honestly? I think if that arm of yours took less time to heal, you might actually have trashed the rest of your suits. You needed the time. And now, you can turn into a fucking IRON BUTTERFLY. You can already make that suit do anything. Fuck actual prosthetics-- as soon as you figure out the best way to pad out your stump, the sky’s the actual--” you break off and tear up.

Tony gets up, comes over, pulls you close. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what the fuck are you--”

“You haven’t flown. Since you snapped. You love to fly.” You’re fucking inconsolable. Tony’s toxic fury has led you to compartmentalize everything about his life Before, but it’s part of him, and if you’d have just made those connections earlier--

Tony’s got his hand on your face, walking you back to the door of the bedroom, and now he’s kissing you. It’s tender, forgiving, and despite yourself, you cling to him, your guilt slipping through your fingers no matter how hard you try to grip it. 

“Goddamnit, Tony!” you whisper when he shifts his lips to your cheek.

“You called me a butterfly. This is self defense.”

You sniffle defensively. “You’re a beautiful butterfly, Tony. An Iron Monarch.”

“Not yet, I’m not. But you’re going to fucking drag me there, aren’t you?” He sounds pissed, but for one of the first times since you’ve known him, it’s not a toxic anger. It’s the kind of angry you get when you’re loved so much you’re given what you need, not just what you want.

“You’d better fucking believe it,” you say.

#tony stark x reader #avengersbingo #tony stark x gn!reader #hurt/comfort #tony stark imagine #tony stark x you #iron man x reader #iron man x you #tony stark #iron man #mcu fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #iron man x gn!reader

[datcloudboi]

List of Video Games Turning 20 Years Old in 2024

Alien Hominid (started off life as a Flash game and graduated to a real game.)

Army Men: Sarge's War (the sequel to the Sarge’s Heroes games, but this one was rated T for Teen and used realistic guns instead of plastic ones)

Astro Boy: Omega Factor (seriously, if you have a chance to play this, take it. This game is AMAZING)

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

The Bard's Tale (the 2004 version with the guy who played Wesley in The Princess Bride)

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings & the Lost Ocean (hey! That collection with this game and it's follow-up is out on the Switch now! Go get it!)

Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space

Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo

BloodRayne 2

Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (this GBA game had a special cartridge that required you to go outside into the sunlight to power up your character in game)

Breakdown

Bujingai: The Forsaken City (the game where you play as Gackt)

Burnout 3: Takedown

Call of Duty: United Offensive

Call of Duty: Finest Hour (a side story to the original Call of Duty, which came out the year before)

Capcom Fighting Evolution (the darkest of the dark age of fighting games)

Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums (a full-on adventure game where you play as the mascot of a series of edutainment games)

Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (the rare movie-in game that's not only really good, but is actually better than the movie it's based on)

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage + Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy

Crash Twinsanity (a childhood favorite)

Crimson Tears

Crusader Kings

Custom Robo (the first one in the series to release in North America)

Cy Girls

Dead Man's Hand

Dead or Alive Ultimate (remakes of Dead or Alive 1 and Dead or Alive 2)

Def Jam: Fight for NY (the vastly superior sequel to Vendetta)

Dog's Life

Doom 3 (the original version. Hope you've got a flashlight on you...)

Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors

Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury (the final game in the Legacy of Goku series)

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3

Drakengard (Yoko Taro's debut as a game director)

Driver 3

Evil Genius

Fable (another childhood favorite)

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (the last Fallout game made by Interplay before Bethesda acquired the IP.)

Far Cry (the very first one.)

Feel the Magic: XY/XX (a launch title for the Nintendo DS)

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (the only Final Fantasy game to release for the GameCube)

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (remakes of the first two mainline Final Fantasy games)

Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone

Front Mission 4

F-Zero: GP Legend (the last F-Zero game to release for almost 2 decades, until F-Zero 99 released in 2023.)

Galleon

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (the PS2 one. There was another version of SAC that released for the PSP a year later that is completely different.)

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2

Ghosthunter

Godzilla: Save the World

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

Gradius V (the last mainline Gradius game)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Grand Theft Auto Advance (yes, there was a GTA game on the GBA.)

Growlanser Generations

Guilty Gear Isuka

.hack//Quarantine

Half-Life 2

Halo 2

Hitman: Contracts (the third one)

Hot Shots Golf Fore! (yet another childhood favorite)

It's Mr. Pants (Rareware made this for the GBA after being acquired by Microsoft)

Jak 3

James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

Katamari Damacy (the very first Katamari game)

Killzone (PlayStation's supposed "Halo killer".)

KOF: Maximum Impact

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Lifeline (a microphone-based survival horror game for the PS2 by Konami.)

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (a turn-based RPG that uses the exact same battle system as Final Fantasy X.)

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth

Mario Golf: Advance Tour

Mario Party 6

Mario Pinball Land

Mario Power Tennis (not to be confused with "Mario Golf: Power Tour" for the GBA.)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong (the first one, which is getting a remake for the Switch in February!)

Maximo vs. Army of Zin

MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault

Mega Man: Battle Chip Challenge

Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun/Blue Moon

Mega Man X: Command Mission

Mega Man Zero 3

Mega Man X8 (yeah, there was a lot of Mega Man stuff in 2004.)

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (a remake of the original Metal Gear Solid for the GameCube)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (SNAAAAAKE EATERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR)

Metal Wolf Chaos (LET'S PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY)

Metroid: Zero Mission (a remake of the original Metroid for the GBA.)

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Monster Hunter (the very first one)

Mortal Kombat: Deception

Mushihimesama ((a bullet hell that you’ve probably seen a lot of if you search for “HARDEST GAME OF ALL TIME?????” on YouTube)

Myst IV: Revelation

Need for Speed: Underground 2

Ninja Gaiden (the reboot from the Dead or Alive devs)

The Nintendo DS

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (an action-adventure hack & slash made by FromSoftware)

Painkiller

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (can you believe this is getting a remake this year??)

Phantom Brave

Pikmin 2

Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (the last game in an series that started all the back in 1982 on the Atari 2600)

Pokemon Colosseum

Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (the 3rd one)

Red Dead Revolver (the predecessor to Red Dead Redemption.)

Resident Evil Outbreak

R-Type Final

Sacred

Samurai Warriors

Scaler

American McGee Presents: Scrapland

Second Sight

Serious Sam: Next Encounter

Shadow Hearts: Covenant

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (you know that “Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series” meme you guys love so much? This is where that came from.)

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Siren (a spirital successor to Silent Hill from the same creative director)

Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Sonic Heroes

Sonic Battle (an arena fighter for the GBA.)

Sonic Advance 3

Spider-Man 2 ((based on the movie of the same name. The one with the really good web-slinging)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (the 2nd one)

Spyro: A Hero's Tail (the 5th one)

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (the 3rd one)

Star Wars: Battlefront (the one that everyone liked)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords

Steel Battalion: Line of Contact ((this, and the original Steel Battalion two years prior, used a special controller called the Mega-Jockey 9000, which had 44 buttons, two joysticks, a throttle handle, a radio channel dial, five switches, an eject button, and three foot pedals.)

Sudeki

The Suffering

Super Mario 64 DS

Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain (the 4th one)

Tales of Symphonia

Thief: Deadly Shadows (the 3rd one)

Tony Hawk's Underground 2

Total War: Rome

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Viewtiful Joe 2

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

X-Men Legends

#army men #astro boy #baldur's gate #the bards tale #baten kaitos #blinx #bloodrayne #gackt #burnout #call of duty #carmen sandiego #everquest #riddick #crash bandicoot #spyro the dragon #custom robo #dead or alive #doom #def jam #dragon ball #drakengard #fable #fallout #far cry #final fantasy #final fantasy crystal chronicles #front mission #f zero #ghost in the shell #ghost recon