#Carry On Again Doctor (1969)

[thezombiegeekinthehawaiianshirt]

[sissylittlefeather]

I'm working on all the 200 celebration requests!! BUT I had already finished this, so I wanted to throw it out there for anyone who might be interested!

The Doctor Will See You Now: a Dr. John Carpenter Story

I love, and I mean LOVE, the character Dr. John Carpenter from the 1969 movie Change of Habit. So, of course, I wrote a fic!

A/N: this is a loooong, slow burn, fluff-tastic extravaganza. And I love it. I hope you do too!

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI, this one has your regular smutty kissing, cussing, fingering, oral sex (f receiving), p in v sex, unprotected sex, but also pregnancy and childbirth!!! Do not read if that's going to bother/trigger you, please!

In case you're unfamiliar with this delicious man:

Enjoy:

You're standing on the steps outside of the clinic with your suitcase, looking up at the door. You can hear his voice coming down from his apartment upstairs. He's singing and playing the guitar again at one of his get-togethers. The memory of being at another of his parties with your cousin floods you, especially the part where you stayed behind after everyone else left.

You swallow hard and take a deep breath, clutching the crumpled up paper in your hand. You have no choice but to walk up the steps and ring the doorbell. Hopefully, he comes down alone.

You ring the bell and stand in the hallway waiting. He comes down the stairs carrying his guitar.

"Oh, hello. Did you need the doctor?" He doesn't recognize you. There had been a significant amount of alcohol involved. Maybe he'll remember eventually.

"Yes. I need to see you." He walks down the rest of the stairs and pushes open the clinic door for you. Once inside, he turns back to you.

"I know why you're here." You look up at him suddenly. How could he possibly know?

"I'm not going to do what you want. I don't do that. I'll give you some vitamins and make sure you're healthy, but that's the extent of it." Wait. What?

"You're in trouble, right? Come with me." He walks you back to the exam room. You slowly extend the hand with the paper in it. He takes it, looks down at it, and reads it.

"Just like I thought. You want me to check you out or do you just want the vit--"

"--John, stop." You finally find your voice. When you call him by his first name, he looks up into your face for the first time, really.

"Do we know each other?" You close your eyes and your head drops. He really doesn't remember.

"Yes."

"Well, I'm sorry this happened to you, but I'm still not going to--"

"No. I'm y/n. I came to one of your parties a few months ago. We... I stayed after..." A light of recognition comes on in his mind.

"Oh, you're... I remember now. We had a good time." He smiles at you. Then, you watch as he puts two and two together.

"Wait. You're..." He covers his mouth with his hand and backs up, turning to face away from you. You give him a minute to process what you're saying.

"John--"

"--you're saying this is my baby?!" He turns back to you and you can't tell what kind of look he's giving you. It's a blend of fear, embarrassment, anxiety, and doubt.

"Yes, John. That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"How do you know?"

"Excuse me?!" You feel your temper ignite.

"I'm sorry; I'm not trying to suggest... I'm just..." He sits down in a chair. He's so genuinely caught off guard that you can't stay mad at him. You were pretty shocked too.

"It's yours. Or a miracle has occurred because you're the only man I've been with for a year."

"How did this happen?" You suppress a laugh.

"You're a doctor. Please tell me I don't need to explain to you how this happens."

"No." He smirks at you. "I know that part. I was just pretty sure we took precautions."

"We did. Apparently they failed." You throw your hands in the air and drop them back down. "How doesn't matter. It's happening."

He sits there looking up at you with his eyes wide. Then his expression softens.

"Honey, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. I remember now."

"It's okay. I just- well, I just wanted you to know. And now you do, so I'll just... go..."

"Now, hold on a minute. What do you need from me?" He holds his hands up with his palms open like he wants to offer you something. "Should we- should we get married?" You laugh and he starts laughing with you. You sit down in the chair next to him.

"John, we barely know each other. I appreciate the offer, but no. But I will take whatever help you're willing to give me." You look down at your suitcase and his eyes follow yours to it sitting on the floor.

"Why...?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Y/n, what's going on? You're carrying my baby. I need to know. Why do you have a suitcase?" You try to look away from him. You really didn't want to get him wrapped up in this part. Your plan was to tell him, leave, and then figure out what to do. He wasn't supposed to care this much. He puts his hand under your chin and gently pulls you back to looking at him. You look into his blue eyes and they're full of concern.

"My mom kicked me out."

"Your mom- how old-?" His concern turns to panic.

"I'm 26. I just lived with my mom to help her with bills. I can't afford to pay hers and my own at the same time." He takes a deep breath. Then he realizes this means you're homeless. He stands up and puts his hand out for you to take.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Upstairs. You're going to stay with me." You shake your head.

"No, I can't do that. I can't interrupt your life like that."

"You can't? Honey, I'd say your life is going to be pretty interrupted. It's only fair that mine is too. Now, come on." You take his hand and stand up. He's taking this better than you expected.

******

Upstairs in his apartment, he tells the party that it's time for them to go home. They're disappointed, but they listen when he asks them to clear out. The girls glare at you when they realize he's holding your hand. Once everyone is gone, he goes around cleaning up and you start to help.

"You don't have to do that. You're probably exhausted. I know the first trimester can be tiring." You smile at his level of kindness and concern. You are tired, but you refuse to be a burden.

"No, I'm okay. I can help." He nods slowly and makes sure he does the heavier tasks like rearranging the furniture and taking the trash out. He leaves the small things for you. When he comes back from taking the trash, he sees you at the sink washing the dishes. He has the strangest urge to come up behind you and put his arms around you, but he reminds himself that you're not his girlfriend or wife or anything, really. Still, there's something about having you in his apartment that he really likes.

Once the place is cleaned up, it's almost dinner time. You're starving, but you're trying very hard not to be in the way.

"Are you hungry? You have to be hungry." He stands up and goes to the kitchen.

"I'll make dinner. Is there anything you don't want to eat right now?"

You wonder if he's this accommodating all the time, or if it's just because he feels bad.

"You don't have to do anything special for me, John. Just pretend like I'm not here." He cocks his head to the side and looks at you. Then he comes and sits next to you on the couch, facing you. He takes both of your hands in his.

"Listen, I've had some time to process this now and I'm not worried anymore. I'm happy you're having my kid. I've always wanted to be a dad. And this may not have been exactly how I pictured it, but I'm happy. Will you just let me take care of ya so you can take care of the baby?" You nod and smile, despite yourself. If you had to get pregnant, you're glad it's with him. You sit there looking at him for a second longer and notice yourself almost leaning in to kiss him. He's leaning in slowly, too, his eyes flicking down to your lips. Maybe you should just let this happen.

Suddenly, you're hit with a wave of nausea and it brings you back down to earth. You need to eat. And starting something with him could be really bad if it doesn't go well. You turn and face the kitchen and he clears his throat.

"I'll make us somethin' to eat." He gets up and goes back to messing with pots and pans.

******

For a bachelor, he's a pretty good cook. The chicken and veggies he makes are actually really satisfying and you feel much better after you eat.

Once you're finished, he makes up the couch into a bed. You pick up your suitcase to open it and get your things to go to bed, but he takes it from you and walks into the bedroom. You follow him and he puts it on a chair in his room.

"You can sleep in here. I'll be fine on the couch."

"No, John, I can't-"

"What did I say?" He puts his hand on your cheek in a gesture that's far too intimate, but you let him anyway. "Let me take care of you. That means you sleep in the bed." He pulls a T-shirt and some shorts out of a drawer and heads out of the room. You almost call to him and say he can sleep in the bed with you, but that seems absurd. After he closes the door, you're left standing in there alone, so you open your suitcase and get out some pajamas.

He stands in the living room for a minute, overcome with a longing to curl up in bed with you. He thinks about the almost-kiss that happened on the couch and shakes his head. Neither of you can afford for this to go wrong. He has to be stronger about resisting these silly urges in the future.

******

A month passes with the two of you moving politely around the apartment, going to work and coming home. You take turns cooking and doing the dishes. For the most part, you make pretty good roommates. You wish there was a better solution than him sleeping on the couch, but he assures you he's fine.

One night, you're laying in bed reading when the strangest thing happens. It feels like there's a goldfish in your belly and it's really bizarre. At that moment, you're very glad that you live with a doctor.

"John!" You yell from the bedroom. There's a note of concern in your voice, so he damn near breaks down the door to get to you.

"What's wrong?" He runs in and sits on the bed next to your knees.

"Something weird is happening."

"Is it contractions? What does it feel like?"

"No, it's not painful. It's just... like someone is tickling me from the inside." You look at him with worry in your eyes, but he relaxes almost instantly.

"Honey, the baby is moving. You can feel the baby move."

"Oh!" You respond breathlessly. This is the most amazing feeling. You feel tears start to well up in your eyes and then slide down your cheeks. He scoots closer to you on the bed and holds your face in his hands. His eyes are a little watery too, but he holds back.

"It's amazing..." You choke out. He nods and then the next thing you know, he's kissing you. Your tongue is in his mouth before you even realize what's happening. You sit up and put your arms around his neck, your heart fluttering wildly in your chest. His arms are around your waist and he pulls you in close to him. After a few minutes of this, he pulls back from you and presses his forehead against yours. You're trembling as he holds you and you desperately want him to keep kissing you.

"Y/n, we probably shouldn't do this." You feel like someone is squeezing your heart in their hand. He's right.

"I know..." You look down at your lap and he slowly releases you from his arms and moves away. This might be the hardest thing he's ever done, but he knows how important it is for the two of you to stay on good terms. Finally, he tears himself away and walks back to the living room, closing the door gently behind himself.

You lay back down and let the tears stream down your face. But these tears aren't for the baby. They're for you and the way it felt when he kissed you.

He lays down on the couch and looks up at the ceiling. Sleeping is pretty much out of the question as he can't stop thinking about you and the way it felt to have you in his arms.

Everything inside you wants him to come back to you.

Everything inside him wants to go back to you.

Instead, you both close your eyes and spend the night wide awake and wishing.

******

Another month goes by. The first few days after the kiss are awkward, but eventually you settle back into your routine. You've moved a little beyond politeness into friendship, though. You begin reading together in the living room in the evenings and you even have a couple of nights where you play board games. You start cooking together and cleaning together, too. He's everything you hoped he would be in terms of kindness, humor, and good conversation. Still, you're both very careful to maintain a reasonable distance between you.

Your belly has begun to grow and one day he hears you groaning from the bedroom in the morning.

"You alright?" He calls from the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. He no longer shuts the door unless he's actually going to the bathroom.

"My pants won't zip! My dresses are too tight! Your baby is ruining all my outfits!" He laughs and puts his toothbrush back.

"I'm sorry... You had to know this was coming, though."

"Yeah, but knowing something is coming and it actually happening are two different things." You walk out of the bedroom in just your bra and unzipped pants without thinking. His eyes widen when he sees you. You freeze as his gaze moves lower, first to your breasts, and then down to your belly.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!" You turn and run back into the bedroom. He has to adjust his pants a little to accommodate what's happening down there. He never dreamed seeing you pregnant with his baby would turn him on so much.

"We can go shopping tomorrow. We'll get lunch and make a whole day of it." He calls to you. You come back out of the room wearing a dress. It's too tight, but at least it zips. His eyes wander back down to your belly again and he has to actively work to not imagine what you look like without the dress.

"Yes. I'm a whale. Will ya quit staring?" You comment sarcastically.

"No, that's not... yeah, I'm sorry." He looks back up at your face. Telling you how attracted to you he is won't help anyone.

******

Another month slides by and you're really starting to look pregnant. He loves it, but he knows he can't tell you. He just has to hold back every time you complain about your weight gain. At least you have some clothes that fit you now. Luckily, no one at work comments on your growing belly. They know you aren't married, but it's the proverbial elephant in the room that your male boss doesn't seem interested in addressing just yet.

One Saturday morning, he puts the paper down and looks at you.

"Yes John?" You ask playfully as he stares.

"I was just thinkin'. Should we get some baby stuff?" The reality that there will be a baby in the apartment in three and a half months slams into you like a ton of bricks.

"Oh, gosh. Yeah, I guess we should." You look around the small apartment. Will the baby sleep in the room with you while he sleeps on the couch?

"Do we need to... move... to somewhere with a bedroom for each of us?" He looks down at the table. He wants to sleep in the bed with you so badly, it almost hurts.

"Maybe. We can look for places. But let's go ahead and get some stuff today, while we have some time." You nod. Every night, you almost ask him to sleep in the bed and every night you don't. But he can't sleep on the couch forever.

******

When you get to the baby store, you suddenly become aware of your lack of wedding ring. You desperately hope no one notices or that they just think you were too poor to buy them.

John follows you and the sales girl around wide-eyed. He had no idea that a baby would need so much or that there would be so many options.

"I think we should probably just start with a bassinet. We can get a crib when the baby is older." You turn and look to him for an answer.

"Oh, yeah, honey, whatever you think is best." The sales girl laughs.

"Your husband is sweet. They never know what to do once they get in here. But some of them are so stingy! You got a good one." She smiles and you laugh nervously. Is it worth it to correct her?

"See, I'm always trying to remind her that I'm a good catch." John smiles at you both, rescuing you from having to say anything. You continue to make your way through the store. Every time you find something you want, you look at him questioningly and he assures you that it's fine. You know he doesn't make much, but he lives pretty modestly, so he must have some savings. When you get to the checkout, you unload his arms onto the counter.

"This is a lot of stuff, John."

"Don't worry about it. Anything for you and the baby." He puts his arm around you and kisses the side of your head affectionately. You're not sure if that was an accident or if he's playing up the husband bit for the sales girl. She clicks her tongue and sighs.

"You guys are the cutest. Your baby is lucky to have parents who love each other so much."

You both laugh nervously and he pays for the merchandise, taking the big bags and following you out of the store.

"What was that all about?"

"What? I didn't want you to have to answer any stupid questions." You nod, a little disappointed that he was acting. In his head, he's reveling in the fact that he got to treat you how he wants to, even for just an hour or two.

******

At Christmas, your belly is so obvious even your boss can't ignore it. He tells you not to come back until after the baby comes. You've got a little over 2 months left.

As you're laying on the couch on Christmas Eve complaining about your stupid boss, John sits at the other end with your feet in his lap. He listens intently, trying to ignore the fact that he wants to crawl on top of you. Even with the baby between you, he wants you. He can't deny it any more. You being pregnant with his baby is a bigger turn on than anything he's ever experienced. Still, he wants to be supportive.

"I'm sorry, honey. But maybe it's better if you just hang around here and rest for a while. You've been working really hard and these last couple months might really take it out of ya."

"Ughhh maybe. I just don't want him to be right."

"I know. But you're always saying how tired you are. Try to see this as a blessing." He puts his hand on your foot and massages it gently.

"That feels really good." You look at him pleadingly. He adds his other hand and starts rubbing your foot with more pressure. You lean your head back and moan. Your feet have been hurting so bad lately. When you moan, he has to adjust the position of your foot, so that it doesn't come in contact with his erection. He moves to your other foot and starts humming quietly, trying to calm himself down. But when he does, you feel something. You sit up straight on the couch, pulling your feet from him.

"Sing again."

"Honey, what-"

"Just sing again." He obliges and starts singing quietly. You gasp. There it was again.

You grab his hand and put it on your belly.

"Keep singing." He does, but he's also looking at you like you're crazy. After a few seconds, he feels it. The baby is kicking at the sound of his voice.

"Oh my god, y/n, that was incredible!"

"Don't stop! The baby likes your voice." He keeps singing and the baby keeps kicking against him. He stops and laughs, his throat getting thick and tears gathering in his eyes.

"Talk to the baby." You smile at him. He kneels down next to your belly while you lay on the couch.

"Hi baby... I'm your daddy... I love you..." he says it in a sweet, sing-songy voice that melts you. The baby kicks again and he looks at you in awe.

You sit up with him in between your legs. The couch is low to the ground, so you're eye level with him. He puts his hand on your neck, with his fingers in your hair and his thumb on your cheek. Slowly, carefully, he pulls your face to his and softly puts his lips on yours. The kiss is so sweet that your stomach flip flops and you're pretty sure it's not the baby. Then you pull back from him.

"I should go to bed." You whisper it. He sighs and hangs his head.

"Yeah, I guess you should." He gets up from his place on the floor and helps you stand up from the couch. You walk away from him to the bedroom.

"Goodnight, John."

"Yeah. Goodnight." You go into the room and slip on one of his t-shirts. It's the only sleep attire that fits you at this point. You sit on the edge of the bed and look up at the ceiling. You want him to come into the room and make you his so badly that you can barely breathe.

He sits on the couch with his head in his hands. This is so fucking stupid.

Finally, you hear a soft knock on the door. You get up and walk to it, opening it slowly. He pushes it the rest of the way open, where it slams against the wall. He takes you in his arms and kisses you passionately, his tongue moving against yours with a hunger that you've never experienced before. Your arms are wrapped around his neck and he pulls you in as close as he can with your pregnant belly between you. You walk backwards until you get to the edge of the bed. He lays you down gently and positions himself half next to you and half on top of you. He traces the side of your face down to your chin with his finger.

"We shouldn't..."

"Shhh, honey. I'm tired of pretending like I don't spend every second wanting this. Aren't you?"

"Yes." You answer breathlessly. He's all you've wanted since the day you walked up to the clinic. But you never dreamed he wanted you too. He presses another kiss onto your lips, moving his hand down your body. You cringe when he gets to your belly.

"I'm sorry. I must be disgusting to you."

"Are you kidding me? I've never been more attracted to a woman in my life. Your pregnant belly is the sexiest thing I've ever seen. And I don't have a fetish for pregnant women. But that's my baby. And something about that drives me absolutely wild." You smile at him. It's impossible not to believe him when he's looking at you like he could devour you at any second.

"Can I see you? Please?" It's hard not to smile at his eagerness. You slide his T-shirt up and over your head, leaving you in just your panties. He looks at you like he's never seen a naked woman before. His eyes are wide and he reaches out to touch you softly, starting at your shoulder and moving down carefully. He gently squeezes one of your breasts and then slides his hand further down your belly. But he doesn't stop. He goes all the way down to the place between your legs that has been aching for him for months. He leans in and kisses you deeply as he slides his hand under your panties and pushes his middle finger into you.

"Oh God." You moan into his mouth. You've obviously been with a man before, but something about this is giving you pleasure you never thought possible. He kisses down your body, nibbling and sucking on you as he goes, until he gets to your center, where he pulls your panties off of you. He adds his tongue to his fingers and it feels like you might die from the insane ecstasy of what he's doing. You can't tell if it's him or the pregnancy or both, but you really don't care in this moment.

"Fuck, John, don't stop." You beg as you feel your climax building. It's rushing toward you like water over a dam and you want nothing more than to tumble into oblivion at his doing. He moves his tongue over and around your clit, teasing and sucking you until you almost can't stand it anymore. He pulls his fingers out and fucks you with his tongue, dragging it up your slit again to the top and pushing his fingers back into you.

"Oh, fuck fuck fuck!" You scream as your orgasm slams into you from every different direction, sending bolts of pleasure out to your extremities and knocking out the hearing in your left ear. You shudder and quake as your center throbs around his fingers. When you finally can't stand it anymore, you run your fingers through his hair and push him back off of you. He moves up your body stopping to kiss and caress your breasts again before he gets to your mouth. The taste of yourself on his lips makes you crazy and you push him back onto his back. You pull his shorts down and off while he pulls his shirt over his head. Then, you climb on top of him and slide him inside of you.

"Oh shit, y/n." He moans at the feeling of you around him. You begin to move up and down on him, your hands pressed into his chest, riding him. He throws his head back and you watch in delight as his eyes roll back in his head and he bites his bottom lip.

"God, yes, honey, never stop." He manages to get out as you grind on top of him, pushing his dick deeper and deeper inside you. You continue fucking him with everything you've got, determined to bring him to an orgasm as least half as good as your own. In the process, you feel another one threatening to overcome you as well. You have to stop for a second and he holds your hips, thrusting into you from underneath, pushing you closer and closer. He's slamming into with an urgency that makes you crazy.

"I'm gonna come, honey." He whispers as he pounds into you.

"John, you can't get me pregnant twice." He opens his eyes and looks at you like that's something he hadn't thought of. You move together in a rhythm that is so close to sending you both over the edge. The depth of your desire is obvious by the way your hips meet over and over again. You ride him steadily until the inevitable end overtakes you both.

"Fuck yes, y/n!" He cries out as you feel his warmth inside you and you tumble headfirst off a cliff into your own release. You feel like you're somewhere between flying and falling for a good minute before you land back on earth with him underneath you. You roll off of him and lay on your back beside him. He props himself up on his elbow next to you and looks at you. He brushes your face with his fingertips and traces the outline of your lips. It's a gesture so sweet and intimate that it makes you want to cry. Then, he leans in and kisses your cheek gently. You turn your head and look him deeply in his blue eyes.

"Sleep in the bed with me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don't ever want to sleep without you again." He smiles and wraps his arm around you, pulling you in close to him. You kiss the end of his nose and get up to go to the bathroom. When you come back, you slide your panties and his T-shirt back on and join him in the bed, where he's put his shorts on and settled in to sleep. He opens his arms for you to snuggle in against him. He looks at the clock on the wall. 12:07.

"Merry Christmas, honey."

******

You spend the next two months getting things ready for the baby and going at it like rabbits any time you get the chance. Now that your relationship has moved to the next level, you're both happier than you ever have been. Still, a small part of you wonders if this is the smartest choice, considering the reality of the baby coming. You're not married, so what is there to hold you together if things go wrong? Hopefully, the baby will be enough.

Around Valentine's Day, a nasty blizzard hits. You decide to spend the holiday weekend in bed together.

On Saturday, after making love twice in one night, you settle into bed with John around 11pm. He's sleeping quietly beside you when you wake up suddenly. What is that?! Your back feels like it's having a muscle cramp and your belly feels tight. It passes, though, so you try to go back to sleep. About fifteen minutes later, it happens again. You keep trying to go to sleep, but it keeps happening. Then, the muscle cramp moves around to the front of your stomach and becomes significantly more painful. When it happens again around five minutes later, you gently shake John to try to wake him up.

"What's happening?" He asks groggily, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

"I think I'm having contractions." He sits up in bed. He's wide awake now.

"How long have you been having them? How far apart are they? Are they very painful?" Sometimes you forget he's a doctor and sometimes it's glaringly obvious. You don't have much time to think about it though before it hits you again and you double over in pain, wincing noticeably. He looks at the clock to start timing how much time there is between them and rubs on your lower back gently.

"You're okay, honey. Hold my hand." You take his hand and squeeze it until the contraction passes. That's when you feel a small pop inside you and you wet your pants.

No. You didn't wet your pants.

"John, something happened."

"Can I?" He gestures that he wants to feel between your legs. He's been down there so much recently that you don't even flinch. When he does, he smiles.

"Your water broke. We're havin' a baby!" He jumps out of bed and grabs the bags you have packed to take with you to the hospital. But your next contraction comes faster than he expected. And he looks out the window to the driving snow gathering on the street. There are no cabs out in this weather.

"Honey, I need to check you and see how dilated you are." You look at him with a certain amount of fear in your eyes, but he speaks calmly and reassuringly.

"It's not hard. I've done it a thousand times." You nod. In this moment, you're very glad he's a doctor. He checks you to see where you are and he arranges his face to be comforting. You know him well enough to know he's concerned, though.

"You're already at six centimeters. Even if we could get a cab, I wouldn't feel safe putting you in it with this weather."

"We're having a baby at home?" You look at him with a worried expression.

"We're having a baby at home. Good thing daddy is a doctor." He smiles at you gently. You can tell he's trying very hard to keep you calm.

"I'm going to run down to the clinic and grab some supplies. Are you okay here? I'll be right back."

"John, please don't leave me."

"Honey, we need some things. I promise I'll be right back. Stay right here in the bed." He pats your knee and stands up just as another contraction crashes over you. You grab his hand and he stays with you until it passes. Then he moves quickly out the front door. He makes good on his promise to return quickly too, but you've already had another contraction in the meantime. They're coming closer and closer together.

When he gets back to you, he has a bunch of stuff tucked up under his arm. He kisses your forehead and sets it all down on the bed.

"You're doing great, honey. Just keep breathin' through 'em. I'm right here." You nod and try to breathe deeply as another contraction hits. He lays out some waterproof pads on the bed and sits you on top of them. Then he sets a clamp and some scissors on a towel and grabs another clean towel from the bathroom. He puts on a pair of gloves and says he needs to check you again, since the contractions are coming faster and stronger. You let him because at this point you trust him to do just about anything.

"Eight centimeters. We're gettin' close."

"I'm getting close! What are you doing?!" You're not sure where that came from. He laughs.

"You're right, honey, you're doing all the work. And you're doing a great job." He kisses the top of your head. "I'm so proud of you."

A half hour passes and you're pretty sure you're going to die.

"John, I can't do this. We need to go to the hospital."

"Honey, you're almost done. That's why you feel this way. Hang on just a little bit longer." He checks you one last time and smiles widely.

"I can feel the baby's head. It's time to push."

"MORE WORK?! I CAN'T."

"Yes, you can. You're almost finished. Just this last part and then we'll have our baby." He holds your hand and coaches you through pushing, ignoring the pain in his hand as you squeeze it. After about twenty minutes, you hear his voice change.

"One more, honey! You're almost there!" You give your last ounce of strength and push as hard as you can. He catches the baby as it comes out and wraps it in the clean towel. There's a flurry of activity as he does everything that needs doing and you hear the baby crying. You know he would've normally handed the mother the baby by now, but he's having a hard time passing it to you. You hold your hands out to him and he finally does.

"She's beautiful, honey. You did so well."

"She?!" You exclaim, taking the baby as he hands her to you.

"Oh! Yes, she! And she's perfect." He sits beside you on the bed and wraps his arm around you. When he kisses your cheek, you feel that there are tears on his face. You look down at your baby and he's right. She is perfect.

You press your lips to her forehead gently. She's a dream come true and you can't believe how much you love her.

"John, can we call her Angela? She's a perfect little angel."

"Angela. It suits her."

******

A few hours later, Angela is swaddled and sleeping peacefully in her bassinet. You're snuggled up with John on the bed.

"I can't believe I did that."

"You did do it. You had a baby." You look up at him.

"Our baby."

"Honey, I have something I've been meaning to talk to you about and now seems like as good a time as any." A wave of mild fear washes over you. He sounds serious.

He walks over to one of his drawers and pulls something out of it. Then he comes back and sits next to you on the bed.

"Y/n, I love you. I've loved you for a long time. Really since you showed up on my doorstep and told me you were pregnant. I just didn't know it. And I spent too much time trying to pretend like I wasn't feeling what I was." He holds up a black box and opens it to reveal a small silver ring. You let out a tiny gasp.

"I can't come up with any reasons why we shouldn't get married." He takes the ring out of the little box and slides it onto your finger.

"I can't either. I love you too, John." He kisses your fingers and then leans in and kisses your lips.

"So, that's a yes?"

"It's a yes!" He laughs and kisses you on the lips again. You stay like that, wrapped around each other, for as long as you can. Then, you snuggle in together and try to get some sleep. You have a long life together to look forward to and this is just the beginning.

******

Again, not sure who to tag, but I'm going to give it a shot for a couple of you. Hope you enjoy it!

@ashtag6887 @ccab @elvisalltheway101 @powerofelvis

[intheshadowsbehindyou]

Medic X gn!Reader: Songe d'Automne

ah yes, A fanfiction that dives into the popular fan theory whether Medic cares about his team or not due to his initial description. Let’s go.

He hated everybody. Or so you often think. It was impossible to catch him without that sadistic grin whenever bathed in the blood of his enemies, or the glare whenever you asked him a science related question he deemed too obvious. But you felt something for him nonetheless. Whether it be pity for his sorry attitude or genuine affection. You didn’t quite know for sure.

The year was 1969. The cold breeze was chilling to your very core. Brilliant colors bringing fourth new sights once again like they do every year. Greeting you warmly with her open arms — autumn gracefully dawns her gown of gold and washes over the mountain base. Being stationed in the cold mountains was the very last thing you suspected from the Administrator. But the Gravel Wars had to move there for whatever reason nonetheless. Just in time for the season. You stood atop the base and looked over the sea of brown, orange, and yellow. Feeling nostalgic for the morning air and the leaves twirling to the ground for you like a million ballet dancers.

But not just leaves were content on riding the wind today. You heard the faintest drag of a violin. A beautiful song that sounded not depressing, not sad, not happy, but pensive.

You turnt your head to the source. Down below on the second floor of the base to the left was the Medbay. The window was wide open and you could hear the sweet melody coming from there.

That’s quite something.

You think Medic’s catholic and overall angelic aesthetic couldn’t get any more blunt. It was no mistake that the doctor carried himself with dignity and poshness. He waltzed around with the mysterious beauty of femininity and the physique of masculinity. His lab coat always resembled wings whenever he jumped down from a high place to rescue a teammate and the beautiful wedding doves that accompanied him reminded you of an angel who spoke to animals. He was indeed by all means an angel of death. A man who appeared as divine intervention but slaughtered his enemies with the insanity of Lucifer himself. — And he was playing a violin.

You made your way downstairs and hurried yourself over to the Medbay. Eager to get a look at what you were hearing. The closer you got to the source, the more you recognized the tune. Without a shadow of a doubt what you were hearing was the blessed Songe d’Automne. You remember hearing it on an old edison cylinder that your teacher had back in grade school.

You peaked through the slightly ajar door. Your eyes on the tall silhouette that stood in the very center of his quarters. His lab coat and medipack were still on him despite it being after work hours. He held the violin against his chin and worked the bow flawlessly without a sheet. His doves watching him from above on various medical tech and the ceiling beams; some laid dormant and asleep whilst some were curiously bobbing their head towards his direction.

For a second, you didn’t want to disturb your own peace. Although Medic was dangerous and you didn’t even know if he was capable of empathy, he certainly conveyed a lot of emotion through that song. Particularly an inherent desire for a clearer mind. You began to wonder as you listened if he maybe overthought stuff, loved, and cried just like you did.

You opened the door to meet him and he slowly took his bow from the instrument. Evidently hearing your approach. He opened his eyes and stared you down for a moment.

“Yes?” He asked.

You didn’t quite know what to say to him. In all honesty, you were enjoying the music. It was helping you relax after a long stressful day. You rubbed your own arm with your other hand to convey your nervousness to him.

“Can you play some more? It makes me feel safe.” You say. You decide that if Medic is going to be difficult with his emotions then you won’t.

You hear a deafening silence for a second. Followed by a heavy sigh. He brought the bow back to the strings and kept playing. This gesture was telling whether he liked it or not. A heartless man would’ve simply insulted you and shooed you away.

You get up on the hospital bed and curl up for a bit. Allowing yourself peace in the dimly lit Medbay. Normally all sorts of shenanigans and chaos would happen around here but it was a house of healing all the same. Medic was capable of breaking every bone in the human body.. But also healing them. If Medic was such a heartless man — why take it upon himself to build something so passionate?

You find yourself nodding off at the indirect comfort he gave you. Drifting quickly into slumber as your body found relaxation. Whatever you were worrying about could wait. Your peace of mind was more important at this moment.

Then you wake up hours later..

With a blanket neatly laid upon your body.

[thirdeyeblue]

@tentoorosemicrofics - 2k words, Tentoo x Rose

Prompt: Pink

Rating: (gasp) Teen

Read on Ao3

Vintage Incognito

for @cersxisbitch ♥

From the mailbox to the front door to every last common area and powder room, the Tyler Mansion had undergone something of a ghastly metamorphosis. 

The front parlor alone was a menagerie of bubble gum pink; from the soft linen tablecloth to the tiered cake stands covered in cupcakes, strawberries, and mini quiche bites. Heart-shaped pink doilies lined every plate, sitting beside neatly-stacked rows of pink, miniature forks, all on their separate islands that’d been steeped on all sides by girlie bits of confetti the housekeeper would likely be vacuuming all afternoon. 

Then there were the gift bags; parcels, baskets; wrappings, and ribbons. All pink. 

And that was just the gifts from the family — they were expecting upwards of two dozen guests, who would likely be coming with plenty of their own presents for the mother-to-be.

The corner was arranged into a makeshift photo booth; complete with a pink wicker basket stuffed with pink hats, boas, comically oversized specs, and various other props sitting beside a shimmering backdrop of… well, you could probably guess. 

They might as well have painted the walls of the entire bloody house, while they were at it. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t take Pete’s suit from the breast cancer gala,” muttered Jackie. “He’d have had it tailored, you know. Made it fit your girlish figure like a dream, he would’ve.”

Leaning on the wall beside her, the one blue sheep amongst a projected pink flock, was the already-exasperated Doctor. He wore his favorite suit, brilliantly blue — perfect, thanks — though he’d foregone a tie with his lighter blue button-down. Felt more laid back.

He pushed his specs up his nose with his pointer finger and rolled his eyes before casting a glare at his mother-in-law.

“In fairness, blue used to be considered the more feminine color.” He indicated his outfit with a dip of his chin. “Technically, I’ll be fitting in better than any of you lot — you just won’t know it.” He sniffed, cocking his head to the side. “Call it… Oh, I dunno. ‘Vintage Incognito’.”

Jackie huffed in exasperation. “‘Vintage Incog-full of it’, more like. I never saw a little boy in pink.”

“That’s because it was only commonplace until the late forties,” he came back with a light, anticipatory smirk. “You were born in what, ‘53, ‘55? You wouldn’t’ve— ow!” He grimaced as his hand jumped up to hold his cheek, where Jackie had landed a swift right hand with a clap.

“1969, thank you very much.” She dusted her hands off dramatically, placing them on her hips. “Don’t go making digs at me just because you can’t stand sticking out like a sore thumb.”

Deluded, he thought — but carried on. 

“As I was saying,” he pushed his specs up again, adjusting where they’d gone askew from her slap. “until the late 1940s, mums were told to dress their boys in pink if they expected them to grow up big and strong. Then came a slew of advertising campaigns where corporations decided, ‘Know what? That’s about enough of that. Let’s have pink be for girls, just for a laugh’.” He swept his hands gracefully out from his sides in a gesture to the sea of pink around them. “Look at us, Jackie Tyler — basking in the garish success of mid-twentieth-century capitalism.”

“I’ll give you something to bask in,” Jackie muttered under her breath as she looked away, scanning the room. “Where is the mum-to-be, anyhow? Guests will be arriving any—”

“I’m here, I’m here,” came an exasperated call, and the Doctor straightened up at once, turning to meet the sight of Rose as she hobbled slowly down the steps. Halfway down, she stopped on the landing.

His breath caught, taking her in from his vantage point in the doorway leading to the foyer.

She wore a form-fitting white dress that clung to every lovely curve; thin straps baring the pale pink of her arms, the loose neckline dipping down to reveal cleavage that had bloomed spectacularly over the past eight months. The dress was delectably form-fitting; not only hugging every supple bend of her body, but perfectly cradling and accentuating her well-rounded bump — over which rested the thick outline of a metallic pink heart. 

The Doctor suddenly found that he loved two things more than he ever thought he could: Jackie Tyler [for picking out that dress], and even in spite of himself: the color pink.

What he loved far, far more, however… was her.

“Oh,” he breathed, his hand leaping to his chest to still the thundering of his heart. “Rose.”

“Don’t,” she grumbled from her post, where she stood with one hand atop the curve of her belly, the other gripping at the banister with white knuckles. “My back is killing me. Feet, too — I’m taking off these stupid bloody shoes. They’ve gotten so tight. And I know I look like a globe with legs, so please, just… don’t.”

Quick as an arrow, the Doctor was darting up the stairs, meeting her in seconds before grasping her face in gentle hands. He swooped down at once, overcome with affection as he delicately covered her lips with his. 

“You,” he kissed her again, “Look,” another kiss, “Breathtaking.” The last one was placed on her forehead, where he uttered quietly, “Stop it. Lookat you. You have never looked more beautiful… And I mean that.”

He met her eyes as he drew back, his hands dropping from her face to cradle her bump with splayed fingers. His heart swelled as he felt the beautiful thrum of life growing within her; their daughter. With a sigh and a soft smile, he carefully pressed his thumbs over the satiny material of the dress, sweeping in gentle curves back and forth. Rose blushed deeply as her lips turned up at the corners, placing her hands over his.

“Guess that’s my cue to put the cake out, then,” Jackie’s voice piped up from the doorway to the parlor. “Rose, sweetheart, can I get you something to drink?”

“... Something sweet?” her daughter tried, her smile turning a little sheepish, and the Doctor smirked. 

Rose had been riddled with scores of cravings throughout her entire pregnancy (certainly not just of the food-and-beverage short, but to expand on that would be a different subject entirely) and he’d been stringent with her at times, not wanting to encourage lovely things such as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia.

Though he wasn’t entirely cruel. 

“Don’t worry,” The Doctor murmured, leaning his forehead into hers. “Have whatever you like. Baby showers are judgment-free, Rose Tyler — and I believe your mum even made your favorite cupcakes.”

Even with their proximity, he could see her eyes widening. “The coconut ones with—”

“With the cream cheese frosting, yes,” he laughed. “And mini quiches, as well.”

In response to such tantalizing information; a rich, velvety moan poured from Rose’s lips, sending a frisson from the very top of his spine all the way through the tips of his toes. His fingers pressed lightly into her belly of their own accord, redirecting the surge of tension working like a lightning bolt through him.

Rose might have been the one dealing with the hormonal onslaught of pregnancy, but as a partial human, the Doctor had plenty of hormones of his own to contend with. Plus, she smelled twenty times more intoxicating than she already did while she was carrying their child, and he was aware of it constantly; a man starving at all conceivable times.

They’d been… a bit insatiable, to say the least. Had been since long before she was pregnant, of course, but now…

Well. Point blank: It wasn’t fair, not even remotely, that she’d go making such noises within a set and setting that couldn’t possibly be more family-oriented. 

The Doctor pulled a deep breath through his parted lips, needing to ground himself back in the present moment; a moment in which women would soon start showing up in droves; some with screaming children of their own. 

Just the thought was enough to jar him back into full control, and he kissed her again, readjusting to wrap his arm around her shoulder.

“Let’s go and get you a cupcake, hmm?”

“Yesssss,” Rose sighed dreamily, and la la la, the Doctor wasn’t listening, la la la. She loosely strung an arm around his waist, thankfully accepting his support, taking the banister again with her free hand as he led her the rest of the way down the stairs.

“So… D’you like the blue?” he asked somewhat self-consciously a moment later, finally stepping onto the ground floor. He smiled when she promptly kicked her pink ballets onto the fancy rug, surreptitiously tucking them off to the side with a swollen foot. “Your mum seems to think I stick out like a sore thumb.” 

Rose looked at his suit intently as though it was the first time she’d noticed it, and immediately burst into laughter, placing her hand over his heart.

“Thank god you haven’t put on pink,” she tapped the buttons of his oxford, grinning up at him. “Doctor, this suit is… S’just you.” Her little grin took on a mischievous little glint as she got closer; close as her body would allow, then leaned in as she lowered her voice. “Don’t want you to change… I think I want you exactly like this.”

The Doctor’s left eyebrow popped up, and he smirked wickedly at her. “Wellll, don’t go wanting me too much, Rose Tyler — there’s still the party to attend to. Although…” His arm around her shoulders loosened as he brought a hand between her shoulder blades, sliding it down to her lower back until his pinkie brushed the almost invisible indent of her knickers. “Later tonight, you’d like a lovely, private massage—”

“Oiiiii!”

A very unwelcome voice sounded off from the doorway, and the pair practically jumped apart to see Jackie standing there holding two glasses of some sort of fizzy pink beverage garnished with bright red strawberries. “Can’t I walk away for two bleedin 'minutes without you seducing my daughter in the foyer?”

The Doctor stood up tall in indignance, flustered as he straightened his suit jacket, hoping it would distract from the glowing vibrance of his blushing cheeks. “I was not—”

But Rose was already turning to rush towards her mum, wobbling at a slight tilt to accept her treat with eager hands. “Oh, thank you, mum, thank you, thank you, thank you—”

“Yeah, alright,” Jackie’s voice feigned admonishment, but there was no disguising the love in her eyes. “Strawberry soft drink. Caffeine free,” she added with a pointed look towards the Doctor; because although she was already well-versed on the pregnancy no-no’s long before he came around, evidently, English Breakfast hadn’t been on her list.

The former Time Lord hadn’t forgotten.

“Thank you,” he mouthed regardless, not wanting to go into the entire day with a point of contention between them — and all over a silly suit.

She smiled at him, effectively clearing the air, and held up the drink that wasn’t currently being gulped down in one go by her daughter. “This one’s yours, you daft, blue thing.”

Oh, thank god, he thought, mouth watering as he eyed the strawberry pierced over the rim of the glass. 

As Jackie went on to wake Tony, the Doctor and Rose stood at the foot of the stairs sipping at the fizzy sweetness of their drinks, and chatting as innocently as they could, enjoying their brief moment of solitude before festivities began. They had just enough time to finish every last drop before they heard the first set of tires pulling up the long drive. 

Rose insisted on hauling their glasses to the kitchen on her own, requesting a moment to herself before being lovingly forced into the center of attention for the next few hours. He didn’t blame her.

In the meantime, the Doctor headed for the front entrance, putting on his best ‘domestic socialite’ face before pulling the French doors open to the morning sun.

[doctorstrangereview]

075: Avengers #61

Cover Date: February 1969 On-Sale Date: December 12, 1968

The Saga of The Sons of Satannish ends, not in Doc's own magazine, but in the Avengers mag. Oddly this was released in the same month as Doc #177. The conclusion was published before the penultimate episode. Doc enlists the Avengers aid against the giant Norse demons Surtur and Ymir, released by Asmodeus. Let's see how they do.

While this is Doc's story, it's the Avengers book. After two giant pages to reveal the story's name we start in what I presume is Avengers Mansion. Vision is hungry and T'Challa gets the task of feeding him. And Roy is especially generous with the exclamation points and super bold words.

Vision, Black Panther and Hawkeye exchange some meaningless banter about the rock on Vision's head when Black Panther senses a presence.

After overreacting to Doc's ghost image they appear to be impressed. After Hawkeye calls Doc paleface, not realizing he's being racist, Doc enlists their aid to save the planet. They, of course, agree. Doc leads them to the Sons of Satannish graveyard and Doc's ghost goes back into his body. They all go into the mausoleum where they see The Black Knight laying on the ground, motionless.

It's a wonderfully cinematic image. Doc then recounts the events of Doc #178, not yet on sale. Finally, we find out how the Knight wound up in this state.

Despite having rescued the cult from the clutches of Tiboro, the ungrateful a**hole, Marduk, decided to show their appreciation by blasting the Knight with the crystal of conquest. Not nice! Doc blasts the crap out of Marduk and "encourages" him to tell them all they need to know. After seeing Marduk lying on the floor, Doc assures his companions that he's still alive. Black Panther re-enters the chamber carrying the Knight reminding them they must save his life before anything else.

The Knight needs surgery and the only Doctor nearby is Doc. What's a magician to do. Apparently pick up a scalpel and get to cutting. Oddly, no matter how many times Doc's background gets brought up this bit of potential medical malpractice never gets mentioned again.

The Vision bursts in to tell the group the stuff is really hitting the fan. Volcanoes are popping up in Antarctica while Wakanda is freezing over. The plan is thus. Doc will stay behind, contemplate the crystal of conquest and hopefully discern a way to fix the problem. Meanwhile, Hawkeye and The Black Knight head to Antarctica to shoot arrows in to a volcano while Vision and The Black Panther head to Wakanda to do something.

Vision and T'Challa arrive in Wakanda and see Ymir right away. They aim the Quinjet at Ymir's dead center and he bursts into millions of little ice shards. "That was easy!" the pair think. But Ymir has other plans. He puts himself back together.

Hawkeye and the Knight are now in Antarctica so Hawkeye and shoot his trick arrows into Surtur. They have no effect. The Knight swoops down and tries out his blade which goes right through the demon. Surtur then says "My sword is better than your sword!" and blasts the pair out of the sky. The Knight's horse, Aragorn, manages to save The Knight while he then makes a dramatic rescue of the archer.

Back in Wakanda, Vision attempts to melt Ymir with his solar powers. That does nothing and Ymir throws rocks at Vision, burying him. Black Panther then throws rocks back at Ymir while Vision extricates himself from the pile of boulders.

Back at Avengers Mansion (I think), Doc has figured out the crystal of conquest. The two teams continue to battle their prospective demons and Doc casts the spell. The two demons disappear from Wakanda and Antarctica. The reappear somewhere else face-to-face. Conveniently, the Avengers have gone with them.

The two demons pound on each other and cancel each other out. Doc arrives in astral form to close out the deal. Thus closes the Saga of the Sons of Satannish.

I think it's a good thing that they've started to include Doc in the larger Marvel Universe. This is the first time that a Doc story has reached out to another title. While Doc has previously crossed over to other titles, it was as a guest star and he was mostly a plot device. This is Doc's story and the Avengers are living in it. While Roy Thomas wrote both series at the time, we do miss out on Gene Colan drawing this crazy-weird chapter. Gene's rendition of Surtur and Ymir were quite impressive. While John Buscema's more traditional style works, it would have been nice to see Gene close out the arc. Like the last few installments, the story is a bit thin. Battles are stretched out to fill the allotted pages. Doc talks for nearly a page when he's conquering the crystal of conquest. The solution of having the demons defeat each other was still somewhat unique at the time and was a change from the Avengers physically beating their foes into submission.

[gatutor]

Barbara Windsor-Jim Dale "Contrólese, doctor" (Carry on again doctor) 1969, de Gerald Thomas.

[maudeboggins]

i was tagged by @norashelley to share my first 9 watches of 2023! thank you for tagging me, this was fun :)

carry on again doctor (1969)

the clouded yellow (1950)

the menu (2022)

and then there were none (1945)

doctor at large (1957)

odd man out (1947)

when the bough breaks (1947)

the midshipmaid (1932)

it’s love again (1936)

[buzz-london]

Balaji Birajdar · 

Follow

Software Engineer at Confidential / Not Disclosed (2005–present)Upvoted by 

U Sara, lives in India (1969-present) and 

Ajit Khare, lives in India (1972-present)Updated 4y

I am from a small village, from a Hindu family and our family business was agriculture. We used to have about a dozen cows we raised for producing milk and bulls to work in our farm. My grandfather was very keen in raising them with care. He used to say , “We should be grateful to cows since they provide milk to our family. The bulls work in the farm shoulder to shoulder with the farmer and help us make a living.”

He never sold cows for money. Every year he gifted one or two of the surplus cows to some needy relative who had a child and no source of cow milk.

In that herd of dozen cows, not all were producing milk. Some were very young and some were too old. When I was a child, I once asked my grandfather, ”Why we are still feeding the old cows even when they are not producing the milk?” . He replied,”These cows have fed you , your brothers and sisters and our family with healthy milk for almost 15 years and now when they are old we are supposed to take care of them for the last part of their life.”

I still remember those words spoken by him over 30 years ago; those words of compassion towards animals from a person who never went to school or studied religious books.

The cows grew old and died natural death in our shelter, at times we got treated them from vet doctor whenever needed .Death of a cow was a sad incident for the family. And whenever a cow died, the carcass was then carried to some of our non agricultural land and it was buried there deep to make sure dogs won't mutilate it or the people won't dig it out again for it's meat or skin.

[thebarefootcajun]

Tragedies at Courbe l’homme Mort

Down the road from a small Cajun village is a curve named Courbe d’homme mort, Deadman’s Curve. It was named that awful name because of it’s sharp angular curve without much play for error. No one’s fault, not drunkenness, childish play, driving incompetence, or the like. More like fate, it was simply a fatal flawed design in the road. Many memories were left there at that curve. You can feel the love, pain, regret, and a wide range of other feelings that can make your heart ache for the deceased and the loved ones left behind. The curve is alive with spirits as you wind around its deadly passageway. On quiet, cool nights when windows are rolled down you can hear singing spirits rejoicing in their togetherness in Glory.

And when you live in an area where you’ve lost your child, spouse, friend, neighbor, etc., it’s a constant reminder. Markers line the highway, crosses with names, flowers, plastic and real, memorabilia, children’s toys, and other odds and ends. These are monuments to lives lost at Courbe d’homme mort. Leaning into the pain instead of ignoring it is how one makes sense of the reality of what’s happened. Lots of weeping and wailing in cycles. Just when you think the sorrow is over; it appears again. That’s when you realize the love that you have for your loved one who lost his/her life on Deadman’s Curve.

The community is deeply spiritual, mostly a Roman Catholic faith with larger churches and indeed smaller ones stunningly beautiful. Catholicism adorns their churches with Saints, the Cross and Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ as provocation to thinking as one prays. In fact there are five churches within a one mile radius of Deadman’s Curve, not all of them are Catholic, some are protestant. Faith is the way the Cajuns survive le joie de vivre, the joy of life and also la douleur de la vivre, the pain of life.

A Fatal Night of Pumpkin Pies

One grandmother who quivers as she remembers when she got the news says that she wants to feel the pain of her grandson who died in that very curve one rainy, cold, freezing night in November, Wednesday before Thanksgiving of 1969. When the small town police dropped in, she was rolling out the sweet dough for the pies. She fell to her knees as she saw the expression on the officers face. She knew her grandson was gone. Louisianians are not equipped to drive in that weather especially on hairpin curves like Deadman’s Curve. However, the young man, age 19, was driving home on a Wednesday night when he felt the car losing control. It careened into the next lane and the collision was head on. The nineteen years old grandson died immediately. The coroner said he never knew what hit him. Of course no one really knows what last moments before death are like. We’ll all face that one day. He had told his boss that he was going home to help bake pumpkin pies with his grandma with whom he lived. Each Thanksgiving she rolls out the crust but doesn’t finish the pies just like the night of her grandson’s fatal evening in Deadman’s Curve.

An Innocent Cow and an Innocent RN

Another story the comes to mind is a young woman, age eighteen, engaged to be married the next week. She was driving home one night after her shift that ended at eleven o’clock at a local hospital about a thirty minute drive from where she lived with her parents. She was the only child to these two beautiful saints whose love created her. A beautiful young woman named Angel. Mom had picked out that name because they had trouble conceiving a child. At thirty-five her doctor had told her she would have a baby. In those days one didn’t know the sex of the baby, but her grandmother had said that she was going to have a girl because of how she was carrying the child inside of the womb. She and her husband-to-be would be happy with whatever the Lord sent their way in the way of a child.

Angel’s mom had begun her career as a nurse’s assistant, and completed her RN degree in a nurse’s training program. Angel had decided to become an RN, too, making her mom so proud. Angel and her betrothed had moved a trailer, a south Louisiana starter home, onto a pasture just beyond her parents’ home. So much joy in that household.

When on a fateful night in June, the wedding month, of heat and high humidity a loose cow was crossing the road as Angel was turning the angular hairpin curve known as Deadman’s Curve. Angel hit the cow mid center and flipped her truck. In those days there were no seatbelts and she flew out of the truck into a deep ditch filled with water. It had poured all day long until the sun came out at four o’clock pm, but the water had not subsided. Angel drowned.

That same policemen had to deliver the news to Angel’s Mom and Dad that very night. Awakened by a knock at the door, they assumed it was bad news. It was an hour after angel was expected home, midnight. Dad and Mom leaned out of the door, saw the sheriff and invited him into the kitchen. Angel’s mom offered the sheriff an iced tea, even in crisis, a southerner is willing to serve a cold drink. They knew before the sheriff shared the news that they had lost their darling, precious, Angel girl.

Mom and Dad knelt down right there with the sheriff in that kitchen while the ice tea glass perspired onto the kitchen table. They prayed to Jesus and told him that Angel was His and that she had been a blessing on loan. With great sorrow in their hearts they dedicated her spirit back to God.

Cajuns possess strong faith.

[astronomyforastrologers]

The Venera program: Interplanetary probes from behind the Iron Curtain

The Pioneer and Voyager probes the United States sent to explore the outer planets in the 1970s are often, and accurately, lauded as historic interplanetary achievements. That’s partly because, equipped with the Pioneer Plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, these objects are ostensibly meant to be found by aliens someday, helping them easily burrow into public consciousness. Similarly, robotic explorers to Mars, including the Viking landers and the Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers, take innumerable headlines, and they’re often even given anthropomorphized personalities.

Almost forgotten, however, are the ambitious Soviet exploration missions of Venus. Beginning at the dawn of the Space Age in the late 1950s, the Soviets worked to design and construct a series of Venus probes. And for almost 30 years, they built and flew the interplanetary spacecraft as part of the Venera program — carrying out rather impressive feats, even by today’s standards.

In the early 1960s, the Cold War was in full swing and the Space Race was on. The Soviets were eager to notch as many “firsts” as they could in all realms of spaceflight. At that time, they had a better heavy-lifting capability than the United States. This allowed them to build and launch larger spacecraft, both manned and unmanned. And by using four-stage rockets and an advanced telemetry system, the Soviets could also mount missions to the difficult-to-reach inner planets.

Venera 1, the first probe in the series of Soviet Venus missions, weighed in at an impressive 1,400 pounds (at just 184 pounds, the first satellite, Sputnik 1, was a mere featherweight in comparison). Somewhat resembling a Dalek from Doctor Who, the Venera 1 probe was spin stabilized and packed with instruments, including a magnetometer, Geiger counters, and micrometeorite detectors. And like many of its successors, the interior of the probe was pressurized to just over one atmosphere with nitrogen gas to help the instruments function at a stable temperature.

However, the first Venera 1 probe never made it out of Earth orbit. And the second attempt, launched February 12, 1961, failed en route to Venus, though it did pass within about 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) of the planet.

Venera 2, which greatly resembled Venera 1, was built to fly past Venus, during which it would record information and transmit it back to Earth. And the probe did complete its flyby on February 27, 1966, coming within about 15,000 miles (24,000 km), but it also overheated and was never heard from again. It’s still unclear whether Venera 2 failed before or after it zipped by the distant world.

The Soviets designed the next four probes, Venera 3 through 6, to more closely study the atmosphere of our hellish neighbor. Generally weighing about 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) each, these probes contained a suite of instruments and a detachable pod (known as a descent module) equipped with a second collection of devices that included a barometer, a radar altimeter, gas analyzers, and thermometers. Not all of these probes ended in success, though.

Venera 3 planned to land on the venusian surface, but it instead slammed into it on March 1, 1966 — officially making it the first spacecraft to crash into another planet.

Venera 4, however, spent more than 90 minutes taking measurements as it slowly floated down through the dense atmosphere of Venus on October 18, 1967. It also detected very elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the air, as well as a lack of a global magnetic field. And as expected, it eventually succumbed to the planet’s intense heat and pressure.

Both Venera 5 and Venera 6 were likewise successes, transmitting back data for more than 50 minutes as they parachuted through the atmosphere of Venus on May 16 and May 17, 1969. By helping scientists further characterize the atmospheric composition of world, these probes made it clear that Venus is highly unlikely to host life; romantic hopes of Venus as an earthly paradise were dashed.

Venera 7 included an even more ambitious descent module designed to make a soft landing on Venus, which included heavy fortifications so it could briefly survive the inhospitable conditions on the surface. Launched August 17, 1970, the flight was a success of sorts. The lander made it to the surface on December 15, 1970, but it got there after its parachute ripped, causing it to fall faster than planned for nearly 30 minutes before smacking into the surface at about 38 miles per hour (61 km/h).

Initially thought to have failed, Venera 7 did manage to transmit meaningful data for a short period of time. For example, the lander measured a surface temperature of almost 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 Celsius), or about as hot as a brick pizza oven. Although the probe’s pressure sensor failed during descent, researchers were able to use its measurements to estimate a surface pressure of about 92 bars, which is about what you would experience if you were more than a half mile (900 meters) underwater.

Venera 8 repeated much of the Venera 7 mission, albeit without its lander falling over when it reached the surface of Venus on July 22, 1972. Venera 8’s functioning pressure sensor confirmed Venus’ oppressive atmosphere, but it also took measurements of ambient light levels on the surface, confirming that future cameras should be able to capture the venusian sights.

Of all the Soviet missions to Venus, Venera 9 through Venera 12, weighing roughly 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg) each, are the best remembered to this day. That’s mainly because their landers carried cameras that could directly image the surface.

Venturing to Venus between 1975 and 1978, several of the cameras on these probes failed, usually due to their lens caps not coming off. But nonetheless, a few managed to take and transmit the very first images from the surface of our solar system’s second planet.

The early snapshots obtained by Venera 9 and Venera 10 are haunting. Crisp, clear, and spherically distorted by their wide-angle lenses, they depict a harsh and rocky alien landscape extending out to the horizon. But the images also managed to capture the edges of the landers themselves, which reveals their distinctly Soviet design.

Venera 13 and Venera 14, both launched in 1981, were more advanced versions of the Venera 9 through 12 probes, carrying landers equipped with sophisticated acoustic devices that could tune in to the Venusian wind to gauge its speed.

Venera 15 and Venera 16, each weighing just under 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg), did not carry landers. In their place they brought highly advanced radar-based imaging systems that could map the blistering world from elliptical orbits. The Pioneer 12 probe may have been first to map Venus using radar, but Venera 15 and 16 did it better, reaching a resolution of about a mile (1 to 2 km) per pixel. The images returned by these probes were fantastically detailed, revealing broad swaths of the harsh landscape, complete with impact craters, dramatic rises, and lava-flooded basins.

The U.S. made its mark on the exploration of Venus through missions like Pioneer 12 and the wildly successful Magellan, and other craft sent by the European and Japanese Space Agencies also contributed to our understanding of our planetary neighbor next door. Still, the Soviet Venera program remains the most intense and sustained series of missions to Venus yet.

And at least for now, that doesn’t look like it’s going to change soon.  

[bowlingwithplanets]

I’m making a list of movies I’ve never seen but want to. Please feel free to add to it.

12 Angry Men (1957)

13th (2016)

17 Again (2009)

27 Dresses (2008)

28 Days Later (2002)

50 First Dates (2004)

‘71 (2014)

127 Hours (2010)

500 Days of Summer (2009)

2010: The Year We Make Contact

A Boy and Sungreen (2018)

A Boy Called Christmas (2021)

A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A Ghost Story (2017)

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

A Hero (2021)

A League of Their Own (1992)

A Man Called Horse (1970)

A Raisin in the Sun (1961)

A Separation (2011)

A Silent Voice (2016)

A Simple Favor (2018)

A Star is Born (2018)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

A Taste of Honey (1961)

Adoption (1975)

After Yang (2022)

Air (2023)

Akira (1988)

Alcarras (2023)

Alex Strangelove (2018)

Ali (2001)

Alive (1993)

All the Money in the World (2017)

All the Presidents Men (1976)

Almost Famous (2000)

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Amar te Duele (2002)

Amelie (2001)

American Movie (1999)

American Psycho (2000)

American Satan (2017)

Amnesiac (2014)

Amores Perros (2000)

An American in Paris (1951)

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Anna Karenina (2012)

Annihilation (2018)

Another Country (1984)

Another Round (2020)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Apollo 11 (2019)

Arctic (2018)

Argylle (2024)

Army of Shadows (1969)

Army of Thieves (2021)

Assassination Nation (2018)

At Eternity's Gate (2018)

Atonement (2007)

Atlantics (2019)

Atlantis (2019)

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Atonement (2007)

Audition (1999)

Babylon (2022)

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Bananas (1971)

Band Aid (2017)

Battle Royale (2000)

Before Night Falls (2000)

Before Sunrise (1995)

Belfast (2021)

Bergman Island (2021)

Big (1988)

Black Sunday (1960)

Black Swan (2010)

Blade (1998)

Blade Runner (1982)

Blockers (2018)

Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)

Blue Jasmine (2013)

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

Booksmart (2019)

Bound (1996)

Boyhood (2014)

Brazil (1985)

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Brick (2005)

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Bright Star (2009)

Bright Young Things (2003)

Bring It On (2000)

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Broker (2022)

Bruised (2020)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Butter (2011)

C'mon C'mon (2021)

Caddyshack (1980)

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Can’t But Me Love (1987)

Candyman (1992)

Carmen Jones (1954)

Carol (2015)

Carrie (1976)

Casper (1995)

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Caveat (2021)

Challengers (2024)

Changeling (2008)

Charade (1963)

Charlie's Angels (2000)

Cherry (2021)

Child of Kamiari (2021)

Children of Shatila (1988)

Chimes at Midnight (1965)

Chinatown (1974)

Chungking Express (1994)

Cindy La Regia (2020)

City of Lost Souls (1983)

Club Dread (2002)

Clue (1985)

Coach Carter (2005)

CODA (2021)

Colette (2018)

Color Out of Space (2019)

Columbus (2017)

Coming Home in the Dark (2021)

Coming to America (1988)

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)

Cracks (2009)

Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)

Crimson Peak (2015)

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (2020)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014)

Dark Places (2015)

Daughter of the Dust (1991)

Dazed and Confused (1993)

Death at a Funeral (2007)

Death on the Nile (1978)

Death to Smoochy (2002)

D.E.B.S (2004)

Definitely, Maybe (2008)

Deliver Us From Eva (2003)

Departure (2015)

Devotion (2022)

Diabolique (1954)

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)

Dick Tracy (1990)

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

Dirty Grandpa (2016)

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Doctor Strange Love (1964)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Dogville (2003)

Don't Look Up (2021)

Dorian Gray (2009)

Dreamgirls (2006)

Drifting Home (2022)

Drive Away Dolls (2024)

Drive My Car (2021)

Dune (2021)

Dunkirk (2017)

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Elisa & Marcela (2019)

Emily (2023)

Emma (2020)

Emotion (1966)

Empire of Passion (1978)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Eurotrip (2004)

Everything Everywhere At Once (2022)

Ex Machina (2014)

Experimenter (2015)

Extra Ordinary (2019)

Fail Safe (1964)

Far From the Madding Crowd (2015)

Fargo (1996)

Fast Color (2019)

Fateful Findings (2013)

Feel Good (2020)

Felidae (1994)

Fight Club (1999)

Fire Island (2022)

First They Killed My Father (2017)

Fist Fight (2017)

Flowers of Shanghai (1998)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Frankenstein (1931)

Freaky Friday (2003)

Free Solo (2018)

Freedom Riders (2010)

Fresh (2022)

Frida (2002)

From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

Fruitvale Station (2013)

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

G.I. Jane (1997)

Gaia (2021)

Game Night (2018)

Ganja & Hess (1973)

Gattaca (1997)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Get Out (2017)

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Ghost World (2001)

Ghostbusters (2016)

Ginger Snaps (2000)

Go Brother! (2018)

Godsford Park (2001)

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela (2013)

Gone Girl (2014)

Good Luck Chuck (2007)

Good Time (2017)

Goodfellas (1990)

Goon (2011)

Gran Torino (2008)

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Gravity (2013)

Green Room (2015)

Gremlins (1984)

Gretel & Hansel (2020)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Half Brothers (2020)

Handsome Devil (2016)

Hanna (2011)

Hannibal (2001)

Haunted Mansion (2003)

Hausu (1977)

Heist (2001)

Hello World (2019)

Her (2013)

Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)

Hereditary (2018)

High Fidelity (2000)

His Girl Friday (1940)

His House (2020)

House of Wax (1953)

How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)

Hubie Halloween (2020)

Hugo (2011)

I Want You Back (2022)

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

I'm Your Man (2021)

Ich Bin Kevin Casanova (1959)

Ichi the Killer (2001)

Immortal Tales (1973)

Impetigore (2019)

In Front of Your Face (2021)

In the Mood for Love (2000)

Incendies (2010)

Inception (2010)

Infinite Storm (2022)

Insomnia (1997)

Internal Affairs (2002)

Interstellar (2014)

Interview With The Vampire (1994)

Into the Wild (2007)

Irradiés (2020)

It Happened One Night (1934)

Jackass, the Movie (2002)

Jan Žižka (2022)

Jaws (1975)

Jennifer's Body (2009)

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Just Wright (2010)

Kapoor and Sons (2016)

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Kill Bill: Vol, 2 (2004)

Kill Your Darlings (2013)

Killing Them Softly (2012)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

King Richard (2021)

Knight of Cups (2015)

Knocked Up (2007)

Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

L.A. Confidential (1997)

La Femme Nikita (1990)

Lá Haine (1995)

Lady Bird (2017)

Lake Mungo (2008)

Lake of Death (2019)

Lamb (2021)

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Las Ninas Bien (2018)

Laura (1944)

Les dites cariatides (1984)

Liar Liar (1997)

Liar’s Moon (1980)

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Life is Beautiful (1997)

Like Grains of Sand (1995)

Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

Little (2019)

Little Monsters (2019)

Locked Down (2021)

Lolita (1962)

Looks that Kill (2020)

Los Bando (2018)

Lost in Translation (2003)

Love Actually (2003)

Love and Basketball (2000)

Love Don’t Cost A Thing (2003)

Love Jones (1997)

Love, Rosie (2014)

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

Machete (2010)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Maid (2021)

Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003)

Mainstream (2020)

Magnificent Warriors (1987)

Malevolent (2018)

Man Bites Dog (1992)

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Manifesto (2015)

Mars One (2023)

Mary Shelley (2017)

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Masterminds (2016)

Matewan (1987)

Maurice (1987)

Me Before You (2016)

Meet the Parents (2000)

Memento (2000)

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)

Michael (1924)

Middle of Nowhere (2012)

Midnight Mass (2021)

Mimic (1997)

Minari (2020)

Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2019)

Mommy (2014)

Moneyball (2011)

Monster (2004)

Moonlight (2016)

Moonshot (2022)

Moonstruck (1987)

Moscow on the Hudson (1984)

Movie 43 (2013)

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

Mudbound (2017)

Mulan (2009)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Mustang (2015)

My Best Friend's Girl (2008)

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

My Fair Lady (1964)

My Happy Family (2017)

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

My Octopus Teacher (2020)

My Sister’s Keeper (2009)

Mystic River (2003)

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Network (1976)

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Nope (2022)

North By Northwest (1959)

Nosotros Los Nobles (2013)

Obvious Child (2014)

Okja (2017)

Old (2021)

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

On the Basis of Sex (2018)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

One Million Yen Girl (2008)

Only Yesterday (1991)

Only You (1994)

Outlaw King (2018)

Over the Fence (2016)

Over the Moon (2020)

Padmaavat (2018)

Palm Springs (2020)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris When It Sizzles (1964)

Passing (2021)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Perfect Blue (1997)

Perfume De Violetas (2001)

Perras (2011)

Peter Pan (2003)

Pig (2021)

Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (2023)

Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

Players (2024)

Point Break (1991)

Poltergeist (1982)

Pom Poko (1994)

Ponyo (2008)

Porco Rosso (1992)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Possession (1981)

Practical Magic (1998)

Primal Fear (1996)

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Private Life (2018)

Procession (2021)

Prom Pact (2023)

Promising Young Woman (2020)

Psycho (1960)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Pygmalion (1938)

Queen of the Damned (2002)

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)

Raees (2017)

Raging Bull (1980)

Raging Fire (2021)

Rear Window (1954)

Rebecca (1940)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarves (2019)

Reiko, the Psyche Resurrected (1991)

Repo Men (2010)

Resident Evil (2002)

Rio Bravo (1959)

Rocketman (2019)

Role Models (2008)

Roma (2018)

Roman Holiday (1953)

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)

Ron's Gone Wrong (2021)

Rope (1948)

Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)

Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)

Salaam Bombay (1988)

Salt (2010)

Saw (2004)

Say Anything (1989)

Schindler's List (1994)

Secretariat

Secret Society of Second Born Royals (2020)

Serendipity (2001)

Set It Up (2018)

Seven (1995)

Sharp Objects (2018)

She's All That (1999)

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Shirkers (2018)

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020)

Shutter (2004)

Shutter Island (2010)

Sicario (2015)

Silence (2016)

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Sin City (2005)

Since You Went Away (1944)

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Smoke (1995)

Snow Day (2000)

Snowpiercer (2013)

Solteras (2019)

Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

Some Like it Hot (1959)

Something Borrowed (2011)

Something New (2006)

Something's Gotta Give (2003)

Sound of Metal (2019)

Southpaw (2015)

Spaceman (2024)

Space Station 76 (2014)

Space Sweepers (2021)

Spoiler Alert (2022)

Spotlight (2015)

Stalag 17 (1953)

Stormbreaker (2006)

Street Dreams (2009)

Sucker Punch (2011)

Sully (2016)

Summertime (1955)

Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

Super Dark Times (2017)

Suspiria (2018)

Swan Song (2021)

Swing Kids (1993)

Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)

Tailgate (2019)

Tales From Earthsea (2006)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Taxi Driver (2017)

Tehran Taboo (2017)

Tell it to the Bees (2018)

Terminator (1984)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

The 12th Man (2017)

The Age of Adaline (2015)

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

The Assassin (2015)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

The Batman (2022)

The Beguiled (2017)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Big Sick (2017)

The Big Sleep (1946)

The Birds (1963)

The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)

The Black Dahlia (2006)

The Black Phone (2021)

The Black Room (1935)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Blue Lagoon (1980)

The Call (2020)

The Cat Returns (2002)

The Color Purple (2023)

The Con Heartist (2020)

The Craft (1996)

The Croods: A New Age (2020)

The Danish Girl (2015)

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)

The Death of Stalin (2017)

The Doors (1991)

The Double Life of Veronique (1991)

The Dreamers (2003)

The Duchess (2008)

The Edge of Democracy (2019)

The End of Evangelion (1997)

The Endless Summer (1965)

The Eternal Feminine (2017)

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

The Farewell (2019)

The Fifth Element (1997)

The Florida Project (2017)

The French Dispatch (2021)

The Fugitive (1993)

The Gentlemen (2019)

The Girl on the Train (2016)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

The Glorias (2020)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

The Godfather Part III (1990)

The Goldfinch (2019)

The Graduate (1967)

The Great Escape (1963)

The Guilts (2021)

The Handmaiden (2016)

The Harder They Fall (2021)

The Hate U Give (2018)

The Heat (2013)

The Host (2006)

The Hot Chick (2002)

The Humans (2021)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

The King (2019)

The King’s Man (2021)

The Last Duel (2021)

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023)

The Last Picture Show (1971)

The Legend of Jiang Ziya

The Lion in Winter (1968)

The Little Prince (2016)

The Lodge (2019)

The Long Goodbye (1973)

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

The Long Shot (2019)

The Lost City (2022)

The Lost Daughter (2021)

The Lost King (2023)

The Love Witch (2016)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

The Matrix (1999)

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)

The Mission (1986)

The Mitchell’s vs The Machines (2021)

The Nice Guys (2016)

The Night Before (1988)

The Night Clerk (2020)

The Nightingale (2019)

The Notebook (2004)

The Outfit (2022)

The Phantom of Liberty (1974)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

The Pink Panther (1963)

The Power of the Dog (2021)

The Rapture (1991)

The Red Shoes (1948)

The Red Violin (1998)

The Replacements (2000)

The Ritual (2017)

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

The Scholar Who Walks the Night (2015)

The Secret of Nimh (1982)

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

The Sound of Music (1965)

The Stepford Wives (1975)

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)

The Theory of Everything (2014)

The Thief (1997)

The Third Man (1949)

The Three Musketeers: Part 1 (2023)

The Train (1964)

The Truman Show (1998)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Vampire Lovers (1970)

The Vigil (2019)

The Villainess (2017)

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

The Wedding Date (2005)

The Wedding Party (2016)

The Wedding Planner (2001)

The Wedding Singer (1998)

The Whale (2022)

The Whispering Stars (2015)

The Wind Rises (2013)

The Witch (2015)

The Witches (1990)

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

The Wolf House (2018)

The Woman in the Window (2021)

The Woman King (2022)

The World to Come (2020)

The Yellow Wallpaper (2021)

The Zone of Interest (2024)

Thelma (2017)

Thelma and Louise (1991)

There Will Be Blood (2007)

This is 40 (2012)

This is Spinal Tap (1984)

Thoroughbred (2017)

Throne of Blood (1957)

Till Death (2021)

Titanic (1997)

To Die For (1995)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

Tolkien (2019)

Total Eclipse (1995)

Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

Trainspotting (1996)

Trainwreck (2015)

Troop Zero (2020)

Tropic Thunder (2008)

True Grit (2010)

Turning Red (2022)

Truth (2015)

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)

Turtles Can Fly (2004)

Two Can Play That Game (2002)

Tyler Perry’s Medea’s Big Happy Family - The Play (2010)

Umma (2022)

Uncharted (2022)

Uncle Yanco (1967)

Uncut Gems (2019)

Under the Shadow (2016)

Undercover Brother (2002)

Underworld (2003)

Upgraded (2024)

V For Vendetta (2005)

Vamp (1986)

Vampira (1974)

Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)

Vampyr (1932)

Van Helsing (2004)

Varsity Blues (1999)

Veer Zaara (2004)

Velvet Goldmine (1998)

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Vernon, Florida (1981)

Vertigo (1958)

Wadjda (2012)

Waitress (2007)

Watership Down (1978)

Wayne’s World (1992)

We Are What We Are (2013)

We Summon the Darkness (2019)

Weddings Crashers (2005)

Werewolves Within (2021)

West Side Story (1961)

West Side Story (2021)

What’s Your Number (2011)

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

When Marnie Was There (2014)

Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Whiplash (2014)

Whisper of the Heart (1995)

White Men Can’t Jump (1992)

Widows (2018)

Wilde (1997)

Without a Paddle (2004)

Wolfwalkers (2020)

Wong Kar Wai (1994)

Would You Rather (2012)

X (2022)

Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)

Yi Yi (2000)

You Hurt My Feelings (2023)

You've Got Mail (1998)

Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)

Your Place or Mine (2023)

You’re Next (2011)

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Zero For Conduct (1933)

Zodiac (2007)

Zola (2021)

[backtohawkins]

WELCOME BACK TO HAWKINS, GABE DIAZ (pedro pascal fc)

good luck and have a bitchin’ summer!

[PEDRO PASCAL, CISMALE, HE/HIM] who’s that? oh it’s [GABRIEL “GABE” DIAZ]. i hear they’re [FORTY-FIVE] and are known as [THE THERAPIST] around [DOWNTOWN HAWKINS]. they’re also a [TRAUMA & ADDICTION THERAPIST] at [INDIANA GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY],. they’re known to be [SINCERE, OBSERVANT ] and [STRAIGHTFORWARD, COMPLIANT ]. some people say they remind them of [GROOVY MUSIC ON SUNDAY MORNINGS, THE VALUE OF A FLOURISHING GARDEN, DOG TAGS WORN BENEATH EVERY OUTFIT, AND BURYING YOURSELF IN CONCERN]. [ro]

PLEASE LIST 3-5 DETAILED HEADCANONS

tw: war, addiction, homophobia, suicide mention

gabriel grew up on a small farm in rural illinois, the eldest of six, his responsible streak seemed to be written in the stars. his family didn’t have much, but he had them, and that was all gabe needed. compared to other boys in the fifties, gabe had always been more in touch with his feelings. where his friends would tip cows for fun, he’d brush his fingers across their heads, and pretend their moos were secrets. he’d whisper back to them.

into his teen years, gabe was a staunch rule follower, they were there for a reason in the end, weren’t they? he was an all american boy who’s biggest dream was to make his family proud, build his parents a new barn, and buy them some more land to extend into. he was never much good with his hands, often only receiving bad marks in school when he took shop classes. he might not have known how to build an engine or anything fancy, but he was decent enough at science he thought he’d try for medical school. 

the path from high school graduation to starting ( and completing ) his education in chicago was linear, but one of the most exciting times of his life. he had never met city folk with such strong thoughts. he learned much beyond the walls of school in those years, mainly, that he was gay, but that wasn’t something he so much talked about then. 

in 1969, gabe was twenty-six, and fresh out of med school when the vietnam war was it’s height. it was a miracle he hadn’t been drafted by the end of the sixties. even if the big city had made a man out of him, he was still the same american boy at heart, and felt a call to the battlefield. not as a soldier of course, he was useless when it came to a fight (see: johnny davis and his pals calling him a queer and kicking the shit out of him in middle school.), but he was newly brandishing his doctorate, and he thought maybe if he went overseas he could fix up the troops, then come back to his regular life. 

what a fool he had been. most days, gabe wants to punch that idiot in the head, knock the naivety out of him before the war got the chance to. he was in the battlefield as a combat medic until the bitter end i 1973 and the atrocities he saw changed him. that proud hearted, gentle, all-american boy died on the soil beside fellow soldiers. he never seemed to understand how he even survived, but he figured he was there for a reason, not by god, but fate or some other force. he concluded he was there to comfort people, to help them. that purpose carried him through and back home. 

when gabe returned to chicago, he’d lost four years of his life to the war, but it might as well have been four centuries. he felt so out of touch with what the world was today, he had all of this pain, and nowhere to put it. gabe attempted to find that purpose again, working in a hospital briefly, but at the first sight of blood, he ran out of the room and freaked out. he was thirty years old, spitting out his fear into the toilet as his trauma ran down from his eyes in a bathroom stall. hospitals were out of the question for him from then on out. 

feeling utterly lost, gabe followed down the steep slope of abusing drugs. whatever he could get his hands on to stop the nightmares, he took. like most tales of addiction, gabe destroyed his relationships, particularly with his family, and that only sent him deeper into this spiral. his behavior continued like this for the remainder of the seventies until he got the call in 1980 that one of his closest buddies from vietnam had committed suicide.

that was what it took for gabe to get his act together. he checked himself into a rehabilitation program, followed the rules, stuck to them, and came out clean in the end. he even came out of it with a new passion. some additional schooling was needed, but eventually, he became a licensed therapist, and started up his own practice in chicago. his pride and joy to date though were his two support groups, one for addicts and one for veterans. he’d found a reason to keep pushing, and life had been pretty good since then. 

until the man came knocking, tearing their clutches into gabe one last time. that was what the government did, he supposed, sucked people dry. the agent said they heard about his success with these support groups, told him about a town called hawkins with a group being reintroduced into the population that was going to need his help, that there was drug problem, and there was nobody more qualified than he to do it. if that hadn’t been enticing enough, there was of course the check. his parents were gone at this point, but it was big enough to get each of his siblings some of that land he always wanted to buy. he simply couldn’t refuse. 

so he gave his card to his current patients, encouraged them to keep meeting, and moved a state over to set up shop in hawkins. his practice currently sits in downtown and gabe plans to dotingly attend to those who were lost to the forest (that is when they show up to their mandatory appointments at least.) that being said, his door is open for any resident, and he’s looking forward to the future brightly, confident he can once again make a difference.

[sledgefuweek]

Each year we take a close look at the prompts for Sledgefu Week, for those who may be stuck for ideas or not quite sure about what the prompts could entail. Below the readmore are all seven prompts, as well as a short write-up exploring what they mean and some ideas to help get the creative juices going. Enjoy!!

Sickfic

This is a really popular and well-known fanfic trope that I feel probably needs little explanation, but I’ll write a little bit about it anyway! It essentially covers fic where one character is ill and the other cares for them -- it could encompass any kind of illness at all, (including chronic illnesses) and there’s a lot of room to get creative with it. You can go for angst, hurt/comfort, or fluff: it’s just a really good general prompt that I think works nicely to kick the week off!

It suits for Sledgefu pretty well, considering Snafu’s canon mild hypochondria, as well as the fact that Eugene’s dad is a doctor. It could be fun to lean into it: make Eugene play doctor for an actually-sick Snafu, and it could be just as fun to subvert it! There’s really endless options for canon fic: shrapnel wounds turned bad, heat-sickness, seasickness, illness from bad food or bad water or any kind of tropical disease you can think of (malaria is a big one!). You could make one of them (or both) a medic; you could genderswap them and write the gay field nurse fic this fandom sorely needs. And of course if you choose to branch out into modern AU you can begin to think of what might afflict them outside of a war setting: has Eugene been working too much and come down with a cold? Are they hungover, and need mutual care (and lots of takeout)? A lot of the time sickfic focuses on one character doing the comforting and the other character feeling unwell, but there’s nothing to say they can’t both be feeling shitty! I think we say this every year but there’s really no rules at all, you do whatever you feel inspired to do. With Sickfic, just be mindful to tag anything that others might be affected by eg. vomiting, blood, needles, etc.

Tarot

I feel like Tarot is pretty well-known to the Sledgefu fandom, or at least to those who like to write Snafu or his family a little witchy. In case you just have a vague idea of what Tarot actually is and what its purpose or origins are, I’ll explain it as concisely as I can! Tarot decks started life in Europe as playing cards, but eventually began to be used for divination. It’s made up of four suits, or the Minor Arcana, (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles) as well as a twenty-two card Major Arcana (the imagery of which you’re probably very familiar with). Commonly, tarot decks and tarot reading is used as a means of communicating with the higher self, deities, or with the universe. They can be used as a way to see the future, answer questions, or to give/receive advice. There are different ways of reading them too, depending on how one lays out the cards: I don’t want to make this too wordy, but if you’re curious I encourage you to check out this site to learn more!

For writers, there’s a lot of places this prompt could take you! Probably the most obvious will be fortune teller fic; a classic. Lean into Snafu’s Louisiana roots and have him telling fortunes in the depths of the French Quarter, or go against the grain and have Eugene reading cards and palms and tea leaves as a practice passed down through his family. Or maybe more casual: modern AU Sledgefu flirting through amateur tarot readings with a deck picked up from a junk shop. If you read Tarot and have a connection to it, you can express that through writing! It’s a pretty open-ended prompt, especially if you consider some of the meanings of the cards; you could even write a story inspired by that! The Hermit: Snafu withdrawing, leaving Eugene on the train to spend the next few months in solitude, working through things. The Moon: Snafu and Eugene hitting a rough patch, hiding things from each other. The opportunities really become endless once you start taking the readings of the cards into account! And for visual artists, this must be such a fun prompt: I feel like it’s so a visually rich, whether you’re re-drawing the cards to encompass Snafu and Eugene within them, or making a collage based around some of the things mentioned above: fortune tellers shops, witches cottages, etc.

Trinket

Every Sledgefu Week we tend to have a couple prompts that are a little more open to interpretation, and this year’s ‘Trinket’ is one of those. It might be difficult to try and think of something to base a whole fic or piece of art around, but we really encourage you to let your imagination run wild! There’s already some great trinkets in the show itself: Eugene’s ring, the lighter that Gunny Haney gave him, Snafu’s stolen gold teeth, or their dog tags. Think of small, special objects that you might have: what imbues them with comfort or meaning? What makes you love them? You could have Eugene giving Snafu his ring, or have Eugene musing over war and death and loss while smoking a cigarette lit by his lighter. If you’re into Modern AUs, how could these objects carry through to modern day? Once you start thinking about it, the ideas start rolling in. Feel free to invent special trinkets for them: or maybe trinkets that they hate and want to get rid of, trinkets that remind them of bad times. Trinkets that remind them of each other, or family, or war. So much meaning can be held in the things we own, and I think it’s such a lovely concept to explore!

Crossover

So this prompt was born from the sheer number of suggestions we had for various movie, TV, and book AUs. We didn’t want to put them all to the poll and risk a lot of you feeling disappointed over the one you wanted not being selected, so thought it’d work best to condense them into a ‘Crossover’ prompt so everyone could do whatever they liked. So this is a very very broad one! It would be impossible for me to really go through the prompt and highlight some things that you could do for it, because you can really do anything you want to! Anything! It encompasses movies, video games, TV, books, musicals... if something tells a story, you can do a crossover. So if there’s ever been a film/book/etc. AU you wanted to do for Sledgefu Week but couldn’t quite get it to match the prompts, now is the time!

Vacation

A pretty self explanatory prompt, and one that I think can appeal to people who prefer canonverse and those who like modern AU too! Do you want to send Snafu and Eugene on the holiday of their dreams, or are they gonna be bickering in a gas station over who gets control of the map? Is Snafu gonna drive across a couple states to surprise Eugene by visiting? Is Eugene gonna do the same? There’s a lot of scenarios you can apply to the backdrop of them vacationing, and a lot of emotional journeys you can take them through! And for the canonverse crowd, you have the extra addition of letting them go have fun on an R&R, or taking a road trip post-war, visiting 1950s Paris... you can really do whatever you like!

Historical

This was another prompt like ‘Crossover’ that came from a lot of various suggestions that all boiled down to a similar thing: different historical events or periods. So like Crossover, I won’t linger too long on it (this post is long enough already) except just to say again: do whatever you’re inspired to do! There’s no rules here, you could even take everyone out of the Pacific and put them over in Germany: give them a different experience of war. In fact, you can do that with any war if you wanted to! Wanna do a M*A*S*H AU but made something else for Crossover? You could do it here! Want to put them in the 1920s? You got it. In the 1850s? Yeehaw, they’re cowboys now. 1969, Summer of Love? 1600s, make Snafu a prince? Literally the world is your oyster!

Horror

Past Sledgefu Week prompts have included things that could come under the horror umbrella (Supernatural, for example) but didn’t necessarily have to be made 'horrific’. For the ‘Horror’ prompt this year, we want to see frightening! Disquieting, uncomfortable; creations that either cross over with existing horror franchises, or lean on horrific things you come up with yourself. Horror movies, or TV shows, or books or podcasts or pieces of art all seek to elicit a sense of fear: this can be done by tapping into common phobias, or nightmares, those things which are universally and almost instinctively scary. We want to see things which lean into that, in whatever way you want to do it! 

I’m no horror media expert (not by a long shot) but the opportunities for this prompt are really vast simply because horror has so many subgenres to work with. You could go gothic horror; Dracula, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights (a personal favourite AU -- Eugene soaked out on the moors, searching for Heathcliff-Snafu? Divine). Or you could go to the opposite end of the spectrum: Jennifer’s Body AU, Final Girl AU -- there’s no set way to do horror, in fact you could even bring horror into canonverse if you don’t like AUs. Think the Terror: some unknown beast lurking beyond the borders of their camp on Pavuvu, or Okinawa. Or you could even take the prompt entirely literally and explore the horrors of war and the toll it takes on them both. Please don’t feel stuck into needing to do Scary: horror is about fear and revulsion and dread, and these feelings don’t necessarily need to come from a haunting! (This is also a prompt ripe for monsterfucking, just FYI).

                                                - - - - - - - - - -

So that’s the prompts for this year! They’re all really really great, and have a lot of potential to make some fantastic stuff :~) And to reiterate something I said right at the start, there are no rules here! I think every year we normally get at least one person unsure whether their idea will be okay for the prompt they’d like to make it for, so I just wanna say here: don’t second-guess yourself! As long as it can be linked back to the prompt in some way or another (can literally be the vaguest way possible) you’ll be absolutely fine. We don’t vet submissions at all, especially not for their content relating to the prompts. All we ask is that you remember to stay respectful in what you’re writing, and when the time comes to post it, you tag and warn appropriately :~)

On the subject of writing respectfully, we’d like to just take a moment to link the document on mindful writing re: race and gender that was made last year. Please take a look at it, even if you read it last year! It’s always good to keep these things at the front of your mind, as fandom is a community sport and we want to keep it fun and safe for everyone involved! So thank you if you’ve made it this far through this whole post, check out the doc, and enjoy the rest of the run-up to Sledgefu Week!

[lissy-strata]

What Could Have Been - POC Edition

Infotext: Another nearly-Jo was the Miss Guyana of 1967, Shakira Baksh (born 1947), whose acting experience amounted to a handful of bit-parts in Carry On Again Doctor (1969), the pop-rock musical Toomorrow (1970). and Gerry Anderson’s UFO (1970). She would have been the first non-white Doctor Who girls, 36 years before Freema Agyeman achieved that distinction.

[amanda-teaches]

Shockwave (2)

Series Summary: When you’re caught in an attack and get struck by an enemy shock wave, Bucky saves you and brings you to the Avengers for help. They quickly discover that the wave altered your genetic structure to send out energy bursts, energy bursts that you can’t control. Fearful of the damage you could cause, you refuse to be around anyone except superhumans Steve and Bucky, the latter of whom you form a quick, intense bond with while he teaches you to control your newfound powers.

Chapter Summary: In the aftermath of the attack, you wind up unconscious in a hospital bed surrounded by Avengers. Upon waking up, you feel fine, but all of you quickly discover that is not, in fact, the case.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 1969

Warnings: Medical situation, swearing, intense moments, injuries

A/N: Thank you all for reading and giving this story a chance. I appreciate every single comment and reblog.

Shockwave Masterlist

A memory tugged ever so softly at the edges of your consciousness. 

It was fuzzy, out of focus, but it was insistent, pulling you out of the inky darkness you’d found a home in.

Eyes, clouded grey with fear. Whispered pleas, hurried and frantic. Four words, repeated over and over, keeping you from slipping away. “Stay with me. Please.”

You could see the images so clearly, playing on a loop in your head, but you couldn’t quite reach them. They were far off, clouded, but the voices breaking through them weren’t, tugging you even further out of your haze.

“I don’t understand it, Tony. I’ve never seen anyone survive a blast like that before. It should be impossible.”

“Yeah, Bruce, because aliens invading Earth seems so possible every time that happens.”

“Tony…”

“Look, she’s here, okay, so that obviously means she survived. It’s clearly possible. Let’s just figure out how.”

There was a pause and then a long sigh. “But, a blast like that, that much energy, the damage it must’ve done…”

Damage. The word, and its implications, began careening through your mind, making you gasp, albeit involuntarily. It was soft, but it was enough to quiet the voices in the room, a new one quickly replacing them.

“Y/N? Can you hear us?”

It was a woman’s voice, close, warm. You blinked your eyes open, focusing on the soft smile of Dr. Helen Cho. Another face you recognized from the documentaries. You were really starting to hate those documentaries. “Where am I?”

Her smile widened, and she held up a small penlight, shining it in both of your eyes. “You’re at the medical facility in our compound. Upstate New York.”

New York. How could you have gotten to New York without remembering? You wracked your brain, but then those whispered words came back to you, fragmented but bright as day, and you knew. “Bucky.”

Dr. Cho’s smile softened the same way your voice did, and she nodded. “He got to you after you…” She paused, looking back at the others to find the right words. “After you were hit. He carried you out of the rubble, and the team brought you here.”

You furrowed your brow, trying to remember, but everything was still too much of a blank. “Is he?”

She nodded her head towards the corner, anticipating your question. “He’s here. He never left.”

Your eyes moved instantly, shifting on their own accord until they found Bucky’s in a sea of bright lights and blinking screens. His eyes flashed when you made contact, blinking once but otherwise staying unreadable. He did, however, straighten up from where he was leaning against the wall, placing the foot he’d been resting against it back onto the ground.

He was staring silently at you, obviously waiting for you to speak again, so you did, saying the first thing that popped into your mind. “Is the kid okay?”

His eyebrows raised slightly, surprised by your question, but the edges of his mouth tugged upwards and he nodded. “He’s fine. Not a scratch on him.”

“Thanks to you,” Tony said, stepping forward. He moved between you and Bucky, so you tried to look around him, but Bucky shot you a reassuring grin and looked Tony’s way, signaling for you to follow his lead.

“Maybe not the smartest decision,” he continued, gesturing towards where you had ended up. “But, a damn gutsy one. Although, next time you might want to duck first.”

Bucky’s face hardened, and he tightened his fist. “She’s a hero, Stark…”

You interrupted him, your voice quiet and unsteady, but clear enough to break through, stopping the brewing fight. “When can I go home?”

All of the eyes in the room turned to you, but their somber expressions did little to bolster your confidence. “I am going home, aren’t I?”

Bucky took a step towards you, but Tony just hung his head, leaving you to turn to Bruce. He looked almost pained watching you, wringing his hands and taking a deep breath to respond. “Honestly, we’re not sure.”

You began to feel panic prickle up your spine, and you used your forearms to push yourself up to a sitting position, accepting Dr. Cho’s help to get the rest of the way. “What does that mean, you’re not sure?”

The three of them exchanged a glance, some kind of silent communication passing between them, and you knew this wasn’t the first time they were discussing this. Tony finally sighed, ending the standoff and turning to answer your question. “From all appearances, you look fine. You don’t have any serious injuries, all of the tests come back normal. Theoretically, you should be able to go home.”

Theoretically. “But?”

Another sigh, this one even heavier than the last, sprinkled with sympathy, but filled with frustration. “The shockwave isn’t like anything we’ve ever seen before. It’s done more damage than we first thought. It seems to have somehow...altered your genetic structure.”

A foreboding sense of horror washed over you, and your eyes found Bucky’s once again, shaking your head, trying to convince yourself it couldn’t be true. His slow nod back told you otherwise.

That was the moment you really lost it. Panic flowed through your veins like ice and bubbled straight up to the surface, seeping out of you in waves. “No, no, that’s...no.” You stood up from the bed quickly, flipping your palms out, fingers spread wide. “See, I’m fine, completely normal. My genetic structure is just as...geneticy as it always is.”

You stepped forward, but Dr. Cho rushed around the bed to intercept you. “Y/N, please, you should really rest.”

You shook your head, more insistently this time, your hand gestures growing more wild. “No, I told you, I’m fine! Whatever tests you ran, you can just run them again, right? I’m sure you’re…”

“Y/N.”

You froze at the warning in Bucky’s voice, spinning your head around to reveal the three seasoned superheroes backing away slowly, their bodies tensed. But, they weren’t looking at you, they were looking at your hands.

Trailing your eyes down, you felt your pulse quicken with every breath, every millisecond. But, the real fear didn’t come until your eyes finally reached your hands, and you saw purple static streaming in the air around your fingertips. Bands of energy, crackling and fluctuating, and all of it was coming from you.

That’s when your heart really started beating out of control. “What is...what’s happening to me?!”

Dr. Cho stepped closer, holding her hands up warily like she was approaching a wounded animal. “Y/N, please, just get back in bed...”

“No!” you screamed, throwing your arms down towards the ground to keep her away.

That’s when everything went to hell.

All of it must’ve happened in just seconds, but, to you, it felt like an eternity. Time slowed to a standstill as you watched the room blast apart, a giant wave of purple pushing back everything and everyone in its path.

The power from the blast knocked you back into the medical cart, but all you could focus on was what it was doing to the others. It didn’t discriminate, cutting through each of them like a blade, sending all four of them flying up into the air and back into the walls with sickening crunches.

You could feel yourself scream but no sound came out, the shock of what you’d just done hanging too heavy. It was surreal, like a movie, but you weren’t watching it, you were living it, had caused it, caused the destruction laid out in front of you.

Tony stirred first, pushing himself out from underneath the rubble with a loud curse and moan. Bucky followed, immediately moving towards you, but you backed away clutching your hands to your chest and shaking your head. “No, no. Stay where you are. I’ll just hurt you again.”

Bucky slowed, but he kept advancing, holding one of his hands out gingerly towards you. “Hey, hey,” he whispered, cocking a smile that made his eyes shine. ““You can’t hurt me, Y/N. Super soldier, remember?”

And, just like that, a wave of calm washed over you, because you could feel his confidence, his gentleness. You knew he really believed what he was saying, because if anyone had been there it was him. He wanted to help you, to take care of you, and you trusted him.

You reached your hand out to brush against his fingers, but, before you could grasp the lifeline he was offering, Tony drew him back, his voice suddenly filling with alarm. “Barnes, the doctor.”

Bucky spun around to find Tony and Bruce kneeling by Dr. Cho, who was still lying unconscious across the room. He inhaled sharply and stepped back from where you stood, rooted to your spot by the medical cart, disbelief still coursing through you.

The three of them stayed huddled by her side for a moment until she started to stir, and you let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding. Bruce helped her up, casting a watchful glance your way as he ushered her out of the room, while Tony and Bucky turned back to you.

Bucky made his way back to you without hesitation, placing his hands on your shoulders and capturing your gaze. “Hey, don’t worry, she’s going to be fine. Bruce will take care of her.” You tried to shut your eyes, to disassociate, but he protested. “Look at me, it’s not your fault, okay? None of this was your fault.”

“Barnes is right,” Tony said quickly, breaking his silence. “We’re going to help you, Y/N.”

He started to walk toward you when Bucky turned to face him, but you freaked out, grabbing Bucky’s arm and moving to hide behind him. “No,” you whispered, placing your forehead against his back and shaking it slowly. “I’ll hurt him.”

Bucky reached across, placing his hand over yours and squeezing softly. “I got you. It’s gonna be okay.”

Gently, he lifted your fingers, dropping your hand and moving to meet Tony halfway. He shook his head, grabbing his shoulder and leading him away, where the two of them began to confer quietly, something Bucky seemed to do a lot around you. You made a mental note to tell him how infuriating that was.

After a few moments, Tony nodded and Bucky turned back to you, his encouraging smile finding its way back to his eyes. “Y/N, I know you’re scared. Scared is an understatement. I’m sure you’re fucking terrified. But, I can promise you, you’re not going to hurt anyone else. I’m not going to let that happen, okay?”

You nodded, and he reached his hand out again, holding it out to you just as he had before. “I know I can’t make you do anything, and I know you probably think you’re past saving, but we can help you, Y/N, I know we can. If you stay here, if you trust me, I swear to you, our team, we’ll do everything in our power to fix you. We will find a cure.” He extended his hand out even further, waiting for you to make the choice. “Will you let us try?”

You stared at him for a moment, your heart vibrating as you thought about your options. You could very easily say no, run away from it all, and go hide in the mountains where you couldn’t hurt anyone else, but then you thought about your family and friends, of any chance you had of ever being able to see them again without blasting them across the room. Staring into Bucky’s eyes, you knew there was only one thing you could do. The choice was clear and you made it without any hesitation.

You grabbed his hand.

[emerald-studies]

The iconic, beautiful, intelligent Angela Davis... 

Who is still alive today!

“Angela Davis is an activist, educator and author. She is the author of eight books and has lectured throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. Davis gained her international reputation in the early 1970s, when she was tried for conspiracy and imprisoned, and later fully acquitted, after being implicated in a shootout in front of a California courthouse. As a member of the Advisory Board of the Prison Activist Resource Center, Davis focused on exposing racism that is endemic to the US prison system, and exploring new ways to de-construct oppression and race hatred.Angela Davis, the daughter of an automobile mechanic and a school teacher, was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on  January 26, 1944. The area where the family lived became known as Dynamite Hill because of the large number of African American homes bombed by the Ku Klux Klan. Her mother was a civil rights campaigner and had been active in the NAACP before the organization was outlawed in Birmingham. Davis attended the segregated Carrie A. Tuggle Elementary School, and Parker Annex, a middle-school branch of Parker High School in Birmingham. By her junior year, she had applied to and was accepted at an American Friends Service Committee program that placed black students from the South in integrated schools in the North. She chose Elisabeth Irwin High School in Greenwich Village in New York City. There she was introduced to socialism and communism and was recruited by a Communist youth group, meeting children of some of the leaders of the Communist Party, including her lifelong friend, Bettina Aptheker.Davis was awarded a scholarship to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she was one of three black students in her freshman class. Feeling alienated by the isolation of the campus, Angela Davis worked part time to earn enough money to travel to France and Switzerland before she went on to attend the eighth World Festival of Youth and Students in Helsinki, Finland. She returned home in 1963 to an FBI interview about her attendance at the Communist-sponsored festival. Angela Davis would go on to study at the Sorbonne in Paris and later the University of Frankfurt finally earning her master's degree from the University of California San Diego campus and her doctorate in philosophy from Humboldt University in East Berlin.In 1969 Angela Davis was known as a radical feminist and activist, a member of the Communist Party, and an associate of the Black Panther Party. She was working as an acting assistant professor in the philosophy department at UCLA. When the Federal Bureau of Investigation informed  the California Board of Regents, that Davis was a member of the American Communist Party, they terminated her contract in 1970.Angela Davis became active in the campaign to improve prison conditions. She became particularly interested in the case of George Jackson and W. L. Nolen, two African Americans who had established a chapter of the Black Panthers in California's Soledad Prison. On the 13th of January 1970, Nolan and two other black prisoners were killed by a prison guard. A few days later the Monterey County Grand Jury ruled that the guard had committed "justifiable homicide." When a guard was later found murdered, Jackson and two other prisoners were indicted for his murder. It was claimed that Jackson had sought revenge for the killing of his friend, W. L. Nolan.On August 7, 1970, Superior Court Judge Harold Haley, along with several other hostages, was abducted from his Marin County, California, courtroom by gunpoint and murdered by 17 year old Jonathon Jackson during his effort to free his brother George Jackson. The firearms used in the attack were purchased by Angela Davis, including the shotgun used to kill Haley, which had been purchased only two days prior and sawed-off. Numerous letters written by Angela Davis were found in the prison cell of George Jackson as well. The California warrant issued for Davis charged her as an accomplice to conspiracy, kidnapping, and homicide. On August 18, 1970, Davis became the third woman to appear on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. Davis became a fugitive and fled California. She evaded the police for more than two months before being captured in New York City. John Abt, general counsel of the Communist Party, was one of the first attorneys to represent Davis for her alleged involvement in the shootings. While being held in the Women's Detention Center there, she was initially segregated from the general population, but with the help of her legal team soon obtained a federal court order to get out of the segregated area. In 1972, she was tried and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. The mere fact that she owned the guns used in the crime was not sufficient to establish her responsibility for the plot. John Lennon and Yoko Ono, wrote the song "Angela" on their 1972 studio album Some Time In New York City to show their support. and Mick Jagger, of the Rolling Stones, wrote the song "Sweet Black Angel" in her support. The song was released in 1972 on the album Exile on Main Street.In 1979 Davis visited the Soviet Union where she was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize and made a honorary professor at Moscow State University. In 1980 and 1984 Davis was the Communist Party's vice-presidential candidate. 

Angela Davis has been an activist and writer promoting women's rights and racial justice while pursuing her career as a philosopher and teacher at the University of Santa Cruz and San Francisco University. She achieved tenure at the University of California at Santa Cruz despite the fact that former Governor Ronald Reagan swore she would never teach again in the University of California system.An author of eight books, a persistent theme of her work has been the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination.Angela Davis is a member of the executive board of the Women of Color Resource Center, a San Francisco Bay Area organization that emphasizes education of and about women who live in conditions of poverty. She also works with Justice Now, which provides legal assistance to women in prison and engages in advocacy for the abolition of imprisonment as the dominant strategy for addressing social problems. Internationally, she is affiliated with Sisters Inside, a similar organization based in Queensland, Australia.” (source)