#Clint Murphy

[18catsreading]

Ally: my acrobatics is negative three

Brennan: oh no no no. Oh no no no. We liked to ask Brennan for cool things. [Forcing Ally to go through with their ribbon dance shenanigans]

All chanting: jump jump jump jump jump

17 -3= 14

Brennan: so you leap out the window. Now, I want Ally to look at me. And you tell me, do you feel like a 14 is a high enough roll for your character to use a dance ribbon to fly? Bearing in mind that if I say yes now I have to say yes every other time you want to do this.

Ally: yea, definitely. I think 14 it's above average, um.

Brennan: don't pay any attention to this noise [so many dice rattling]

Murph: you guys just see the most insane things. See Kristen just go like this [mimics ribbon dancing]

Ally: I'm not trying to like FLY

Brennan: sure you're just trying to descend.

Ally: I'm just trying to like, I'm trying to grapple. It's like a grappling hook

Zac: how many stories is it?

Lou: it's 10

Zac: it's 10 stories?!

Ally: It's o-- is it 10 stories? [Surprised]

Brennan: it's 10 stories

Ally: ok I'm just trying to grapple hook. [Interrupted by Lou's laughing] I'm trying to grapple hook 3 flights down so I can cut off her dad

Zac: yeah, that kind of precision.

Brennan: okay cool. So you're just going to try to nail this. You're going to try to cap this graceful fall at 10 stories

Ally: no, do you understand, like, I'm jumping with the ribbon dancer like this [drawing diagrams in the air] you know, to fly.

Brennan: sure, cool [pulling out the box of doom]

Ally: you know, I don't know if you understand. It's like to fly [vogueing a new diagram]

Brennan: okay, so yea, you're just going to try to go a quick three stories down using a ribbon dance to do that. An ability nowhere on your character sheet.

Ally: the ribbon dancer is written on my character sheet! [Pulling out character sheet]

Brennan nods encouragingly

Murph: you have four dexterity

Brennan: so, here's the thing, I'm going to allow you to avert this because I don't want anyone to say I was cruel or mean or unfair, right? So all I'm gonna ask is this: hit a 14 acrobatics check for me right now. Box of doom.

Ally: another one?!

Brennan: yea, to just, to like Indiana Jones using a ribbon as a bullwhip.

Ally: yea. See. You let Indiana Jones do it, and that's sexist. no one respects femininity in this country. [Rolls the dice in the box of doom, ally's it right on out the side]

Brennan: you Ally'd out of the box of doom, across my lap.

Ally: rolls again.

Brennan: okay, that's a natural 2.

Ally: interesting.

In chorus: so that's a negative one

Emily: I didn't - I really thought this was gonna be one of those crazy Ally moments.

Lou: I didn't want to say it --

Ally: we don't know what the first one landed on though

Siobhan: that's true. The first one is cannon

Brennan: here's your die back

Ally: thank you

Brennan: what happens is this. Kristen, you were like, I have to got to get to the first floor before Angwyn.

Ally: here we go

Brennan: I have great news. You make it to the first floor waaaay before Angwyn does, right? And the reason for that --

Ally: why is that?

Brennan: 16, 23 -- you take --

Ally: can we say the ribbon wraps around me and makes sort of a cushion

Brennan: here is what we are going to say. Kristen to get to the first floor, you take your ribbon, twirl, leap out the window, and take 36 points of damage as you --

Ally: hell yea

Siobhan: absolutely worth it

Brennan: ah! Ah! Ah! And you fucking land on your leg and roll and snap your ankle.

Ally: all right. I do have three points left.

[hollywoodlady]

Actors + Western

John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gary Cooper, Audie Murphy, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill & Glenn Ford.

[denimbex1986]

'The key word in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is “compartmentalization.” It’s a security strategy, introduced and repeatedly enforced by Col. Leslie R. Groves (Matt Damon) in his capacity as director of the Manhattan Project, which is racing to build a weapon mighty enough to bring World War II to an end. In Groves’ mind, keeping his various teams walled off from one another will help ensure the strictest secrecy. But J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the brilliant theoretical physicist he’s hired to run the project laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., knows that compartmentalization has its limits. The success of their mission will hinge not on isolation but on an extraordinary collaborative synthesis — of physics and chemistry, theory and practice, science and the military, the professional and the personal.

In the weeks since “Oppenheimer” opened to much critical acclaim and commercial success, Groves’ key word has taken on an unsettling new meaning. Compartmentalization, after all, is a pretty good synonym for rationalization, the act of setting aside, or even tucking away, whatever we find morally troubling. And for its toughest critics, many of them interviewed for a recent Times piece by Emily Zemler, “Oppenheimer” compartmentalizes to an outrageous degree: In not depicting the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they argue, the movie submits to a historical blindness that it risks passing on to its audience. Nolan, known for crafting fastidiously well-organized narratives in which nothing appears by accident, has been taken to task for what he chooses not to show.

Most of those decisions, of course, flow directly from his source material, “American Prometheus,” Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s authoritative 2005 Oppenheimer biography. With the exception of one key narrative thread, everything onscreen is framed, per biopic convention, through its subject’s eyes. And so you see Oppenheimer as an excitable young physics student, and you behold his eerie, captivating visions of the subatomic world. You see him become one of America’s leading physicists, take a major role in the secret race to the A-bomb and, together with his recruits, devise and build the world’s first nuclear weapons. You see his shock and awe when the Trinity test proves successful, lighting up the desert sky and landscape with a blinding flash of white and a 40,000-foot pillar of fire and smoke.

What you don’t see — because Oppenheimer doesn’t see them either — are the bomb’s first victims: the thousands of New Mexicans, most of them Native American and Hispanic, who dwell within a 50-mile radius of the Trinity test site and whose exposure to radiation will have deadly health consequences for generations. You don’t see the bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; you don’t see the lethal conflagrations and ash-covered rubble, and you don’t see the bodies of Japanese victims burned beyond recognition, or hear the screams and wails of survivors. (Estimates place the eventual death toll at close to 200,000.)

In refusing to visualize these horrors, is Nolan showing admirable dramatic restraint or committing unforgivable sins of omission? Is he merely sticking to his subject’s perspective or conveniently dodging the kind of imagery that would trouble Oppenheimer’s conscience?

As it happens, the scientist does in fact see that imagery, and his conscience is duly troubled. In one key scene, the camera studies Oppenheimer and his colleagues as they watch disturbing footage of the bombings’ aftermath. An offscreen speaker describes how thousands of Japanese civilians were incinerated in an instant, while thousands more died excruciating deaths from radiation poisoning. You see Oppenheimer recoil, even if what he recoils from is left pointedly out of frame.

These are not the only images of WWII that the movie withholds. It’s a measure of the formal and structural rigor of “Oppenheimer” that we see nothing of the Pacific theater conflict, and nothing of the European theater conflict, either — not even when Oppenheimer fears that the Nazis might be building a nuclear weapon of their own. Nolan, who always trusts us to keep up with his elaborately constructed puzzle-box narratives, also trusts us to know a thing or two about history. And crucially, he wants to open up a different perspective on the war, to show how some of its most crucial tactics and maneuvers played out not on battlefields but in classrooms and laboratories — and, finally, in the theater of Oppenheimer’s mind.

We are sometimes told, in matters of art and storytelling, that depiction is not endorsement; we are not reminded nearly as often that omission is not erasure.

It’s a brilliant mind, to say the least. It’s also ill prepared for the terrifying, world-altering reality that it ushers into being. Oppenheimer may see footage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but images are a poor substitute for reality; he will never walk among the ruins, witness the despair of the survivors or behold the devastation up close. Nolan knows that we can’t either. What’s more, he clearly believes that we shouldn’t be able to.

Seen in this light, the director’s refusal to thrust his camera onto Japanese soil, far from being an act of historical vagueness or obliviousness, instead represents a carefully thought-out, rigorously executed solution to the problem of how to represent history. And his solution speaks not to his insensitivity but his integrity, his refusal to exploit or trivialize Japanese suffering by re-enacting it for the camera. Nolan lays the groundwork in one of his most revealing scenes, shortly before the decision is made to target Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As Oppenheimer looks on, U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson (James Remar) removes Kyoto from the list of potential targets, citing the city’s cultural and historical significance and fondly recalling that he and his wife honeymooned there years earlier.

Before the bombings have even taken place, Nolan, in this one scene, indicts the arbitrary callousness of a U.S. war machine that cloaks its destructive intentions in cultural high-mindedness and rank sentimentality. It’s an appalling moment, and Stimson unambiguously solicits Oppenheimer’s contempt as well as the viewer’s; watch that scene in a packed house and you’ll hear the audience scoff as one. You might also begin to suspect, if you haven’t already, that Nolan isn’t going to dramatize the bombings in straightforward fashion, if he means to dramatize them at all.

Nolan has never been turned on by spectacles of violence. Even “Dunkirk,” a harrowing if ultimately optimistic World War II bookend of sorts to “Oppenheimer’s” apocalyptic despair, is a combat picture far more driven by ideas than by carnage. Violence certainly plays its part in Nolan’s movies, but seldom is it an end in itself. Reviewing “Oppenheimer” in the New York Times, Manohla Dargis noted, “There are no documentary images of the dead or panoramas of cities in ashes, decisions that read as [Nolan’s] ethical absolutes.” And in a recent Decider essay, the critic Glenn Kenny shrewdly examined “Oppenheimer” alongside Alain Resnais’ elliptical 1959 masterpiece, “Hiroshima Mon Amour,” itself a powerful commentary on the futility of trying to represent the unrepresentable. “Had Nolan chosen to somehow ‘recreate’ the bombing of Hiroshima,” Kenny writes, “we, the viewers, would really see nothing.”

Japanese filmmakers, of course, have been powerfully evoking and re-creating the bombings for decades: Kaneto Shindo’s “Children of Hiroshima” (1952) and especially Shohei Imamura’s devastating “Black Rain” (1989) are just two well-known examples. Over the past few weeks, social media users have circulated clips of Mori Masaki’s 1983 anime “Barefoot Gen,” an adaptation of Keiji Nakazawa’s manga series of the same title. It contains what is surely one of the cinema’s most upsetting, unsparingly graphic depictions of the atomic blast and its casualties. It’s one of several animated films, including Renzo and Sayoko Kinoshita’s 1978 short “Pica-don” and Sunao Katabuchi’s “In This Corner of the World” (2016), that have confronted the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a boldness and artistry that live-action cinema can be hard-pressed to match.

Much of this evidence has been marshaled in Nolan’s defense: Surely this is Japan’s story to tell, not his. I’m reluctant to embrace that particular stay-in-your-lane logic, which is ultimately deadening to the cause of art and empathy. As Clint Eastwood demonstrated in “Letters From Iwo Jima,” it is not beyond a white Hollywood filmmaker’s ability to enter persuasively and movingly into the mindset of a wartime enemy. Even so, that clearly isn’t the story Nolan is telling. And with such a wealth and variety of Japanese fiction and nonfiction filmmaking on the atomic bombings already, why should “Oppenheimer” bear the responsibility of representing events and experiences that fall outside its subject’s perspective?

Some would rebut that “Oppenheimer,” being a Hollywood blockbuster with serious global reach (whether it will play Japanese theaters remains uncertain), will be many audiences’ only exposure to the events in question and thus might “create a limit on public consciousness and concern,” as the poet, writer and professor Brandon Shimoda told The Times. A corollary of this argument: The crimes committed against the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were so unspeakable, so outsized in their impact, that Oppenheimer’s perspective does and should dwindle into insignificance by comparison. For Nolan to focus so exclusively on an American physicist’s story, some insist, ultimately diminishes history and humanity, even as it reinforces the Hollywood hegemony of the great-man biopic and of white men’s narratives in general.

I get those complaints. I also think they betray an inherent disrespect for the audience’s intelligence and curiosity, as well as a fundamental misunderstanding of how movies operate. It’s telling that few of these criticisms of perspective were leveled at “American Prometheus” when it was published in 2005, that no one begrudged Bird and Sherwin for offering a meticulously researched, morally ambivalent portrait of their subject’s life and consigning the destruction of two Japanese cities to a few pages. That’s because books are books, the argument goes, and movies are movies — and this perceived difference, it must be said, reveals a pernicious double standard.

Because they seldom achieve the narrative penetration and richness of detail of, say, a 700-page biography, movies, especially those about history, often are hailed as achievements of breadth over depth, emotion over intellect. They are assumed to be fundamentally shallow experiences, distillations of real life rather than sharply angled explorations of it, propelled by broad brushstrokes and easy expository shortcuts, and beholden to the audience’s presumably voracious appetite for thrilling, traumatizing spectacle. And because movies offer a visual immediacy and narrative immersion that books don’t, they are expected to be sweeping if not omniscient in their narrative scope, to reach for a comprehensive, even definitive vantage.

Movies that attempt something different, that recognize that less can indeed be more, are thus easily taken to task. “It’s so subjective!” and “It omits a crucial P.O.V.!” are assumed to be substantive criticisms rather than essentially value-neutral statements. We are sometimes told, in matters of art and storytelling, that depiction is not endorsement; we are not reminded nearly as often that omission is not erasure. But because viewers of course cannot be trusted to know any history or muster any empathy on their own — and if anything unites those who criticize “Oppenheimer” on representational grounds, it’s their reflexive assumption of the audience’s stupidity — anything that isn’t explicitly shown onscreen is denigrated as a dodge or an oversight, rather than a carefully considered decision.

A film like “Oppenheimer” offers a welcome challenge to these assumptions. Like nearly all Nolan’s movies, from “Memento” to “Dunkirk,” it’s a crafty exercise in radical subjectivity and narrative misdirection, in which the most significant subjects — lost memories, lost time, lost loves — often are invisible and all the more powerful for it. We can certainly imagine a version of “Oppenheimer” that tossed in a few startling but desultory minutes of Japanese destruction footage. Such a version might have flirted with kitsch, but it might well have satisfied the representational completists in the audience. It also would have reduced Hiroshima and Nagasaki to a piddling afterthought; Nolan treats them instead as a profound absence, an indictment by silence.

That’s true even in one of the movie’s most powerful and contested sequences. Not long after news of Hiroshima’s destruction arrives, Oppenheimer gives a would-be-triumphant speech to a euphoric Los Alamos crowd, only for his words to turn to dust in his mouth. For a moment, Nolan abandons realism altogether — but not, crucially, Oppenheimer’s perspective — to embrace a hallucinatory horror-movie expressionism. A piercing scream erupts in the crowd; a woman’s face crumples and flutters, like a paper mask about to disintegrate. The crowd is there and then suddenly, with much sonic rumbling, image blurring and an obliterating flash of white light, it is not.

For “Oppenheimer’s” detractors, this sequence constitutes its most grievous act of erasure: Even in the movie’s one evocation of nuclear disaster, the true victims have been obscured and whitewashed. The absence of Japanese faces and bodies in these visions is indeed striking. It’s also consistent with Nolan’s strict representational parameters, and it produces a tension, even a contradiction, that the movie wants us to recognize and wrestle with. Is Oppenheimer trying (and failing) to imagine the hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians murdered by the weapon he devised? Or is he envisioning some hypothetical doomsday scenario still to come?

I think the answer is a blur of both, and also something more: In this moment, one of the movie’s most abstract, Nolan advances a longer view of his protagonist’s history and his future. Oppenheimer’s blindness to Japanese victims and survivors foreshadows his own stubborn inability to confront the consequences of his actions in years to come. He will speak out against nuclear weaponry, but he will never apologize for the atomic bombings of Japan — not even when he visits Tokyo and Osaka in 1960 and is questioned by a reporter about his perspective now. “I do not think coming to Japan changed my sense of anguish about my part in this whole piece of history,” he will respond. “Nor has it fully made me regret my responsibility for the technical success of the enterprise.”

Talk about compartmentalization. That episode, by the way, doesn’t find its way into “Oppenheimer,” which knows better than to offer itself up as the last word on anything. To the end, Nolan trusts us to seek out and think about history for ourselves. If we elect not to, that’s on us.'

[kellymagovern]

"Oh, man, you lyin'! You ain't never met Martin Luther THE KING!" 😂😂😂 --Coming To America

[movie-titlecards]

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

My rating: 4/10

You know, between the constant grabbing of buttocks, the bizarre non sequitur rape jokes, and the persistent theme of "women using sex for nefarious purposes", I'm beginning to suspect that the screenwriters of this thing had some powerful unresolved issues regarding the female gender. Of course, their bigotry is not limited to women, pretty much every marginalized group gets to be called a slur at some point. Truly, the 70s were a time of strong and obnoxious edgelordery.

[bodybybane]

Eddie Murphy Says Marlon Brando Told Him He Didn't Like Clint Eastwood: 'Can't Stand the Kid with the Gun' https://people.com/eddie-murphy-says-marlon-brando-didnt-like-clint-eastwood-8671904

[hoeforseungcho]

White Nationalists/Supremacists and Music

Anders Breivik – Classical music, pop music, Clint Mansel, Helene Bøksle, Saga, Armin van Buuren, John O'Callaghan, Marcus Shossow, Audrey Gallagher, Emma Hewitt, Sarah Howells, Sheryl Dean, The Awakening - Hyborian Adventures

Dylann Roof – Classical Music, Bushido, Celo & Abdi, Hannibal Buress, Kendrick Lamar, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, Lil’ Wayne, Olexesh, Favorite, Rae Sremmurd, The Kinks, Celo, Rammstein, Bass Sultan Hengzt, Haftbefehl, Kool Savas, Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Xatar, DMX, Farid bang, John Mitchell, K.I.Z., King Orgasmus One, Nazar, Sonny Black & Frank White (all are 5+ scrobbles on last.fm)

Robert Bowers – Megadeath (as a teen)

Brenton Tarrant – European Military Music, Serbia Strong, Arthur Brown, Gas gas gas (Manuel), Fallschirmjäger remix

John Earnest – The Beach Boys, Original Pokemon Themesong. Warthog Run Theme (Halo Combat Evolved), Imagine Dragons, Sabaton, Breaking Benjamin, Dropkick Murphys, The Path (The Last of Us)

Stephan Balliet – Mr. Bond, Touhou Eurobeat, Utsu-P, Mousou Express (Monogatari Series)

Hugo Jackson – Serbia Strong

Payton Gendron – Saint Pepsi, The Twin Sisters (John Graham Donaldson)

Ryan Palmeter – Luke Combs, Jason Aldean

----------

Links and stuff:

Anders Breivik’s artists were sourced from his manifesto on page 579 and 965

Dylann Roof: https://www.last.fm/user/derekjeter88

Robert Bowers: https://files.catbox.moe/6acxsj.png

https://www.reddit.com/r/masskillers/comments/yf6jmi/yearbook_photo_of_pittsburgh_synagogue_shooter/

Brenton Tarrant had a playlist running during his attack

John Earnest: https://files.catbox.moe/s6ag12.png

Stephan Balliet had a playlist running during his attack

Hugo Jackson: https://files.catbox.moe/4hn8wz.mp4

Payon Gendron’s artists were from his discord diary, I forgot the pages but I just checked every YouTube link he posted

Ryan Palmeter: https://www.youtube.com/@billybobsatan (sadneck edits)

Edit: Ferid Bang

[thisisnotthenerd]

do you ever give yourself ideas that seem like they shouldn't take much time in execution and then end up taking up way too much time?

anyway we're back with the first real entry for thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats of 2024. this time we're talking:

cast appearances by episode count

season count is one thing; there's only 21 of those so far. by contrast, we've had 222 episodes of d20 as of 1/16/2024. by may 2024 we'll have finished fhjy and hit 241.

by the current count, the intrepid heroes' full seasons account for 128 episodes of the total 222, or around 57.6% of the total episode count. if you add the fantasy high oneshots, it bumps up to 59.4%, and if you consider that we're adding 20 to the count with fhjy, by may 2024, intrepid heroes episodes will make up 62.6% of the dimension 20 catalog.

anyway here's the cast list:

the uncontested winner is brennan lee mulligan with 211/222 episodes. 95% attendance. the only times he hasn't been there are: the 4 episodes of shriek week, the 6 episodes of coffin run, and the gencon mismag oneshot.

in second place is lou wilson, with 151/222 episodes. this is every intrepid heroes season (128/222), plus 3 sidequests (4+10+6) and 3 oneshots.

in third, sweeping her way with the most recent season, is siobhan thompson with 147/222, after the ih seasons, 3 oneshots and 2 sidequests (6+10)

in fourth, we have ally beardsley with 144/222, after the ih seasons, 2 oneshots, and 2 sidequests (10+4)

very close in fifth, we have zac oyama, with 143/222, after the ih seasons, 4 oneshots, and 2 sidequests (6+6).

in sixth is emily axford, with 138/222, from 126 ih episodes, 2 oneshots, and one sidequest (10)

and in seventh is brian murphy, with 130 episodes, from the ih seasons and 3 oneshots.

after this we have a steep drop off, since the ih episodes make up 57% of the total count, and will make up 61% by the end of junior year. anyway next is aabria iyengar, with 48 episodes, a little over half which she gm'd (26).

next is erika ishii, with 37 episodes. they've been in 5 sidequests (6+4+10+6+10) and one oneshot.

to finish off the top ten, rekha shankar and izzy roland are tied with 26, since both have been in three sidequests [(6+10+10) and (10+6+10) respectively]

the last of the three cree, in 11th place, is matthew mercer, with 18 (6+6+6) episodes, 6 of which he gm'd

after which is carlos luna and mike trapp with 12, though carlos has been behind the scenes as crew in many more.

13th is taken up with another tie, this time between danielle radford and becca scott, who each have 11, though their splits are different, since danielle has been in 2 sidequests and a oneshot (4+6+1), while becca has been in 1 sidequest and 1 oneshot (10+1)

after this we get into the mass groups:

with 10 episodes there's a couple of options for how they got to that point, but less options for 6 and 4

10 episodes: ify nwadiwe (6+4), lily du (6+4), katie marovitch (10), sam reich (10), raphael chestang (10), grant o'brien (10), persephone valentine (10), omar najam (10), oscar montoya (10), surena marie (10), rashawn nadine scott (10), and jasper william cartwright (10)

next is griffin mcelroy, with 7 episodes, because he did the RTX oneshot along with tiny heist.

6 episodes: amy vorpahl, justin mcelroy, travis mcelroy, clint mcelroy, jessica ross, marisha ray, krystina arielle, b. dave walters, jasmine bhullar (GM), anjali bhimani, alex song-xia, freddie wong, hank green

4 episodes: gabe hicks (GM), dani fernandez, monét x change, alaska thunderfuck, bob the drag queen, jujubee

and last but not least, our oneshot only friends: brian david gilbert, michelle nguyen bradley, noxweiler berf, and markeia mccarty

and that's all for this time! check out the spreadsheet to see where the data comes from and every individual checkbox that i had to click for this to be fully accurate.

[sassenashsworld]

Preston at Quincy

(ah, euh.... eh...)

The List

Hollis seems a lot more nervous since he had that conversation with Clint, and Preston understands why. He now knows that their fate is decided. By dawn, the gunners will return, and if no additional company of minutemen arrives to reinforce theirs, all hope will be lost.

Mayor Jackson knows too. Preston feels it. However, Preston is determined to stick with it.

Don’t giving up.

The citizens of Quincy are counting on them.

But the sun never gets the chance to rise. In the cover of the night, Preston finally hears the first shot of the gunners being fired...

They’re coming.

Everyone, including the citizens, scrambles to their position. Preston and Sturges check the barricade; Sturges looks really grim.

“We won’t hold them off…”

Preston looks at the mechanic but swallows down his anxieties.

“Don't lose faith! As long as we are here to fight, there is hope!”

Sturges looks back at Preston with a frown, but he nods and bites his lips. Hollis comes their way.

“We have to—

The sound of the end of the world interrupts him. A massive blaze illuminates the night, followed shortly by a loud ramble.

“THEY HAVE BLEW OUT THE HIGHWAY SUPPORT! AIM AT THE ROAD! THEY WILL ATTACK FROM HIGH POSITIONS!”

Preston immediately understands the plan.

“They’re flanking us! We need to move our heavy weapons out on the road and aim for those positions on the high ground!”

Hollie turned to his subordinate.

“We don't have any heavy weapons here. Grab the roof of those apartments and bring the guys with you! With the others to the south, I'll attempt to cross the road and secure a prominent position.”

“Yes sir!”

Preston instructs the remaining Minutemen to swiftly follow him. They climb up, go to their positions, and prepare. Preston carefully examines his surroundings for what he can see in the darkness and notices that the Gunners have taken up positions atop ruined buildings and cars.

Closing up on them from everywhere.

An old woman makes it all the way up to their positions and looks around to find Preston. Another Minutemen tries to stop her.

“Madame! We are under attack! Return below, now!”

But the old lady shushes him and walks forth to Preston.

“YoU!” she exclaims, her voice filled with gloom. “SooN YoUR faith and OURS will mingle! Be rEAdy!”

The woman’s appearance surprises Preston. Preston gives her a worried glance. She looks like a witch.

He still nods. “I’m ready, ma’am.”

“BeeEe ReaDY!”

A couple makes its way in turn, seizing the old lady by her arms.

“Mama Murphy,” growls the woman. “Come back! We don't have time for your deliriums!”

“We hAve to bE rEady!” continues the old magpie.

The man seems nervous. “Come back inside. We have to reach the others in the church.”

“WeEee...”

“Shut you hole up, crazy witch!” warns the woman in turn. “I will not let Kyle be killed because you don't want to—

The gunners at the top of the highway suddenly pour a rain of bullets their way. Preston dives to push all those people behind the line of fire.

“Everyone gets down! Now!”

He immediately tries to cover as many people as possible, firing at the gunners' positions from his cover.

Immediately, three of the men under his command follow him, but the line of bullets cuts one in half as he retreats. Preston now realizes that maintaining this position would be suicide. He must lead all the people here under the roof into the apartment and try to find them a shelter.

Preston quickly grabs the arm of the last Minuteman that survived the storm of bullets and pushes him.

“Come on! Into the apartments! We must get into cover!”

They all attempt to follow his instructions, but the younger woman's owls nearly cover them.

“KYLE!”

The man with her and she forgot about the old lady now left to herself, diving into the apartment in the direction of the stairs. Immediately, the others rush into the apartments, while Preston covers their backs to ensure everyone enters safely. But when he turns around, he sees the old woman, still outside and still in danger of the gunners’ fire. He swallows his dry throat… What to do?

Without thinking too much about it, he takes the risk and jumps out of the building, heading straight towards the old woman.

“Get inside! I’ll cover you!”

He grabs the woman’s arm and tries to push her forward. Then he puts himself between the old woman and the gunner’s gunfire, making sure she gets into safety.

At this precise moment, his gaze catches Colonel Hollis's position on the roof across the street. The other Minutemen are nowhere to see, probably all killed, and the colonel is captured just before him. The sigh sent cold chills down Preston's spine. Preston now understands the likelihood of Quincy's demise. He is likely the only hope the survivors now have.

And it's really thin.

But for exactly this moment, he must bring the old lady inside. NOW!

Preston quickly grabs the old woman again and pushes her into the apartments. He closes the door behind them and leans against it, panting for air.

And his eyes meet Mayor John Jackson, who is standing right behind him.

The mayor’s eyes are filled with sadness and desperation after seeing the colonel falls. Preston nods to let the mayor know he saw it too.

“How many survivors are there?” he asks.

“The church was taken. All that's left is here!”

Preston glances at the stairs, where a crowd has assembled. Swiftly, he counted less than thirty. The cries of the wounded are frightening. Preston is aware of their limited chances, but perhaps he could guide them all out of Quincy.

Maybe...

Preston clenches his fists. He looks at the mayor with a firm gaze.

“We need to get everyone out of here. We must leave immediately, or else we will all face certain death.” He turns to the group of survivors. “Listen, we must go now! Everyone who can walk, stand up, now!”

Survivors stand; some try. The couple from earlier came back. The man is sobbing, holding a little boy who is bleeding in his arms. The woman seems ready to bite.

Preston’s heart sinks at the sight. This is a horrible situation.

He tries to keep himself composed so he can guide these people to safety.

“We can’t go out the front. The Gunners probably blocked the path.” He turns to Sturges. “You got another way out of here?”

The man seems tense and worried, and Preston understands very well, but he still manages to focus enough to answer.

“Follow me! There’s another door in the back!”

The mayor helps Preston, and the survivors gather. The strong help the weak, but as they evacuate the apartments, the young Minutemen realize that they are moving very slowly. The still-armed men advance with the line of the remaining Minutemen to form a defence for the most vulnerable following Sturges. The back door is in view. Sturges quickly opens it.

“Through the back! Into the alley!”

Preston swiftly directs the civilians out, ensuring that no one remains behind.

Once the last civilian has exited the building through the back door and into the alley, Preston looks in each direction down the alley. Although it's not an ideal location, Preston finds solace in the alley compared to their previous escape, as he hears the Gunners gaining control of the interior.

He lets out a heavy breath.

“We need to keep moving fast.”

They can already hear the heavy footsteps and chatter of the gunner approaching their way on the other side of the door.

“This way!” calls Sturges as they head down the alley.

Preston can see the city walls and the way that Sturges takes to leave it, but he now knows that even outside the walls they will not have to falter. As he turns to make sure his men—whatever left—hold on, Mayor Jackson moves forward.

“We’ll stay behind to hold them back. The survivors are too slow; you won’t make it if nothing stands in the way of the Gunners!”

“That’s the Minutemen job! Join the survivors!” protests Preston.

“No. Your role now is to protect the survivors and take them where they can find safety. We need you, Preston, to guide them. I can’t do that. You do. Don’t worry. I’d rather fall with my city anyway. I won’t be able to live for long knowing all those who died under my protection.”

The mayor's words resonate deep inside Preston's heart, but Preston knows he is right. He nods at the mayor.

“Understood. Just buy us as much time as you can.”

He turns towards the few remaining survivors, who look at him worried.

“They’ll buy us some time. We need to get out of here fast.”

“But where can we go?” inquires the man holding the child in his arms.

“What do we do now?!” asks another.

Preston takes a quick look at the city wall and the open wasteland behind it. He turns to the survivors who are looking at him.

“We keep going! We head towards the north, and we don’t stop until we’re out of danger!”

Some of the survivors still look afraid and worried.

“But how far will we be safe?”

“I... I don’t know.” Preston can’t offer them any more reassuring answers, but he does his best to keep them calm. “As far as needed! We can’t worry about that now. All we can do is keep moving and keep on being vigilant. There’s some chance of us surviving, and we have to take it without losing time. Now come on!”

Preston begins leading the small group out of the city walls and into the open.

He briefly turns his gaze back to Quincy as the sounds of gunfire and fighting reverberate from behind the city walls.

The night seems to be at its darkest; it seems far away the moment when the sun will rise, and Preston feels an overwhelming despair rising in him.

There, in this alarming darkness, before his eyes that cannot see them, now rest all that remained of valiant Minutemen, having made his childhood dreams bloom.

All dead...

He sighs and turns his back on this part of his life, along with all the other survivors of Quincy.

But he must hold. He knows that.

He must continue leading the group forward, north into the wasteland.

[mcavoy-girl]

We need more fanfiction of the following characters/celebs:

Dean Winchester x reader from Supernatural

Charles Xavier x reader from X-Men

Erik Lehnsherr x reader from X-Men

Robbie Turner x reader from Atonement

Beau Arlen x reader from Big Sky

Soldier boy x reader from The Boys

Wolverine x reader from X-Men

James McAvoy x reader

Hugh Jackman x (daughter) reader

Michael Fassbender x reader

Tony Stark x reader, preferably daughter!reader from Marvel-movies

Clint Barton x reader from Marvel-movies

Avengers x reader, any Avenger at all really.

Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) x reader from Fantastic Beasts

Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) x reader from Fantastic Beasts

Jack Dawson x reader, Titanic

Legolas x reader from Hobbit-movies and Lord of the Rings-movies

Aragorn x reader from Lord of the Rings-movies

Eomer x reader from Lord of the Rings-movies

Faramir x reader from Lord of the Rings-movies

Castiel x reader from Supernatural

LOTR/Hobbit characters x reader

Charlie Hudson x reader from Hudson & Rex

Lord Asriel x reader from His Dark Materials

Nick Ryan x reader from McLeod's daughters

Richard O'Connell x reader from The Mummy movies

Wade Wilson/Deadpool x reader from Deadpool-movies

Richard Castle x reader from Castle

Drover (Hugh Jackman) x reader from Australia

Ronan Keating x reader

Christian x reader from Moulin Rouge

Aidan Turner x reader and his characters x reader

James Bond (Daniel Craig) x reader

Bucky Barnes x reader

Steve Rogers x reader

Obi-Wan Kenobi x reader from Star Wars prequels and Obi-Wan Kenobi-series

Ewan McGregor x reader

Anakin Skywalker x reader from Star Wars prequels

Hayden Christensen x reader

Owen Grady x reader from Jurassic World

Bucky Barnes x reader from Marvel-movies

Sirius Black x reader from Harry Potter- movies

Cedric Diggory x reader from Harry Potter- movies

Draco Malfoy x reader from Harry Potter-movies

Indiana Jones x reader from Indiana Jones- movies

Cillian Murphy x reader

Tommy Shelby x reader from Peaky Blinders

Harry Goodman x daughter reader from Pokemon Detective Pikachu

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell x (daughter) reader from Top Gun/Top Gun: Maverick

Tom "Iceman" Kazansky x (daughter) reader from Top Gun/ Top Gun: Maverick

Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x reader from Top Gun: Maverick

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x reader from Top Gun: Maverick

Robin Hood/Robin of Loxley (Taron Egerton) x reader from Robin Hood

Rafe McCawley x reader from Pearl Harbor

Daniel "Danny" Walker x reader from Pearl Harbor

Eggsy Unwin x reader from the Kingsman-movies

Colter Shaw x reader from Tracker

I'll add here more as I remember more characters/celebs. I prefer character x female reader. The ones in bold need more fanfiction.

[blankspacefanfics]

Okay to ask for: age regression, adhd, autism, ocd, anxiety, depression, self harm, smut, fluff, angst, poly relationships, canonxcanon, canonxreader

Do not ask: dubcon, rape, animal abuse and other forms of abuse

TV SHOWS

BONES - Temperance Brennan, Seeley Booth, Zack Addy, Jack Hodgins, Camille Saroyan, James Aurbey, Lance Sweets, Wendell Bray, Finn Abernathy

CRIMINAL MINDS - Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau, David Rossi, Jason Gideon, Emily Prentiss, Penelope Garcia, Elle Greenaway

NCIS - Anthony DiNozzo, Ziva David, Abigail Sciuto, Donald Mallard, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, James Palmer, Timothy McGee, Jennifer Shepard, Tobias Fornell, Mike Franks

SUPERNATURAL - Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, John Winchester, Crowley, Castiel, Bobby Singer

TEEN WOLF - Scott McCall, Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale, Peter Hale, Malia Tate, Allison Argent, Lydia Martin, Theo Raeken, Liam Dunbar, Jackson Whittmore, Kira Yukimura, Isaac Lahey, Melissa McCall, Noah Stilinski, Chris Argent, Jordan Parrish. Bobby Finstock, Alan Deaton, Erica Reyes

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY - Five, Diego Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves, Viktor Hargreeves

Z NATION - Addison Carver, Steven Beck ‘Doc’, Thomas ‘10k, Roberta Warren, Alvin Murphy, Cassandra, Kaya, Simon Cruller

MOVIES

FAST AND FURIOUS - Han Lue, Dominic Toretto, Leticia Ortiz, Deckard Shaw, Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, Giselle Yashar, Suki, Hattie Shaw, Dante Reyes, Mia Toretto, Jakob Toretto, Lucas Hobbs, Megan Ramsey

HARRY POTTER - Harry Potter, Ronald Weasely, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Sirius Black, James Potter, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Rubeus Hagrid, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ginerva Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange, Molly Weasley, Cedric Diggory, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Lily Evans, Tom Riddle

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE - Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova, Steve Rogers, James Barnes, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff, Loki Laufeyson, Thor Odinson, Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Clint Barton, Steven Strange, Carol Danvers, Vision, Gamora, Sam Wilson, Jessica Jones

ANIMATION

TOKYO GHOUL - Kaneki Ken, Rize Kamishiro, Koutarou Amon, Juuzou Suzuya, Nishio Nishiki, Hideyoshi Nagachika, Seidou Takizawa, Touka Kirishima, Ayato Kirishima, Yoshimura, Haise Sasaki

[nil-nothing-nada]

Stardew Valley Headcannons

Includes age, height, gender + pronouns, sexuality, and full name for every vanilla character! (Nobody gets left out because I am obsessed with this game)

A couple disclaimers beforehand:

There is a lot of LGBTQ+ stuff involved in these headcannons. If don't like this or think that I'm overdoing it, this post isn't directed at you. (Discrimination is not tolerated in Pelican Town!)

I don't have headcanons for stuff like races or religions simply because I don't particularly have a lot of experience in those topics and I don't want to be unintentionally disrespectful. I'd love for you to share your own ideas though!

Some headcanons may be partially missaligned with canon lore because I'm a little forgetful or because I think my idea works a little better.

If the names sound random it's because for the most part they are. I just picked ones that sounded nice or came to mind first.

Abigail

21 Years Old

5'0"

Female [She/Her]

Bisexual

Full name is Abigail Perkins.

Alex

20 Years Old

6'0"

Male [He/Him]

Gay

Full name is Alex Maxwell.

Bear

19 Years Old (In human years)

4'8" (At shoulder)

Male [He/Him]

Bisexual

Actual name is Berson Beauford III.

Birdie

87 Years Old

5'2"

Female [She/Her]

Asexual

Full name is Birdie Fletcher.

Bouncer

24 Years Old

6'2"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Actual name is Rodney Benton.

Caroline

49 Years Old

5'3"

Female [She/Her]

Straight

Full name is Caroline Perkins. She took Pierre's last name.

Clint

39 Years Old

5'4"

Male [He/Him]

Asexual

Full name is Clint Chapuis.

Demetrius

43 Years Old

6'1"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Full name is Demetrius Rowland. He took Robin's last name.

Dwarf

21 Years Old (In human years)

4'2"

Agender [He/They/It]

Asexual Aromantic

Actual name is Oeelau Unauhuonm.

Elliot

30 Years Old

5'10"

Male [He/Him]

Pansexual

Full name is Elliot Thomson.

Emily

28 Years Old

5'11"

Intersex [She/They]

Pansexual

Full name is Emily Hopkins.

Evelyn

80 Years Old

5'2"

Female [She/Her]

Straight

Full name is Evelyn Wallace. She took George's last name.

Fizz

29 Years Old

5'1"

Male [He/Him]

Bisexual

Actual name is Chester Watson.

George

81 Years Old

5'7"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Full name is George Wallace.

Gil

67 Years Old

5'8"

Male [He/Him]

Asexual

Full name is Gilbert Redman.

Governor

53 Years Old

5'4"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Actual name is Stephen Baxter.

Grandpa

92 Years Old (Deceased)

5'6"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Actual name is Herbert, with his last name up for the player to decide. (In my case, it would be Woodrow)

Gunther

41 Years Old

5'6"

Male [He/Him]

Bisexual

Full name is Gunther McCoy.

Gus

48 Years Old

5'5"

Male [He/Him]

Gay

Full name is Gus Galanotis.

Haley

21 Years Old

5'4"

Female [She/Her]

Lesbian

Full name is Haley Hopkins.

Harvey

29 Years Old

6'2"

Male [He/Him]

Bisexual

Full name is Harvey Beaumont.

Jas

7 Years Old

3'11"

Female [She/Her]

Full name is Jas Hayes.

Jodi

44 Years Old

5'4"

Non-Binary [She/They/He]

Bisexual

Full name is Jodi Matthews. She took Kent's last name.

Kent

45 Years Old

6'1"

Male [He/Him]

Bisexual

Full name is Kent Matthews.

Krobus

24 Years Old (In human years)

5'0"

Agender [He/They]

Asexual

Full name is Krobus Stryx.

Leah

27 Years Old

5'6"

Female [She/Her]

Bisexual

Full name is Leah Abbott.

Leo

8 Years Old

4'6"

Agender [Any Pronouns]

Full name is Leo Ravelino.

Lewis

62 Years Old

5'7"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Full name is Lewis Murphy.

Linus

69 Years Old

5'8"

Male [He/Him]

Asexual Aromantic

Full name is Linus Potts.

Marlon

66 Years Old

5'10"

Male [He/Him]

Bisexual

Full name is Marlon Slater.

Marnie

54 Years Old

5'2"

Female [She/Her]

Pansexual

Full name is Marnie Hayes.

Maru

22 Years Old

5'3"

Demigirl [She/They/Xe]

Bisexual

Full name is Maru Rowland.

Morris

32 Years Old

5'6"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Full name is Morris Wheeler.

Mr. Qi

32 Years Old (Physical body)

6'3"

Agender [Any Pronouns]

Bisexual

Full name is Adam Qi. His mother gave him his first name and his father gave him his last name.

Pam

52 Years Old

5'4"

Female [She/Her]

Bisexual

Full name is Pam Stephens.

Penny

22 Years Old

5'4"

Trans Female [She/Her]

Bisexual

Full name is Penny Stephens.

Pierre

48 Years Old

5'6"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Full name is Pierre Perkins.

Professor Snail

68 Years Old

5'3"

Male [He/Him]

Straight

Actual name is Marvin Dotson.

Robin

46 Years Old

5'6"

Female [She/Her]

Straight

Full name is Robin Rowland.

Sam

22 Years Old

6'1"

Trans Male [He/Him]

Pansexual

Full name is Sam Matthews.

Sandy

27 Years Old

5'5"

Female [She/Her]

Lesbian

Actual name is Sasha Salgado.

Sebastian

25 Years Old

5'8"

Male [He/Him]

Bisexual

Full name is Sebastian Rowland.

Shane

27 Years Old

5'5"

Male [He/Him]

Pansexual

Full name is Shane Hayes.

Vincent

7 Years Old

4'0"

Non-Binary [Any Pronouns]

Full name is Vincent Matthews.

Willy

65 Years Old

5'9"

Non-Binary [They/He]

Pansexual

Full name is Willy Marsh.

Wizard

48 Years Old (In human years)

6'0"

Demiboy [He/They/Xe/Fae]

Aromantic

Full name is Magnus Rasmodius.

[lynlee494]

Master List

For the record, it was not the Winter Soldier who brought on the end of humanity. It was more of a group effort really.

And that clutz Murphy, a product of Hydra nepotism putting someone in a position they shouldn’t be in.

And now several years on Bucky has a lot of confusing memories, but at least the fast paced environment and literal walking nightmares means he doesn’t really have time to dwell too much on the more distant past.

In the end none of it mattered anyways.

Bucky is merely surviving, avoiding best he can the lingering human population and avoiding Empties when possible.

This task is going well, until he gets stuck with a small but fierce blonde named Steve. *Steve/Bucky ______________________________________________

**Currently tucked away while I finish the full story, heavy edits under way to improve** *WIP; *Pausing participation in events that involve long fics till complete - priority story as chapters return from editing. Bucky Barnes’s family is indebted to Alexander Pierce, a powerful man who has preyed on him and those like his family for decades. There are only a few years of service left to pay his debt, but recently Pierce's brute Rumlow has been escalating in his violence. Fearing the inevitable and with nowhere to actually go Pierce can’t reach, Bucky had begun to accept his fate.

Then Bucky’s luck turns when a persistent advertisement for an insanely affordable apartment in Bed-Stuy interrupts his browsing at a bakery, the shop close enough to pick up the free wi-fi from the Avenger’s Tower.

Maybe there is a chance.

Clint Barton has a surprise new tenant that he is pretty damn sure there had been no application for. Likely Jarvis’s idea, the AI sparing some processing to help manage Clint’s apartment building. Avenging and being a landlord takes a toll.

Not a problem except the top floor – Clint’s floor – has been left empty save him for safety reasons. Which meant the only vacancy was right next door. And it turns out the new guy is hot. And maybe kinda in trouble. Which is so his type.

So many ways this can go bad, and Clint is sure he'll find all of them. *Bucky/Clint ______________________________________________

**Stucky Reverse Bang Entry *WIP *Currently posting

The Soldier’s understanding of the world begins to unravel after he completes a mission and finds a helpless, shivering, and soaking wet kitten. Unable to leave, knowing the frail thing will die in the elements, the Soldier makes a choice...

The Soldier can not risk contact, capture, and the inevitable return to Hydra and captivity would bring. He may remember Steve Rogers, but he also remembers Captain America. Similarly enhanced, the Captain would have the advantage, the Soldier’s movement would be limited with the kitten’s safety to consider.

A surveillance approach is the safest angle to take. There had been notebooks at the museum exhibit, so there may be more memories to be dredged up if Steve Rogers still keeps journals, keepsakes, things that may stir up more memories - more pieces to fill in the expanse between Bucky and the Soldier.

He’ll seek out Steve Rogers, who seems to feature in nearly every memory with Bucky, but he’ll be cautious. Can hopefully glean from the exposure more about the time before Bucky – before he – was presumed dead in a war. From before Steve’s Bucky became Hydra’s, time stuttering by till the Soldier was born.

*Bucky/Steve ______________________________________________

“How do they do it? Boxed in like that. Back to the only open space around you? Sitting around all day. Nothing to do...” Clint’s voice is tinny through the comms. “Ooh, if you see any decent munchies, snag me a few. I missed dinner.”

“Hey, bird brain, focus. If we’re too late getting back, I can’t pick up Alpine from Kate’s till late tomorrow.” Bucky’s voice is low, while the building should be empty, they aren’t able to watch all the entrances from Clint’s angle on the opposite building. A lot of this relies on the element of surprise and stealth.

"Dude, you just walked past a break room.”

“Are you looking for stray guards, or are you looking for snacks?”

“Both, of course.” Clint scoffs on the open mic. “Wait! Nine o'clock!”

Bucky growls but reaches out and grabs a handful of caramels from a desk and puts them in the breast pocket of his tactical vest.

“You’re the best.”

“Shut up, Barton.”

*Clint/Bucky

______________________________________________

“Steve?” Bucky finally speaks, having been standing – no, shaking – in the living room entrance. The brunette says his name with such disbelief. Like they hadn’t just seen each other. Right?

“Stevie?” and he crosses the distance between them and all but picks Steve up with desperate hands, “Steve, you look...they said you’re dead Stevie.”

Bucky sinks to his knees before Steve with a sob and real panic claws at the smaller man, causes a hitch in his breathing he is glad Bucky doesn’t seem to notice. Bucky claws at him too, both hands fisting in his shirt, pulling Steve tight to him while the man’s head presses against Steve’s stomach.

As time passes lazily around Steve the growing sense that something is off nags at him when all Steve wants is to see his ma.

And find out what is suddenly wrong with Bucky. *Steve/Bucky

______________________________________________

Bucky also knows Steve’s touch, delicate and light, always too cold despite rubbing Steve’s charcoal stained fingers warm himself. It was something he found himself doing a lot in the winter when they couldn’t always afford charcoal for the whole night, so they waited until right before bed to begin heating the room. No, these weren’t those surprisingly long but skinny fingers with knobby knuckles he would lay gentle kisses onto, warming each with the heat of his mouth.

“Shit, Morita, he is burning up,” and not-Steve sounds so worried that Bucky can’t help but lean into the touch and just pretend for a moment it is his Stevie. *Steve/Bucky ______________________________________________

It wouldn’t have been so bad, Bucky could have shrugged this off easily once he caught his breath, but he found the more he pulled to free himself the worse it seemed to be. Barnes thinks he hears shouting, but it is distorted and drowned out by the pounding in his ears. Ripping further at the trap that was furthering ensnaring him he found himself snarling and just ripping at it with brute strength and panicked rage that echoed of the Asset’s frustrated rampages through Hydra personnel. *Clint/Bucky ______________________________________________

It was a fairly routine outing for the Avengers, aside from the location making Steve and Bucky uneasy, not even forty miles from where Bucky had fallen into Hydra’s control for nearly seven decades.

What was he supposed to say, ‘I know this is where I failed you, so just wondering if you wanted to sit this one out?’ or maybe, ‘This might be hard, but do you want to talk about how this is where they dragged you off from, after I left you behind, broken and bleeding?’

Instead Steve had been too in his own head at the same news that had unsettled Bucky, the train, the snow, Gabe’s face when he saw Bucky’s absence and Steve’s broken state – making it real, sealing it.

The two had both sat there in a sort of stunned silence, heartbeats passing, and then it was too late. Bucky was out the door, shoulders back and his stride long, and Steve merely followed him to the armory. *Steve/Bucky ______________________________________________

It is 1994 and James Barnes has been out of Hydra’s grasp for several months. Barnes is just trying to stay ahead of Hydra, and is at an event to take out an exposed Hydra commander to help with this.

Seeing the young Tony Stark at the event shakes Barnes's loose grip on his own mind however, and Barnes's attention is suddenly split between the past and now - and between his need to remain hidden and his desire to reclaim part of the Bucky he remembers.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark has been avoiding as many responsibilities as possible in the three years since his parents died - but tonight is the first step into entering Stark Industries as the CEO.

Instead Tony's greatest strength is dampened and he finds himself suddenly at the mercy of those around him, and to top it off he begins to worry for his sanity when he finds himself wanting to help a hallucination of Bucky Barnes. *Tony/Bucky ______________________________________________

There is no warning or retort when a punch to his side causes him to stumble, followed by a searing burn blooming from his left bicep. Clint manages to get cover behind a set of dumpsters as he makes out the distinct ping when a bullet hits where he’d been. Gunshots. He had been shot and the night air was not the least bit bothered by it. Luckily his arm seems to be nothing but a deep graze but his side would have to wait. Obscured and hindered by his uniform at least the compression suit would help in the meantime.

Hawkeye only knows one man who handles a gun that quietly, and this makes twice the fucker got the drop on him. And he is supposed to be dead. *Clint/Bucky ______________________________________________

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50552095

After a close call, Bucky Barnes finds himself alone in the Tower.

Solitude is not something that bothers Bucky, and a chance to relax and nurse his wounds wouldn't be so bad...if it wasn't also Steve and Bucky's anniversary.

It certainly doesn't help things that there may have been a mix up with Bucky's medicine. *Steve/Bucky ______________________________________________

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50520286

“Mrs....Mrs. Rogers...he looks…” a small voice sobs quietly, and Sarah was at his level immediately, her arms tight around him. Bucky let out another sob, this time muffled by her shoulder. His small body shaking against her as she can tell he tries to hold it in.

They stay like that for a few minutes and some of the tightness leaves Sarah’s chest just a little, and the trembling in the small boy calms some. Bucky sniffles and murmurs an apology. Sarah gently pulls back from Bucky and sweeps some hair out of his eyes. Stevie might be the frail one, but this poor Barnes boy had such a soft heart. *Steve/Bucky ______________________________________________

[oldfashioned-lovergirl]

» OPEN FANFICS REQUESTS ☽

y = young, a = adult. Bold means I love writing about them

I write soft NSFW, love triangles, social media au, modern setting and I’m willing to follow any trope, you can be specific if you want.

(I’m sorry if I haven’t included your fave, I just write about the ones I like)

CELEBRITIES

Pedro Pascal, Oscar Isaac, Tom Hardy, Ewan McGregor, Cillian Murphy, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, John Bernthal, Evan Peters, William Zabka, Jensen Ackles, Antony Starr, Karl Urban, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Jack Nicholson, Matthew McConaughey, Enzo Vogrincic, Harrison Ford, Alain Delon, Marlon Brando, Bruce Springsteen

THE WALKING DEAD

Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Negan Smith, Michonne, Carl Grimes

Rick x Michonne, Rick x Daryl, Abraham x Sasha, Rosita x Tara, Daryl x Connie

GAME OF THRONES / HOUSE OF THE DRAGON / ASOIAF

Tyrion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Jon Snow, Sandor Clegane, Oberyn Martell, Stannis Baratheon, Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, Petyr Baelish, Tywin Lannister, Sansa Stark, Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Ned Stark, Robert Baratheon, Jorah Mormont, Asha/Yara Greyjoy, Brienne of Tarth, Benjen Stark, Euron Greyjoy, Beric Dondarrion, Daemon Targaryen, Harwin Strong, Aemond Targaryen, Aegon II Targaryen, Jacaerys Velaryon, Cregan Stark

Jaime x Brienne, Sansa x Theon, Jon x Daenerys, Jon x Sansa, Stannis x Davos, Robb x Theon, Jon x Satin, Ned x Robert, Robert x Lyanna, Cersei x Oberyn, Tyrion x Oberyn, Jaime x Oberyn, Sansa x Margaery, Daenerys x Asha/Yara, Daenerys x Jorah, Daenerys x Euron, Stannis x Davos, Melisandre x Stannis, Rhaenyra x Daemon, Rhaenyra x Harwin, Rhaenyra x Alicent, Daemon x Laena, Jaecerys x Cregan

STAR WARS

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Han Solo, Din Djarin, Boba Fett, Shin Hati, Darth Maul

Han x Leia, Han x Lando, Anakin x Padme, Obi-Wan x Satine, Obi-Wan x Darth Maul, Obi-Wan x Cody, Finn x Poe, Din x Luke, Din x Cobb Vanth, Shin Hati x Sabine

ATTACK ON TITAN

Eren Yeager, Jean Kirstein, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, Porco Galliard

Erwin x Levi, Jean x Marco, Eren x Mikasa, Mikasa x Annie, Eren x Reiner, Reiner x Jean, Eren x Jean, Mikasa x Jean, Pieck x Porco, Reiner x Porco

JUJUTSU KAISEN

Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, Ryomen Sukuna, Yuji Itadori, Nanami Kento, Toji Fushiguro, Megumi Fushiguro, Maki Zenin, Nobara Kugisaki, Mahito, Choso, Yuta Okkotsu, Shiu Kong

Gojo x Geto, Sukuna x Megumi, Yuji x Megumi, Nanami x Haibara, Maki x Yuta, Mahito x Geto

MORTAL KOMBAT 1

Johnny Cage, Kenshi, Liu Kang, Kitana, Bi-Han

Johnny x Kenshi, Liu Kang x Kitana

COBRA KAI / THE KARATE KID

Johnny Lawrence (y/a), Daniel LaRusso (y/a), Miguel Diaz, Eli Moskowitz/Hawk, Tory Nichols, Sam LaRusso, Terry Silver

Johnny x Daniel (y/a), Miguel x Sam, Miguel x Tory, Tory x Robby, Miguel x Robby, Eli/Hawk x Moon, Kreese x Terry (y/a)

HARRY POTTER

Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Cedric, James (y/a), Sirius (y/a), Remus (y/a), Albus (y), Lucius (y/a), Barty

Harry x Draco, Ron x Hermione, Sirius x Remus (y/a), Harry x Cedric

MARVEL COMICS / MCU

Frank Castle, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Thor, Loki, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova, Kate Bishop, Stephen Strange, Peter Parker (any version), Felicia Hardy, Carol Danvers, Peter Quill, Gamora, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, T’Challa, Victor Von Doom, Erik Lehnsherr, Matt Murdock, Elektra, Maria Hill, Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm

Tony x Bruce, Loki x Mobius, Sam x Bucky, Tony x Bucky, Bucky x Natasha, Natasha x Yelena (non mcu), Yelena x Kate, Peter x Gamora, Scott x Hope, Frank x Matt, Frank x Karen, Victor x Tony, Victor x Reed, Victor x Stephen, Reed x Susan

DC COMICS / DCEU

Bruce Wayne (any version), Selina Kyle, John Constantine, Diana

Bruce x Selina, Bruce x Harvey Dent, John x Zatanna, John x Bruce, Roman Sionis x Victor Zsasz, Harley Quinn x Diana

OTHERS

Thomas Shelby (Peaky Blinders), John Shelby (Peaky Blinders), Ragnar Lothbrock (Vikings), Joe Goldberg (You), Joe Goldberg x Rhys Montrose (You), Tyler Durden (Fight Club), Rust Cohle (True Detective), Kai Anderson (AHS), Tate Langdon (AHS), Tate Langdon x Violet Harmon (AHS), James March (AHS), Lalo Salamanca x Nacho Varga (Breaking Bad), Billy Butcher (The Boys), Soldier Boy (The Boys)

[thisisnotthenerd]

got a little too bored today and started tallying up d20 cast appearances for the intrepid heroes (and brennan). this is only off of the top of my head so if i forget something don't get on me about it.

Intrepid Heroes D20 Cast Appearances, including sidequests (and BLeeM), ranked from highest to lowest:

Brennan Lee Mulligan with a total of 17/19 seasons that he has appeared in; dm/gming for 14 of those seasons. 7 of those are main cast/intrepid heroes, so assume they each have a baseline of seven.

next up is mister Lou Wilson, with a total of 10 seasons; 3 sidequests, all with guest gms. the man is a combination of dnd knowledge and commit to the bit. great with any season, but has always sidequested with brennan.

tied at nine, we have zac oyama and ally beardsley; ally featured heavily in 2021 sidequests while zac has been more recent in '22 and '23.

tied at eight we have the lovely ladies emily axford and siobhan thompson! i'm so glad siobhan has joined the ranks of intrepid heroes in sidequests, it feels like they just have a lot of fun on the shorter runs.

and in last place, mr brian 'murph' murphy. i know he's busy with naddpod but only intrepid heroes seasons? 7/19? please come on a sidequest my guy. i promise it's fun.

halfway through this process i've decided that guests are also being included now.

Guest Cast D20 Appearances, ranked from highest to lowest:

at the top of the guest list, the effervescent aabria iyengar, with 5/12 sidequest seasons! 2 seasons of gming, 3 seasons as a player, all 3 of which are in established d20 worlds e.g. spyre and calorum. assuming we have an intrepid heroes season coming up at some point in the future, murph can get a bit of a lead, but if aabria's coming on to guest more there's a very real potential that she will outcompete him. i look forward to the day.

next up: erika ishii with 4 seasons. they came on in the first sidequest and have had a steady stream of appearances since. always some kind of mage--tends towards druids/nature magic. 2/3 of her dnd appearances have been druids with an eye for creepy crawlies and the darker side of nature. he's got an aesthetic that he sticks to, and i admire that. real commitment, and not just to the bit.

tied with three we have rekha shankar and matthew mercer. ooh four-syllable names. sorry i got distracted. anyway. very excited to see rekha in desiquest, though she's a fantastic player on d20. big swings, fun character choices, a good balance of support for narrative and spotlight. and then we have matt--one season gming, but for the seasons he's played? some truly cringefail guys who learn to believe in themselves and break out of their personal depression to deliver an asskicking in their finale episode. man likes his themes.

now for the team of two (not the 2 crew) in chronological order of first appearance: mike trapp, ify nwadiwe, lily du, carlos luna, danielle radford, and izzy roland. just enough to make an average d20 table! i'm getting my fill of trapp and danielle in the current season, but seeing a table of these players together? it has potential.

and for the full list of one time appearances on d20 in chronological order of first appearance (only full seasons, not including oneshots atm):

amy vorpahl

justin mcelroy

clint mcelroy

jessica ross

griffin mcelroy

travis mcelroy

marisha ray

krystina arielle

b. dave walters

katie marovitch

sam reich

raphael chestang

grant o'brien

becca scott

persephone valentine

gabe hicks (gm!)

dani fernandez

jasmine bhullar (gm!)

omar najam

oscar montoya

surena marie

anjali bhimani

monét x change

alaska thunderfuck

bob the drag queen

jujubee

alex song-xia

freddie wong

hank green

i've devoted entirely too much thought to this. and i still have more thoughts. too many thoughts and not enough time. can't wait to see who comes on in the future! don't know if i'll edit this or make a new one. probably just edit this.

[justforbooks]

Juror #2: the curious case of the missing Clint Eastwood film

The 40th film directed by the 94-year-old is only being shown in 50 cinemas in the US. Why is Warners burying a movie by one of its most decorated stars?

There is a mystery at the heart of Juror #2, the 40th film directed by Clint Eastwood and – given that he is now 94 – quite possibly the final one.

The riddle lies not in the plot, a courtroom thriller which sees family man Nicholas Hoult serving on the jury for a hit-and-run case in which he is uniquely placed to acquit the defendant, because, as the trailer indicates, he actually did it.

Rather, it is the fate of the film itself. Eastwood fans in the UK will have no problem seeing Juror#2, where it’s enjoying a wide release in more than 300 cinemas nationwide. Across the whole of the US, however, it’s screening in fewer than 50 cinemas.

Starting small then rolling out nationwide is a common strategy for movies being positioned as awards contenders. Yet this is not the case for Juror#2, which will not expand its screen number – and does not even feature on Warner Bros’s For Your Consideration website, its portal for Oscar hopefuls.

Stranger still, Warners has said it will not report box office takings for the film – an almost unprecedented move for a theatrical release – and that the film is likely to move to streaming before the month is out.

At the film’s premiere at the AFI festival last week, Eastwood was nowhere to be seen, leaving it to Hoult and co-star Toni Collette to trot up the red carpet and spearhead an audience shout-out to the director: “We love you, Clint!”

His absence led many to the conclusion the nonagenarian was ailing, his health worsened by the sudden death in July of his partner, 61-year-old Christina Sandera, and the arrest in October of his daughter, Francesca, on a domestic assault charge.

Yet a post on his official X account from 15 October shows the film-maker grinning in a leather jacket and, according to the caption, “returning to work, reviewing scripts in his Malpaso [o]ffices”.

As well as being consistently prolific, Eastwood’s career has, by-and-large, been profitable both commercially and critically for Warner Bros, with whom he’s worked for six decades. Less than 20 years ago, Million Dollar Baby won best picture, director, actress and supporting actor at the Oscars, as well as taking $216m worldwide.

In 2014, Warners released Eastwood’s highest-grossing film to date: American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper, which made $547m from its $59m budget, and scored six Oscar nominations.

His films since have performed more modestly, but some have been genuine hits – air crash drama Sully made $240m – and none were catastrophic flops. Insiders including film writer Sarah Marrs and Variety’s J Kim Murphy suggest that incoming Warners CEO David Zaslav was dismayed by tepid numbers of Cry Macho, Eastwood’s 2021 neo-western, which made back just half of its $33m budget.

Yet the film was released at a time when many cinemas in the US remained closed and audiences – especially among an older demographic – were hesitant about venturing out to them. A simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max made the decision for wavering punters yet easier.

A Wall Street Journal interview with Zaslav published the following spring, a month into his tenure, reports that the CEO was scathing to Warners executives over their rationale for greenlighting Cry Macho: they felt “indebted” to Eastwood because of his long relationship with the studio.

Zaslav allegedly responded by saying they didn’t “owe anyone favours” before quoting Jerry Maguire: “It’s not show friends, it’s show business.”

Certainly the circumstances of the release of Juror #2 indicate a frostiness between Warners’ head and one of their prize ponies, who may be being put out to pasture prematurely.

Zaslav is also under pressure from the unexpected flop last month of Joker: Folie á Deux, which cost $200m (plus substantial marketing spend), opened splashily at the Venice film festival, but failed to connect with either critics or audiences – unlike its multi-Oscar-winning billion-dollar predecessor.

The contrasting success of Oppenheimer will also still be stinging: Christopher Nolan called time on his long relationship with the studio in 2021 over their new day-in-date simultaneous streaming strategy, meaning his new film was released instead by Universal Pictures – for whom it made $975m.

Meanwhile, Eastwood is back at work considering his next project as director while also working as producer on a new version of his 1977 film The Gauntlet, starring Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson.

The 94-year-old has been denied the opportunity for further Oscars glory with Juror #2. Yet few would bet against him one day making a return to the podium.

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