#I think the Oklahoma thing is actually organized crime? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

justkindaoverhereobsessing · 5 years ago

Text

Ellick Week Day Four (AU!)

@ellickweek

________________

‘How many potato chips can I eat without dying?’

As the question appears on Nick Torres’ screen, he makes a face. There’s no way anyone would really need to Google that question, right? He looks at one of his adjoining screens to see a slightly unflattering selfie-camera live view angle of a blonde woman with a dusting of crumbs on her top; she’s frowning as she scans the question’s search results.

Nick is the FBI agent who has just been assigned to keep covert tabs on former NSA agent Ellie Bishop, and he’s not sure what to make of his new task. He’s to pay attention to her internet usage, primarily, and watch her through her webcams as necessary. Someone far higher up the food chain than Nick thinks Bishop might be spilling state secrets.

The mere fact that she Googled her potato chip question five minutes into being watched makes Nick doubt the higher-up’s assessment entirely, but a job’s a job.

________________

Three weeks later, he hasn’t seen anything that makes him any more suspicious of her, but she’s made him raise his eyebrows at least a couple of times a day ever since that first potato chip.

On day three, she starts aggressively typing in Arabic so quickly that Nick’s translating software lags in trying to keep up. Before Nick can wonder what she’s writing about, though, the translator catches on… Bishop is merely making notes to herself on a recipe for Dolmeh-e-Kadoo, an Afghan dish consisting of stuffed squash. ‘Cook rice for two minutes longer than advised,’ Bishop types. ‘Fresh tarragon is preferable to dried.’

Someone really thinks this woman is a threat to national security?

On day nine, her biggest crime is using fifteen minutes at work to Google something called a Tater Tot Queen, clicking links that lead her to small Oklahoma newspaper websites. Nick checks into the background info he was given on her, and the Oklahoma thing starts to make sense. The Tater Tot Queen thing, though, remains a mildly endearing mystery.

Day eighteen brings drama. Ellie has her laptop open and facing the living room of her apartment, giving Nick just the view he needs to watch her fight with her husband.

“You could communicate if you wanted to, Jake! I’m not asking for classified details! I just want to know how your freaking day was!”

Her husband—who Nick decides quickly he doesn’t like at all—doesn’t respond kindly. “Hey, you’re the one who quit the NSA, Ellie. You’re the one who made it so we can’t talk about anything anymore. Surely your memory isn’t that short—you know damn well how strict the rules are about sharing information!”

Though Nick should really agree with Jake here—especially given the reason Ellie is being investigated—he finds that he can’t after Jake storms from the room, leaving Ellie on the verge of frustrated tears.

He wonders when he started thinking of her as Ellie.

________________

Four months into the assignment, Nick starts to strongly suspect that Jake is cheating on Ellie, and he does something stupid.

His department of the FBI has a number of highly secure servers that are untraceable. Anyone trying to pinpoint where an agent is working from will be bounced by a proxy from location to location all over the world at a speed human hackers just can’t match. That makes anonymity possible in a world where secrets are hard to keep, and Nick takes advantage. He just can’t help himself.

He sends Ellie a text masked by the servers. Don’t trust Jake. Trace his steps last week and you’ll find out why.

He watches through her cell’s front-facing camera as Ellie’s expression morphs into one of suspicion. Who is this? she replies.

Nick: A friend.

Ellie: Sorry, “friend”, but I think I’ll trust my husband over you.

Nick knows he has threatened his own life and livelihood enough as it is, so he doesn’t reply. He watches Ellie start to consider what he said, though, and the risk feels worth it.

When Ellie discovers a few weeks later that Nick was right and her marriage subsequently falls apart, Nick finds that watching her pain is almost unbearable. He sends one more text.

He never deserved you.

________________

Six months in, Nick watches in disbelief as Ellie eats her third junk food snack of the day… first, it was a honey bun. Then, it was hot Cheetos. Now, it’s half a sleeve of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. How on Earth does she manage to stay so fit?

Though it’s a moronic thing to do, he reaches out to her again. Ellie, I’m concerned about your health. Don’t forget to eat real food in between snacks, woman.

She responds almost instantly, making Nick grin. Seriously, who is this?

Nick: I meant it when I said I was a friend.

Ellie: Friends don’t text friends creepy, cryptic messages.

Nick experiences a stroke of genius—he’ll just tell the truth. She’ll never believe him. Okay, you caught me. I’m the FBI agent assigned to watch you. ;)

He can see Ellie roll her eyes. Ha ha, very funny. Who are you really?

You can call me Nick.

Okay then, “Nick.” I’m blocking your number now. Bye.

For some reason, though, she doesn’t, and Nick feels absurdly like he’s won some sort of unexpected prize.

________________

Talking to Ellie becomes the highlight of his job. Though she continuously asks Nick who he is and gets frustrated when he never really answers, she never stops replying to him. Something in that analytical mind of hers seems to think that if he was anything other than a benign—if slightly eerie—mystery in her life, he would have acted against her already.

In the beginning, she puts a lot of effort into figuring out his identity. She traces the IP address and the spoofed phone number he uses to contact her. She Googles a variety of increasingly unlikely questions trying to find clues as to his identity. She even has one of her coworkers dig deeply into the servers he’s using, but the FBI is nothing if not thorough in covering its tracks.

Then one day, she seems to decide that she doesn’t really care who he is, and she starts to chat with him more casually.

Sometimes, they talk about whatever Nick has observed her doing, but sometimes, they just… talk. Nick eventually realizes that she’s become something of a confessional for him; she’s both intelligent and unbiased enough to give solid advice, and kind and funny enough to make him feel better about whatever he happens to be going through. It hardly matters that they’ve never met and that there’s a constant veil of secrecy between them… they’re friends, as ridiculous as that is.

________________

Nick has been assigned to watch her for an entire year before he starts to realize how much he hates doing this. Surveilling unaware people never really bothered him before, but he realizes that he doesn’t want to keep invading Ellie’s privacy like this. He wants to be a part of her life organically. He doesn’t see a single reason she’s being watched at all, and it feels increasingly wrong to target her when she hasn’t done anything wrong.

In his latest report to his superiors, he details the mundane things Ellie does in her spare time. At the end, he notes ‘suspect displays no suspicious behavior. Recommend terminating surveillance.’

Then he decides all at once that he’s done.

Officially done.

He types up a letter on his computer, prints it, and drops it in his boss’ mailbox. Then he takes his phone off of all the FBI servers and unspoofs his number to text Ellie one more time.

My name is Nick Torres. I told you I was an FBI agent assigned to monitor you, and I was telling the truth. I just quit my job. If you don’t believe me, or if you do and you want to talk, I’ll be at Sweet Science Coffee this afternoon. I’ll be the one with the muscles.

Then he stands up from his desk for the last time and says goodbye to the J. Edgar Hoover Building.

________________

She doesn’t show up.

Nick sits at the coffee shop in NoMa sipping Guatemalan dark roast for two hours before eventually concluding that Ellie has no interest in meeting him. He understands, honestly—he stole her privacy for twelve long months, and that has to be hard to look past.

Doesn’t mean her absence doesn’t suck.

As he leaves, though, he physically runs into her just outside the door. She stumbles and he reaches out automatically to steady her. “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I—” she starts, and then cuts herself off. “Nick?”

He gives her a little grin; his heart is racing, and he’s not used to not being utterly confident around women. “The one and only,” he replies. “Nice to meet you in person, Ellie.”

She blinks at him. “Nice to meet you, too—I think?”

Nick chuckles, his hand rising up to scratch awkwardly at the back of his head. “I can understand the confusion. I wasn’t sure you’d come, actually. I waited for a while.”

Ellie gives him an incredulous look. “Well, that’s your own fault, isn’t it?”

Nick winces. “Yeah. I mean, I was just doing my job, but—”

“No, not that, you idiot. I mean that you texted you’d be here ‘this afternoon’. You never specified what time, and then you turned your stupid phone off!”

“I… Oops. Sorry, Ellie.”

She laughs, shaking her head. “Why did you want to meet me, anyway? I was too curious to stay away.”

Nick gives her a look. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“If it was obvious, would I have asked?”

Nick rolls his eyes to the high heavens. He adores her, but she has a unique ability to try his patience. “You must be blind. Here, I’ll spell it out for you—I think I’ve been in love with you ever since you Googled how many potato chips you had to eat before it was lethal.”

“Oh.” Her voice is suddenly very small, and her eyes are suddenly very wide.

Then she’s jumping at him and knocking him over as she presses her lips to his.

His last thought before he gets lost in the utter bliss that is her kiss is that he’s going to have to make sure they serve potato chips at their wedding.

#ellickweek #ncis #ncis fanfiction #ellick #ellie bishop #nick torres #this started silly and got sillier as i wrote lol #i love aus!

45 notes · View notes

orcinus-ocean · 5 years ago

Text

Just finished Tiger King...

...episode 7 (there’s another one right?), and I’m gonna write my fresh thoughts.

90+% of the entire thing was of course about Joe-Jeff-Carole-Antle-whatever craziness, and I’m not gonna get into what I think about that (exceptCarolekilledherhusband), but about the very last part of episode 7, where they actually talked about the animals, and their (questionable) welfare.

There were old clips of Joe where he spoke of how the animals didn’t belong in Oklahoma, and that people needed to “stop breeding them”. Don’t know what that was about, but I think it’s pretty clear that his attitude changed, and it’s not about the animals for any of these people.

Not for Joe, not for Jeff, not for Antle, and not for Carole. It’s all about them as cult figures, and the money.

Joe admitted to shooting five tigers. He says he “euthanized them”. That’s really not dug deeper into. What was the motivation? The circumstances? Did he kill healthy animals for the heck of it? Or were they really sick or injured? Why were they sick or injured?

Is it not legal to kill your own animal, even an exotic or endangered one? Say if you have (no idea what happened in this case, I’m painting up fiction now, as an example) a tiger or [insert exotic] which fell and broke its leg horribly, bones are sticking out, the animal is screaming and it’s obvious no surgery can fix it.

Do you then have to apply for a permit to put it down? Wait for a vet to come there, tranq it and euthanize it with a lethal injection? That can’t be right. It has to be legal for you to shoot the poor thing.

And furthermore, last I checked, “generic tigers” aren’t endangered. They don’t require the same permits as if you have, say, a pure Bengal tiger. Generic tigers are under different legislation. Can someone explain this further? How is it illegal to kill your own animal for whatever reason (unless there is evidence of undue suffering, which would make the crime “animal cruelty”, not “animal killing”), and were they generic tigers or not?

How is it illegal to sell tiger cubs? Was it just done without paperwork? Crossing state borders without permits? (I don’t know what’s required in tiger trade, but I know people still trade tigers legally.)

He admitted to depriving his chimps of being chimps. That they had sat in “cages next to each other for ten years”, and when he gave them away and they were let loose in a large enclosure, they immediately went and hugged each other.

Yeah, good that he admits to poor care and losing sight of the animals’ welfare. But that does not justify the conclusion I think many will make, that I think the film might have been implying - that because Joe mistreated his animals in some way - that means only sanctuaries should have them, or they should be in the wild. It was not overt, but I think that might have been the message.

One poor zoo does not make all zoos poor, just as one poor pet owner/breeder/whathaveyou (can be applied to any topic, not just animals) does not make them all bad, and does not make the thing itself wrong.

Zoos are now reminding people on social media that “we are not like them, we are REAL, accredited zoos! Bla bla AZA self-congratulation bla bla”, and I take time to remind them that there are also hundreds of responsible and caring PRIVATE OWNERS of big cats, who are not lunatics, crackpots, perverts, animal abusers or criminals.

And at the very end, the film faded out with a statement I’m incredibly sick of. They say there are “5000-10 000 tigers in America”.

That is a big, fat lie.

It’s an urban legend that keeps sweeping the internet. Everyone says it, everyone knows it, but the sources are just loose statements made by animal rights organizations, and exact numbers change every time you ask.

The Feline Conservation Federation made a thorough check of the real numbers some years ago, and came up with about ~2800 tigers in America.

The latest numbers from the WWF and Gobal Tiger Forum (2016) said that there were ~3900 tigers in the wild.

There are many species that are far more numerous in captivity than in the wild, but the tiger is the only one people keep repeating, because it’s “oh, shock and horror, not the tiger”. But there are not more tigers in the USA than in the wild. And even if there were, those tigers are not “missing” from the wild. They weren’t “stolen”. They are the ark.

The higher numbers, the better. Personally, I’d be thrilled if there were 10 000 tigers in America, as long as they’re being cared for and managed responsibly. That would mean the tiger is not as threatened as we thought.

But when people hear the urban legend “more tigers in American backyards than in the wild”, they think the tigers in America are the problem, not the lack of tigers in the wild, the poaching and habitat destruction.

This lie of “10 000 tigers in America” or “3000 tigers in Texas” was created by animal rights activists to fill people with revulsion and want to create bans on tigers. It is completely ludicrous, as the breeding and in-country trade of an endangered species should be made EASIER, not harder, if we wish to save it.

The animal rights people of course, don’t want to save it, as they hate captive breeding no matter what, and will fight it with all they have, survival of the species be damned.

That is why the “Big Cat Public Safety Act” is anti-tiger, anti-lion, anti all big cats and their survival into the future.

On this topic, I recommend the documentary American Tiger, and my article on tiger conservation.

#tiger king #tigers #tiger conservation #pet tiger #Carole killed her husband #American tiger #big cat public safety act #big cats #joe exotic

13 notes · View notes

thainews1 · 4 years ago

Text

Should Your Child Watch TV News? Surprising Opinions of Top Anchors

More than ever, children witness innumerable, sometimes traumatizing, news events on TV. It seems that violent crime and bad news is unabating. Foreign wars, natural disasters, terrorism, murders, incidents of child abuse, and medical epidemics flood our newscasts daily. Not to mention the grim wave of recent school shootings.

All of this intrudes on the innocent world of children. If, as psychologists say, kids are like sponges and absorb everything that goes on around them, how profoundly does watching TV news actually affect them? How careful do parents need to be in monitoring the flow of news into the home, and how can they find an approach that works?

To answer these questions, we turned to a panel of seasoned anchors, Peter Jennings, Maria Shriver, Linda Ellerbee, and Jane Pauley--each having faced the complexities of raising their own vulnerable children in a news-saturated world.

Picture this: 6:30 p.m. After an exhausting day at the office, Mom is busy making dinner. She parks her 9-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son in front of the TV.

"Play Nintendo until dinner's ready," she instructs the little ones, who, instead, start flipping channels.

Tom Brokaw on "NBC News Tonight," announces that an Atlanta gunman has killed his wife, daughter and son, all three with a hammer, before going on a shooting rampage that leaves nine dead.

On "World News Tonight," Peter Jennings reports that a jumbo jetliner with more than 300 passengers crashed in a spinning metal fireball at a Hong Kong airport.

On CNN, there's a report about the earthquake in Turkey, with 2,000 people killed.

On the Discovery channel, there's a timely special on hurricanes and the terror they create in children. Hurricane Dennis has already struck, Floyd is coming.

Finally, they see a local news report about a roller coaster accident at a New Jersey amusement park that kills a mother and her eight-year-old daughter.

Nintendo was never this riveting. See here ข่าวไทย

"Dinner's ready!" shouts Mom, unaware that her children may be terrified by this menacing potpourri of TV news.

What's wrong with this picture?

"There's a LOT wrong with it, but it's not that easily fixable," notes Linda Ellerbee, the creator and host of "Nick News," the award-winning news program geared for kids ages 8-13, airing on Nickelodeon.

"Watching blood and gore on TV is NOT good for kids and it doesn't do much to enhance the lives of adults either," says the anchor, who strives to inform children about world events without terrorizing them. "We're into stretching kids' brains and there's nothing we wouldn't cover," including recent programs on euthanasia, the Kosovo crisis, prayer in schools, book- banning, the death penalty, and Sudan slaves.

But Ellerbee emphasizes the necessity of parental supervision, shielding children from unfounded fears. "During the Oklahoma City bombing, there were terrible images of children being hurt and killed," Ellerbee recalls. "Kids wanted to know if they were safe in their beds. In studies conducted by Nickelodeon, we found out that kids find the news the most frightening thing on TV.

"Whether it's the Gulf War, the Clinton scandal, a downed jetliner, or what happened in Littleton, you have to reassure your children, over and over again, that they're going to be OK--that the reason this story is news is that IT ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS. News is the exception...nobody goes on the air happily and reports how many planes landed safely!

"My job is to put the information into an age-appropriate context and lower anxieties. Then it's really up to the parents to monitor what their kids watch and discuss it with them"

Yet a new study of the role of media in the lives of children conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation reveals that 95% of the nation's children ages 8-18 are watching TV without their parents present.

How does Ellerbee view the typical scenario of the harried mother above?

"Mom's taking a beating here. Where's Dad?" Ellerbee asks.Perhaps at work, or living separately from Mom, or absent altogether.

"Right. Most Moms and Dads are working as hard as they can because we live in a society where one income just doesn't cut it anymore,"

NBC News correspondent Maria Shriver, the mother of four--Katherine, 13, Christina, 12, Patrick, 10, and Christopher, 6--agrees with Ellerbee: "But Moms aren't using the TV as a babysitter because they're out getting manicures!" says the 48-year-old anchor.

"Those mothers are struggling to make ends meet and they do it because they need help. I don't think kids would be watching [as much TV] if their parents were home organizing a touch football game.

"When I need the TV as a babysitter," says Shriver, who leaves detailed TV- viewing instructions behind when traveling, "I put on a safe video. I don't mind that my kids have watched "Pretty Woman" or "My Best Friend's Wedding" 3,000 times. I'd be more fearful if they watched an hour of local news.That would scare them. They might feel: 'Oh, my God, is somebody going to come in and shoot me in my bedroom?'"

In a move to supervise her own children more closely since her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, became Governor, Shriver scaled back her workload as Contributing Anchor to Dateline NBC and set up her office at home: "You can never be vigilant enough with your kids," she says, "because watching violence on TV clearly has a huge impact on children--whether it's TV news, movies, or cartoons."

This view is shared by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, which states: ""TV is a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior...studies find that children may become immune to the horror of violence; gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems; and resort to anti-social and aggressive behavior, imitating the violence they observe."

Although there are no rules about watching TV in 49% of the nation's households, TV-watching at the Schwarzenegger home is almost totally verboten:

"We have a blanket rule that my kids do not watch any TV at all during the week," she notes, "and having a TV in their bedrooms has never been an option. I have enough trouble getting them to do their homework!" she states with a laugh. "Plus the half hour of reading they have to do every night.

According to the Kaiser survey, Shriver's household is a glaring exception to the rule. "Many kids have their own TV's, VCR's and video games in their bedroom," the study notes. Moreover, children ages 8-18 actually spend an average of three hours and 16 minutes watching TV daily; only 44 minutes reading; 31 minutes using the computer; 27 minutes playing video games; and a mere 13 minutes using the Internet.

"My kids," Shriver explains, "get home at 4 p.m., have a 20-minute break, then go right into homework or after-school sports. Then, I'm a big believer in having family dinner time. Some of my fondest memories are of sitting at the dinner table and listening to my parents, four brothers, and my grandmother, Rose. We didn't watch the news.

"After dinner nowadays, we play a game, then my kids are in bed, reading their books. There's no time in that day for any TV, except on weekends, when they're allowed to watch a Disney video, Sesame Street, Barney, The Brady Bunch, or Pokemon."

Beyond safe entertainment, Shriver has eliminated entirely the option of her children watching news events unfolding live on TV: "My kids," she notes, "do not watch any TV news, other than Nick News," instead providing her children with Time for Kids, [Teen Newsweek is also available], Highlights, and newspaper clippings discussed over dinner.

"No subject should be off-limits," Shriver concludes, "but you must filter the news to your kids."

ABC's Peter Jennings, who reigns over "World News Tonight," the nation's most-watched evening newscast, emphatically disagrees with a censored approach to news-watching: "I have two kids--Elizabeth is now 24 and Christopher is 21-- and they were allowed to watch as much TV news and information anytime they wanted," says the anchor. A firm believer in kids understanding the world around them, he adapted his bestselling book, The Century, for children ages 10 and older in The Century for Young People.

No downside to kids watching news? "I don't know of any downside and I've thought about it many times. I used to worry about my kids' exposure to violence and overt sex in the movies. Like most parents, I found that although they were exposed to violence sooner than I would have liked, I don't feel they've been affected by it. The jury's still out on the sex.

"I have exposed my kids to the violence of the world--to the bestiality of man--from the very beginning, at age 6 or 7. I didn't try to hide it. I never worried about putting a curtain between them and reality, because I never felt my children would be damaged by being exposed to violence IF they understood the context in which it occurred. I would talk to my kids about the vulnerability of children in wartime--the fact that they are innocent pawns-- and about what we could do as a family to make the world a more peaceful place.

Jennings firmly believes that coddling children is a mistake: "I've never talked down to my children, or to children period. I always talk UP to them and my newscast is appropriate for children of any age."

Yet the 65-year-old anchor often gets letters from irate parents: "They'll say: 'How dare you put that on at 6:30 when my children are watching?' My answer is: 'Madam, that's not my problem. That's YOUR problem. It's absolutely up to the parent to monitor the flow of news into the home."

Part of directing this flow is turning it off altogether at meal-time, says Jennings, who believes family dinners are sacrosanct. He is appalled that the TV is turned on during meals in 58% of the nation's households, this according to the Kaiser study.

"Watching TV during dinner is unforgivable," he exclaims, explaining that he always insisted that his family wait until he arrived home from anchoring the news. "You're darn right they waited...even when my kids were tiny, they never ate until 7:30 or 8 pm. Then we would sit with no music, no TV. Why waste such a golden opportunity? Watching TV at mealtime robs the family of the essence of the dinner, which is communion and exchange of ideas. I mean, God, if the dinner table is anything, it's a place to learn manners and appreciation for two of the greatest things in life--food and drink."

Jennings is likewise unequivocal in his view of junk TV and believes parking kids at the tube creates dull minds: "I think using TV as a babysitter is a terrible idea because the damn television is very narcotic, drug-like. Mindless TV makes for passive human beings--and it's a distraction from homework!

"My two children were allowed to watch only a half an hour of entertainment TV per night--and they never had TV's in their bedrooms.It's a conscious choice I made as a parent not to tempt them...too seductive..."

Adds Ellerbee: "TV is seductive and is meant to be. The hard, clear fact is that when kids are watching TV, they're not doing anything else!"

Indeed, according to the National Institute on Out-of-School Time and the Office of Research Education Consumer Guide, TV plays a bigger role in children's lives now than ever before. Kids watch TV an average of14 to 22 hours per week, which accounts for at least 25 percent of their free time.

"Dateline NBC" Anchor Jane Pauley, intensely private, declined an interview to discuss how she and her husband, cartoonist Garry Trudeau ("Doonesbury") handle TV-watching with their three teens, two of whom are fraternal twins. But in a written response, she agreed that kids need to be better protected from the onslaught of violence: "I was a visitor at a public elementary school not long ago, and was invited to peek in on a fourth-grade class on 'current events.' The assignment had been to watch the news and write about one of the stories. Two kids picked the fatal attack on a child by a pit bull and the other wrote about a child who'd hanged herself with a belt! They'd all watched the worst blood and gore 'News at 11' station in town. The teacher gave no hint that she was as appalled as I was. My response was to help the school get subscriptions to "Time for Kids" and "My Weekly Reader." People need to be better news consumers. And tabloid TV is very unhealthy for kids."

On this point, Ellerbee readily agrees:"I really do believe the first amendment STOPS at your front door. You are the boss at home and parents have every right to monitor what their kids watch. What's even better is watching with them and initiating conversations about what they see.If your child is watching something terribly violent, sit down and DEFUSE it. Talking makes the ghosts run...and kids can break through their scared feelings."

Adds Pauly:

"Kids," she maintains, "know about bad news--they're the ones trying to spare us the bad news sometimes. But kids should be able to see that their parents are both human enough to be deeply affected by a tragedy like Columbine, but also sturdy enough to get through it...and on with life. That is the underpinning of their security."

"I'm no expert on the nation's children," adds Jennings, " but I'd have to say no, it wasn't traumatic. Troubling, shocking, even devastating to some, confusing to others, but traumatizing in that great sense, no.

"Would I explain to my kids that there are young, upset, angry, depressed kids in the world? Yes. I hear the most horrendous stories about what's going on in high schools from my kids. And because of the shootings, parents are now on edge--pressuring educators to 'do something.' They have to be reminded that the vast majority of all schools in America are overwhelmingly safe," a fact borne out by The National School Safety Center, which reports that in l998 there were just 25 violent deaths in schools compared to an average of 50 in the early 90's.

Ellerbee adds that a parent's ability to listen is more important than lobbying school principals for more metal detectors and armed guards: "If there was ever a case where grown-ups weren't listening to kids, it was Littleton. First, don't interrupt your child...let them get the whole thought out. Next, if you sit silently for a couple of seconds after they're finished, they'll start talking again, getting to a second level of honesty. Third, try to be honest with your kid. To very small children, it's proper to say: 'This is never going to happen to you...' But you don't say that to a 10-year-old."

Moreover, Ellerbee believes that media literacy begins the day parents stop pretending that if you ignore TV, it will go away. "Let your kid know from the very beginning that he or she is SMARTER than TV: 'I am in control of this box, it is not in control of me. I will use this box as a useful, powerful TOOL, but will not be used by it.' Kids know the difference.

"Watching TV," Ellerbee maintains, "can makes kids more civilized. I grew up in the south of Texas in a family of bigoted people. Watching TV made me question my own family's beliefs in the natural inferiority of people of color. For me, TV was a real window that broadened my world."

Ironically, for Shriver, watching TV news is incredibly painful when the broadcast is about you. Being a Kennedy, Shriver has lived a lifetime in the glare of rumors and televised speculation about her own family. Presenting the news to her children has therefore included explaining the tragedies and controversies the Kennedys have endured. She was just eight years old when her uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated: "I grew up in a very big shadow...and I couldn't avoid it," she admits. "It wasn't a choker, but it was a big responsibility that I don't want my own children to feel." Yet doesn't her 15- year marriage to megastar Schwarzenegger add yet another layer of public curiosity close to home? "My kids are not watching Entertainment Tonight--no, no, never! And I don't bring them to movie openings or Planet Hollywood. I think it's fine for them to be proud of their father, but not show off about him."

How does she emotionally handle news when her family's in it? "That's a line I've been walking since my own childhood, and it's certainly effected the kind of reporter I've become. It's made me less aggressive. I'm not [in the news business] to glorify myself at someone else's expense, but rather to report a story without destroying someone in the process. A producer might say: 'Call this person who's in a disastrous situation and book them right way.' And I'm like: 'Ahhhh. I can't even bring myself to do it,' because I've been on the other side and know the family is in such pain."

A few years ago, of course, the Kennedys experienced profound pain, yet again, when Shriver's beloved cousin, John F. Kennedy, Jr., was killed in a plane crash, with his wife, Carolyn, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette. A blizzard of news coverage ensued, unremitting for weeks. "I didn't watch any of it...I was busy, " Shriver says quietly. "And my children didn't watch any of it either."

Shriver was, however, somewhat prepared to discuss the tragedy with her children. She is the author of the best-selling "What's Heaven?" [Golden Books], a book geared for children ages 4-8, which explains death and the loss of a loved one. "My children knew John well because he spent Christmases with us. I explained what happened to John as the news unfolded...walked them through it as best I could. I reminded them that Mommy wrote the book and said: 'We're not going to see John anymore. He has gone to God...to heaven...and we have to pray for him and for his sister [Caroline] and her children."

Like Shriver, Jennings is personally uncomfortable in the role of covering private tragedies in a public forum: "In my shop, I'm regarded as one of those people who drags their feet a lot at the notion of covering those things," he explains. "During the O.J. Simpson trial, I decided not to go crazy in our coverage--and we took quite a smack and dropped from first to second in the ratings. TV is a business, so when a real corker of a story like Princess Diana's death comes along, we cover it. I think we're afraid not to do it. We're guilty of overkill, and with Diana, we ended up celebrating something that was largely ephemeral, making Diana more than she was. But audiences leap up!

"I was totally opposed to covering John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s funeral, because I saw no need to do it. He wasn't a public figure, though others would say I was wrong. On-air, I said: 'I don't think the young Mr. Kennedy would approve of all this excess...' But we did three hours on the funeral and it turned out to be a wonderful long history lesson about American politics and the Kennedy dynasty's place in our national life.

"Sometimes," Jennings muses, "TV is like a chapel in which we, as a nation, can gather to have a communal experience of loss.We did it with the Challenger, more recently with JFK Jr.'s death and we will do it shortly, I suspect, though I hope not, with Ronald Reagan. It's not much different than what people did when they went West in covered wagons in the last century. When tragedy struck, they gathered the wagons around, lit the fire, and talked about their losses of the day. And then went on. Television can be very comforting."

In closing, Ellerbee contends that you can't blame TV news producers for the human appetite for sensational news coverage that often drags on for days at a time:

"As a reporter," she muses, "I have never been to a war, traffic accident, or murder site that didn't draw a crowd. There is a little trash in all of us. But the same people who stop to gawk at a traffic accident, may also climb down a well to save a child's life, or cry at a sunset, or grin and tap their feet when the parade goes by.

"We are NOT just one thing. Kids can understand these grays...just as there's more than one answer to a question, there is certainly more than one part to you!"

1 note · View note

hedonest · 5 years ago

Text

hey folks! i already introduced myself in the ooc blog but * ok go vc * here it goes again. i’m velouria (she/her, 26, est) and i’m supposed to be in school but lol, the world was like this was a bad year to get your shit together girl, try again later. anyways, here’s my first babe hector and the only thing you need to know is that he’s horrible. he’s a horrible, horrible, horny person and i hate him and you should hate him too. but here’s some more details:

content warnings: homelessness, crime, drugs, general bastardness

born in tulsa, oklahoma on november 13th, 1997, hector, surprisingly, came from the most normal suburban beginnings you could imagine. he had two parents, an older sister, dog, cat, and a hamster. he was a rather normal child, though he had a wild independent streak that only got worse as he aged. didn’t play very well with others and would only play simon says if he got to be simon, but was friendly and jovial with those he liked, or wanted something from.

stubborn as a mule, hector was fiercely independent and increasingly selfish. by the time middle school came around, hector created a hierarchy within his group of friends and became a bully around his school, though was more pushy than outright cruel. a very rowdy teen, hector never took anything very seriously and didn’t form attachments in a healthy sort of way, something that’s only worse instead of better now.

while he liked his family well enough, he never felt a strong bond with them. they loved him very much and would try to foster a healthy, loving relationship with him, he was like #nah and spent most of his time out of the house, never telling them what he was doing and where he was going. his father and sister gave up on him, but his mother still held out hope that it was just an incredibly long phase.

barely showing up to school even when it was mandatory, hector’s primary focus was on having a good time. that meant sex, drugs, and copious amounts of partying. scaring little old ladies, taking cars on joyrides. a petty criminal by the age of fifteen, hector has only been in trouble with the law a few times, spending a few weeks in county jail over the weeks but the charges have never stuck. (once he’s out, he’s off to some place new, but it’s only a matter of time before the law finally catches up to him and he’s inside for good.)

his parents didn’t have a chance to kick him out or send him to military school because he straight up bounced by the time he was seventeen. he left one day to a friend’s house and just didn’t come back; he went to a party in oklahoma city, and then just... never thought about going home. hector didn’t stay around okc for very long after that, drifting all over the southwestern states.

out on his own, or rather couch surfing with like-minded individuals, hector got to experience the highest points of pleasure and pain. a full blown hedonist, the only thing that mattered (and matters) to hector was fucking, fighting, stealing, and getting high. basically if you’ve ever seen the movies hellraiser or the doom generation, he’s a mix of frank cotton and xavier red.

though he’s moved around a lot since leaving home, usually staying in a city for three months or so before he’s moving on again, he’s made a bit of a home out of reno, nevada, frequently traveling between reno and las vegas. often just up and leaves without a word, then returns two weeks later as if nothing happened like a neighborhood cat. has spent the last five years or so grifting and lying his way into the hearts and homes of lonely old ladies (and men). infects your house with his presence, gets you to take care of him, and then bounces one night with most of ur silver and jewelry in his backpack.

though he’s not part of any sort of gang, he does revolve in organized crime circles, and mostly makes actual money by boosting cars for the mob in vegas. though he sometimes does ‘freelance’ work for organized crime syndicates and gangs, he’d never join one. hector vc: why have someone tell you what to steal when you can just do it? :)

which all brings him to charming, california. basically run out of town on a rail, he had to leave reno because he heard there was a warrant out for his arrest and lbr he’s pissed off way too many people in nevada. has only been in charming for three days (so far in canon), staying in the highway motel by way of a stolen credit card, but i’ll be putting out a wc for his benefactor; someone he’s conned into letting him stay in their house, putting on the sweet street kid act. don’t believe the act, but also please do.

the biggest thing to know abt hector is that he’s a horny dude. he’s literally always thinking about sex and the second he meets you, he’s thinking about fucking you, no matter how old you are (as long as it’s legal because gross and i would never rp that), if you’re in a relationship/married, or what gender you are. you could be totally into his schtick or think he’s disgusting, it don’t matter. will hit on you, because he knows no other way to interact with people.

tells you what you want to hear. lies as much as he breathes. honestly he’s barely aware of the lies he tells and can’t keep them straight. most of his stories sound like bullshit but a lot of them are true.

big drugs fan. loves him some k! who’s got the weed! shows up to random parties just to finagle his way into getting drugs for free, while also stealing a bunch of meaningless random shit. the one thing you can’t replace - john mulaney.mkv

y’all get it by now. he’s gross, he sucks, but gosh darn he’s got a cute lil face!

wanted stuffs:

i mentioned that i’m going to send a wanted connection to the main for hector’s new benefactor (though if your muse is a lonely older person, man or woman, that’s gullible then let me know!!) but here’s some plots stuff we can do

sexual partners: basically hector wants to bang everyone. if you’re up for it, he will fuck you at pretty much any time, but just know that he’s also fucking like five other people and has never been monogamous in his entire damn life.

a girlfriend: okay so i just said he’s never been monogamous but sometimes hector likes to pretend. or rather, he will start using her to get something, likely companionship when he’s bored or access to money/drugs/alcohol, whatever. a place to sleep at night. just something! she’ll probably think they’re more serious than they actually are but hector does actually like her as a person, or she’s trying to get him to be more serious/grow up. this one will occur over time bc he’s new!

enemies: hector is a hard person to like and an easy person to hate. he has very little regard for others and enjoys physical fighting bc it feels good. they can hate him because he screwed them over, cheated on them, cheated on their friend/sibling/whatever, stole something from them, or they just don’t like his smug face.

friends: if your muse likes to party, hector is your man. he basically just lives to have fun. however, his version of fun is kind of scary and dangerous at times. he can be a bad influence on your muse and get them into trouble or they can be a good influence on him.

a close friend/confidant: hector isn’t an emotional person but occasionally he does have moments of vulnerability. when this happens, your muse is the person he comes to when he needs someone to be there for him or needs someone to talk to. your muse could be doing this reluctantly or in hopes that he’ll be there in the same way for your muse, which isn’t very likely but hector will like to pretend lol.

or any connection we can think up!! message me on here or discord (wanda’s loving boy#1003) if you wanna plot!

#charming.intro #hold your horses honey. i’ve got coupons for the pringles. ( ooc. )#this is long as shit i'm sorry

3 notes · View notes

justkending · 6 years ago

Text

Used to Be Overlooked. Chapter 13.

Summary: Steve Rogers was walking down the streets of Brooklyn after finishing a mission. The goal was just to take some time to clear his mind along the city streets, but when he runs into a gorgeous young lady that looks extremely familiar… How can he go about moving on? Who is she? What does he know her from? Was that memory even from this decade?

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader (Rosalyn Ember/ Y/N ?)

Word Count: 4900+

A/N: oooo, I like this chapter. Also, last night in Oklahoma we had horrible storms. This morning we woke up to flooded roads, so I’m posting earlier than I thought I would since I can’t go into work for an hour or so. ANYWAY! Enjoy this chapter, I had a blast writing this one;) Let me know what you think! Feedback is everything!!!

Series Masterlist

Chapter 13:

The next day went by a little slower considering how in your own head you were. The whole ‘spilling all your secrets out to one of the main people you hid it from’ in a span of 5 hours was exhausting and troubling to say the least.

What if Steve just reported you, and you did become a lab experiment? It had happened before when you let it slip a couple of decades back. You never made that mistake again. Or what if he was disgusted with you for doing this, and he never wanted to talk again? Or maybe he was going to pretend to be your friend, and then dump you when he got all the information he needed?

No, that wasn’t Steve. If there was one thing you knew, and learned about him from Peggy, or even the news on him, it was that he could be trusted. He was an honest, trusting, respectable, and protective man. He wouldn't it do any of those things.

At least you hoped.

Once again, another week went by. No word from Steve or the Avengers in that time. You just guessed that it had something to do with missions. A lot of crime had erupted in the past few days, so it wasn’t that big of a shock.

You ended up coming back to work, no problem, a day after your conversation with Steve. Just like planned, they cleaned everything up, and the corporation was back on track with all bumps in the road averted.

Thanks to the neighboring labs taking you in in the time of crisis, the progress on the virus’s cure was close to being perfected.

You were sitting in your office going over some blood work, when your phone rang showing Claire was calling.

“Yes?” you asked hitting the button, but still looking at the samples in front of you.

“Miss. Sue Tran is here to speak with you,” Claire answered.

Sue Tran? Sue Tran? Oh right! One of your top interns. One you were hoping to actually hire after her internship was up.

“Thank you. She can come right in,” you said pushing the button.

“Ok. You can go in,” you heard Claire say in a more hushed tone.

The door opened and in walked Sue. She had almond shaped brown eyes, olive skin, ash colored hair that was pulled back in a bun, and bangs covering her forehead. The new gray hair color trend for this past year, and honestly you were kinda into it surprisingly given of how old styled you were.

“Miss. Tran, what can I do for you today?” you said smiling and motioning to the chair in front of you.

She nodded in thanks and took a seat. She had a file in hand that she was clutching close to her chest. You can see the nerves vibrating off of her just from being in the office with you. Thanks to your mature manner and high level of knowledge, a lot of people were intimidated by you. No matter the age difference. Of course, you didn’t mean to come off this way, but at least it helped people to respect you more even if you were ‘young’ for your job.

“I actually wanted to bring you some news,” she said making eye contact finally and with a blush tone on her cheeks.

“What about?” you smiled sweetly hoping to help her relax a little, and like hoped, some tension in her shoulders went down.

“As you know, I was paired with the group that was testing the C4N2 fever/flu that broke out within the last year,” she explained.

“Yes, the one that was transferred to the other labs during the shutdown?” you said intrigued, and leaning into your desk more.

“Yes,” she smiled. “While we were there, one of the other workers from that branch looked over our progress. They spotted something that I believe we just didn’t think about, or completely overlooked. You know how it goes when you look over that same problem for too long,” she shrugged.

“It all starts to blur together and you can’t find the flaws,” you finished for her. “Yes, and…” you nodded excited where she was leading with this.

“Well, the individual suggested something to try, and we went ahead a gave it a go.” She grabbed the file, and started sifting through the papers before pulling out a stapled bunch, and handing it to you. “This is what we came up with.”

You skimmed over the front seeing the equations and elements they used. It was definitely something that was could have easily not been considered, but thank the man that had suggested it. You flipped the next page, and saw the lab results after being put use on some lab rats and DNA samples.

You straightened in your seat as you realized what you were reading.

“Sue, all these reports say success and positive” you said in a breathy voice from shock.

“Hmmm mmm,” she hummed through her smile.

You flipped the pages a few more times to make sure your eyes weren’t deceiving you.

“Theoretically, we weren’t planning on having a cure on this for another year. Sue… This is it. This is the vaccine,” you smiled finally looking up. “It’s done!”

“I know! We did double and triple checks if you look on the last couple of pages. We wanted to make sure that it was truly right,” she said looking at the papers while on the edge of her seat.

“Sue, this is- I don’t even- Oh my God,” you laughed in joy as you stood and came around the desk. She stood to meet your height. “You did it! They did it!” you said gripping the papers and slightly jumping in your heels.

“I know! But give yourself some credit,” she said motioning to you. “We wouldn’t have made the progress we did if you hadn’t proofread and caught our mistakes in the beginning. We would be set back even further.”

“Oh, I lent just as much of a hand as all of you did. This is a group effort!” you waved off. “But it’s done! This was the biggest project we had going and it’s done!” you jumped again. “Oh, we have to celebrate!”

“Really? You don’t seem like the celebrating type?” she laughed, and you sent her a smirk as you went around the desk back to the phone. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, it’s just that you’re always at-”

“Work? Yeah, I know,” you laughed pressing the call button. “I’m not offended at all Sue. You’re right, I need to get out more.”

“Yes, Miss. Ember?” Claire said on the other end of the phone.

“The staff that was working on the C4N2 virus?”

“Yes?”

“Bring them to my office please,” you smiled at Sue.

“On it,” she hung up.

“What are you going to tell them?” Sue asked.

“That you guys can have the rest of the day off to celebrate, and that you can also have tomorrow off,” you smiled organizing the papers on your desk.

“Really? We don’t have to-”

“Miss. Tran. Rule number one if you are going to work here. Listen to your boss, and never say no to taking a day off,” you winked.

“Yes ma’am.”

You let the team know they could go out and enjoy a day off tomorrow as well as the half day off today. They were ecstatic considering they had been working so hard on this, and haven’t really had time to rest between it. They asked you to join, but you kindly declined making an excuse that you were the boss that needed to do paperwork on it and all. They tried persuading you, but eventually gave up on your stubbornness.

As you sat in your office, only about 30 minutes before you usually leave to go home, you looked at the work in front of you. It was all done. They met all the requirements needed, and now it was just needing to be passed on to the next process group. This is why you stayed in this field. Vaccines for something as simple of a fever that can pop up are now being made, and less and less people will get sick or even die.

You sighed happy with yourself, and looked up at your computer that had been playing the news. Yesterday's news overflowing into todays because of how big a deal it was.

Right in front of you was Tony talking to a reporter.

“Yes, yes. We have been chasing and tracking these individuals the past week or so and finally got a hold of them. There will no longer be any problems with them thanks to The Avengers!” he shouted throwing his arms up in victory. Cocky millionaire.

He was still in the suit, and had the mask lifted to where you could see some dirt and smudges on it. In the background you could see a few of the other Avengers like Clint and Nat watching in the background and rolling their eyes at him. You giggled at the relationship that you now knew they all shared.

“Is there anything else we should be careful of Mr. Stark? Any other terrorist groups that are targeting New York as of right now?” the reporter asked.

You thought you had heard something about a terrorist group that was infiltrating major banks and parts of the government. Of course, wanting to take it down and were threatening lives of thousands. Then again, they never got around to the threat because those damn Avengers caught them every time.

“Uh, as of right now I think we are going to give ourselves a much deserved break. A few of us have been awake for over 36 hours and are really looking forward to passing out on our beds,” he said turning to now Bucky and Steve saluting them. Steve was in his full stealth outfit and had his shield thrown on his back. He looked good. Really good. He threw Tony a look and crossed his arms over his chest before turning to Bucky who was grinning, and laughing at Steve’s reaction.

“He does not like the cameras,” you laughed looking at Steve the rest of the interview.

“Thanks again Mr. Stark. For everything.” the reported gushed.

“Anytime for the people of earth,” he winked. “I’ll see you all next time the world needs some saving.”

The screen cut back to other news and you just laughed at the whole thing. Then an idea came to your head. You grabbed your finished work putting it in a pile on the side, and the stuff that needed to be reviewed, was left on the opposite side. You grabbed your things to headed out for the night in a hurry and stopped at Claire's desk.

“Hey Claire. I think I’m going to call in sick tomorrow,” you smiled as you came to the front.

“What? Sick? You’ve never called in sick,” she said shocked. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cough or sniffle let alone be sick.” she said thinking back.

“There’s a first for everything,” you shrugged and winked.

“You know what? I think you deserve to have a day off. Sick or not, but if anyone ask, sick it is,” she smiled.

“See you after the weekend Claire,” you waved headed to the elevator.

“Get well soon,” she said sending you wink as you turned and laughed.

You went home and changed out of your work clothes into something more casual, but still somewhat formal considering where you were going.

Your hair had been down all day, so you pulled it half way up, and let the curls do their thing. You gave yourself a once over in the mirror, and were content with it all. Business like, but casual as well.

Once you arrived, Happy was the first to greet you.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as you parked your car out front of the tower, and started walking up the steps meeting him halfway.

“I-uh, I need to talk to Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner. Are they here by chance?” you said looking behind him at the compound.

“Yeah actually. They just got in. They all got home from a long mission just yesterday so they’ve been in and out today resting,” he looked back where you were staring, and realized you were nervous about going in. “Do you want me to show you where they are? I think I just saw a few of them in the kitchen. I’m sure they can show you where Tony and Bruce are.”

“Oh, I don’t want to be a bother. It looked like you were going somewhere. You don’t have to stop just to help-”

“Nonsense. You are one of the few people I like on this planet. I will gladly escort you in,” he smiled offering his arm.

“You’re too kind to me Mr. Hogan,” you smiled squeezing his bicep just barely as you started walking up.

“Anything for a lady like yourself,” he smirked.

You both walked into the kitchen finding Sam and Bucky eating sandwiches, at the table.

“I’m just saying, the only reason she gave her number to you and not me, was because she didn’t see me,” Buck said confidently as he took a bite of his sandwich.

“Didn’t see you? You were right next to me! Of course she saw you! She just preferred me over you,” Sam said getting worked up.

“Sure…” Bucky said smugly.

“Dude! You aren’t really the face that people want to jump to. I don’t know if you remember, but you kinda were a well known assassin that people were terrified of.”

“Now wait one second! No one ever really saw my face when I was like that! I-” Bucky said sitting up straighter and went to pointing fingers, but was cut off by Happy clearing his throat.

“Excuse me boys, but we have a guest.” he said with a stern voice making the men snap their head your direction.

“Rosalyn?” Bucky said with furrowed eyebrows before they changed to widened eyes. He immediately jumped from his chair and turned to face you. Sam following after. “What-uh, what are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner about a project I’m working on,” you answered with a smiled, trying to hide the fact you were regretting this whole thing. You fixed the strap of your purse from falling off of your shoulder, therefore taking your arm out of Happy’s.

“I have to get going, but I’m sure these two-” he turned to the men who were gawking at you. “Idiots, can help you,” Happy frowned before smiling and waving to you, headed to leave.

“Thanks again Happy!” you shouted his direction turning to watch him leave.

Once he was out of sight, you let out a sigh wondering if it was too late to ditch. You hastily turned on your heels, and saw the two men still taking in your presence. It was more of a shocked look than anything else, but Sam noticed Bucky not blinking and hit him in the back of the head to snap him out of it.

“Ow! What the hell?” Bucky said holding his head and turning to Sam.

“You’re staring,” he said before rolling his eyes, and going over to the fridge.

“I was not-” Bucky started, but Sam cut him off.

“Can I get you anything to drink Rose? Water, juice, wine?” he said looking in the fridge.

“I’m fine Sam. Thank you,” you politely waved walking more into the kitchen. “If Stark and Banner aren’t here, I can go. I figured there was a small chance of them actually being here, so really it’s no-”

“No, no!” Bucky said moving to get closer. “They, um, they’re here. I think they were in the lab last I heard. Something about repairing the suite and other things,” he said with a smile.

“Oh, ok,” you said with a soft smile back. He was staring again. “Can you, um, take me to them, or-”

“Right! Right!” Bucky said. He was acting weird… or maybe it was normal. You didn’t really know Bucky much other than that one night you were here. You didn’t see much of him back in the day either. Once he was recruited for Steve’s team, you were holed up in the lab a majority of the time. You only heard his name once or twice in all the chaos of the war. “Uh, Sam, can you call Tony and double check to see if that’s where they are?” he said shooting Sam another weird look.

“Why do I have to-” Sam started confused.

“Sam. Please,” Bucky said nodding toward the door.

Ah shit. What was going on?

“Fine. God,” Sam said grabbing his phone and pressing a number before looking back at Bucky who was giving you both weird vibes.

Once he was out of the room Bucky turned to you.

“So, you didn’t come to see Steve?” he said bluntly.

Your eyes widened. Are you kidding me right now? Steve told Bucky. He had to have. You decided to play it off because you didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

“Why would I come to see just Steve?” you asked, trying to seem as calm as possible when truly your heart was actually going the speed of a hummingbirds.

“No reason. Just the fact that I know he went to your house the other week,” he said with a smirk as he went back to the table.

“Shit,” you mumbled under your breath before you followed and stood by him at the table. “What did he say?” you said sternly shifting to boss mode.

Bucky noticed the change in mood, and realized he messed up.

“Nothing. He just told me he went over there to ask you on a date,” he answered.

“Bucky,” you said with a death glare.

He was honestly scared. He had fought aliens, monsters, criminals, and all the bad things in the world, but that glare? That was sending a different type of chill through his body.

“Honestly, Rose! He didn’t tell me anything. Trust me I tried getting it out of him, but he didn’t budge,” he said holding up his hands with a sandwich in one. You let out a relieved sigh, and crossed your arms looking at the ground trying to decide if you believed him. “But now with how you’re acting,” he said looking down at you, and slowly turning his frown into a grin as you looked at him nervous again. “I figure something happened…”

“Nothing happened Bucky. Nothing for you to worry about,” you said taking a seat.

“Then why were you so defensive about it? I mean he was over there for quite a few hours,” he said shrugging his eyebrows up and down at you.

“Bucky,” you said in a calm voice. “I suggest you leave it alone before that arm isn’t the only prosthetic you have,” you said with an evil grin that made his grin immediately fall and fear took over his face once again. You crossed your legs, and sat straight before looking at your nails showing you were unbothered by his boyish banter.

“O-Ok,” he stuttered taking a seat, but making sure to leave a space between you.

“Finally, someone who can actually put him in his place,” Sam said walking in. “I was wondering if someone like that even existed.” he laughed looking at Bucky who shot him a glare. “You really need to start coming around here more often Rose. I like you,” he smiled leaning over the chair in between you two.

“Did they answer?” you asked wanting to get this visit over with.

“Oh, yeah. They were in the lab like suspected. I told him you were here, and Tony said he would come up and meet you then take you back down there himself.”

“Thank you Sam.”

“Anything for a woman that scares the shit out of the Winter Soldier,” he laughed taking a seat between you two. “So, what do you need to talk to them about? Is it business?”

“Something along the lines of that. I have a project that I’m looking into, and need their insight on it,” you smiled.

“Cool. How is the science world going?” Sam said sweetly just trying to make small talk. You gladly took the turn in conversation, wanting to steer clear of everything that Bucky was mentioning.

“Really well actually. We just finished a vaccine for that flu that broke out last year. We only have a few more steps to go before we can release it to the public and hopefully stop it from hurting anyone else,” you said with a proud grin.

“Wow! That’s amazing! So you’re out there saving the world.” he beamed sitting back in his chair more.

“Nothing compares to you guys-”

“Oh, give yourself some credit Ember!” Tony’s voice said loudly as he entered. “Clearly you are just saving the world from a different standpoint, but saving it nonetheless.”

“Mr. Stark,” you said through a very business like smile while you stood.

“Well, would you look at you?” he said throwing his hands out as he scanned you. “You remind me of Pepper. Even your ‘casual’ clothes are captivating to the eye.”

“Thank you, but I came here to talk about-”

“About a project. Yes, Happy told me. Called about two seconds after he left, and then Sam called shortly after.” he said crossing his arms once he was right in front of you. “What do you need to fill me in on?”

“Actually if we could speak in private-”

“You just missed her put Barnes here in his place. It was game changing. I wish I had it on video,” Sam interrupted smacking Bucky on the shoulder, and getting yet another glare from him.

“Is that so? Only person I know can do that is-”

“Me,” a deep voice said at the entrance of the room. All heads turned to see Steve in a long sleeve dry fit shirt, and sweatpants. Probably just got done working out or taking a shower from the slight dampness on his hair.

“Steve,” you said in a hushed tone.

“Even I struggle putting the punk down. Glad someone else can do it,” he smirked as he leaned against the door frame on his shoulder while his arms crossed his broad chest.

“Oh captain, my captain,” Tony said turning to him as he walked into the room, but Steve never broke eye contact with you.

“What are you doing here Rose?” he said ignoring Tony once he was in front of you.

“I needed to talk to Banner and Stark, but seeing that you’re here now.” you sighed pulling some papers out of your bag. “I think we should all talk.”

Steve looked down at the manila folder you were holding. Whatever was in it was important since it had the big red words CONFIDENTIAL stamped on it.

“Well, things just got interesting,” Tony hummed looking at the folder. “Rogers, why don’t you lead Miss. Ember here to the lab where Banner is. I’m going to grab a drink and quick treat and meet you two there.” Tony said patting him on the shoulder before moving to the fridge.

Steve looked up from the folder you were holding and sent you a look that basically asked if what he thought you were doing, was what you were really doing.

“Sure,” he said staring at you. “Right this way.” He moved to the side motioning for you to head a certain way before he followed behind you.

Bucky caught his arm before he got too far.

“Dude, first off, she is terrifying. Second off, what the hell is going on?” Bucky whispered.

“Don’t worry about it right now. I’ll explain when I can,” Steve said as everyone in the room watched him.

“Does it have to do with…” he paused hoping Steve was catching on.

“Not sure. Like I said. I’ll tell you when I can,” he nodded walking to catch up with you.

Everyone in the room watched as you both left, and never looked away until you were out of sight for a good 15 seconds.

“Anyone else feel a weird vibe from that whole… thing?” Sam said.

“Yep,” Bucky replied.

“Hopefully I won’t be out of the loop too long.” Tony said grabbing a water bottle.

“Wanna explain to me why Barnes was interrogating me about you coming over to my house the other night?” you said looking forward as you walked to the lab. Though you didn't necessarily know where you were going, you were running on anger of him spilling your secret, and just wanted to get this whole disastrous plan over with.

“He what?” Steve asked trying to catch up to your fast pace, and finally getting to a point to where he could see your frustrated expression.

“Oh, don’t play coy Rogers!” you said loudly stopping in your tracks and turning to him with your fist in balls at your side. “Bucky knows. I could tell by the stuff he was asking. He tried covering it up, but the man doesn’t have the best poker face for someone who's a spy!” you said in a more hushed tone realizing you weren’t too far from the kitchen and you may have been a tad loud the first time.

“I have no idea what he was talking about Y/N, but I swear I didn’t say anything.” Steve said putting his hands up in defense as he looked you in the eyes.

“Really? Then why was he asking about-”

“He knew I left that night. He was the reason I left actually,” he said rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I wanted to go talk to you, ask you on that date, but I almost talked myself out of it.”

You straightened and the tension in your body dissipated some.

“He told me to take the chance since I’ve never showed interest in a girl like this besides Peggy, and well....” he blushed looking at the ground now. You started blushing too realizing that you blew up on him before knowing the whole story. He liked you like Peggy? Wow, that’s a big thing. “Long story short, he got me out of the house and over to yours. He waited up for me thinking it would be an hour to two tops, but when I didn’t show up until 5 hours later he kinda got in my business.”

“But you didn’t tell him my secret,” you stated sighing, realizing what an idiot of yourself you just made.

“No, God no!” Steve said jumping in and looking back to you then the hallway to make sure no one was listening. “It’s not my secret to tell, remember? I haven’t told anyone.”

“Thank you for that.” you said softly. “I-uh, I guess I just kinda jumped to the shark even though I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s ok.”

“No, it’s really not. I should have trusted you more… It’s just…” you sighed as you adjusted the papers you were clutching into your hands. “This is big. I haven’t told a soul in years, and me being here right now is still shocking to me.”

“So, that is what this is about?” Steve said sending you empathetic eyes.

“Yes. As much as I’m regretting it every second, I think it will be for the better. At least I hope it is,” you dry laughed. “Sorry, I’m a bit nervous.”

“Hey, it’s fine. I’ll be right here to back you up if you need it,” he said putting his hands on both of your shoulders to bring your eyes to him.

“Thank you,” you blushed a smile. He grinned happy that he caused that.

“How about we get to the lab before Tony catches up and starts making up a story about finding us in the hallway?”

“That sounds like a good plan,” you laughed looking down the hallway to check if he was coming, and when you turned back to Steve, he had his arm extended to you. “Did you teach all the guys to do this here? I feel like everyone has ushered me this way.”

“They may have picked up on some of my 40’s charm. I try to influence them in manners when I can,” he said in a cocky tone, but joking still.

“Well if you ask me, the world needs to bring back some of these manners. I miss being treated like a lady instead of a piece of meat,” you said accepting his gesture as you both made a way to the lab. “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t love being treated like I was supposed to be a housewife and nothing more from those times, but this? This I miss. Chivalry is dying now and days.”

“Guess we need to find that happy median then, huh?” he smiled looking down at you.

“Guess so,” you smiled back sending shivers over his body.

Chapter 14

Used to be Overlooked Tag:

@xa-dia @losersunitetonight @fashionlive15 @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan@steverogersxreader @laneygthememequeen @lauravic @shreddedparchment @iheartsebastianstan @almostelegantfire@manymaria111 @carol-damn-vers @angelkurenai @squirrelgirl67 @stevieboyharrington @deaniebeanieandsammywammy @demon-doggo @badassbeckettswan @blueenemy24

Other Tags:

@shamelesslydean @sleepless-sin @sandlee44 @gripmetight-raisemefromperdition @spnwoman@ravengirl94 @carryonmywaywardcaptain@ezilyamuzed @thosekidswhohuntmonsters@purpleskiesandcherrypies @anise-d-castle6 @tailsoflightning @spookycowz @eve05glee@snffbeebee @deans-baby-momma @natura1phenomenon @tftumblin @gh0stgurl@screechingartisancashbailiff @kersumgen @herscrunchiehairtie @dreaminemz@monkeymcpoopoo@a-girl-who-loves-disney @andthatsmyworld @greenarrowhead @savio-the-depressed-moose @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @greyeyedsmile14 @sundownridge @adoptdontshop-blog @casper57 @twentyonesupernaturalartist @rainflowermoonlibrary @traceyaudette @luciathewinchestergirl @almostelegantfire@thefaithfulwriter @deansgirl-1968

If I tagged you and you aren’t normally on my tag list, I thought you would enjoy the story. Fair warning, it is a slow burn so we will get to the bottom of the issue later, but the burn is what makes it soooooo sweet. I’m really excited for this series, and would love your feedback:) Thank you!

If you want removed let me know. After 3 chapters I will only tag those that I normally do, or those that ask:)

#marvel #marvel fanfiction #steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers series #steve rogers x reader series #steve rogers fanfiction #captain america #captain america x reader series #captain america x reader #captain america series #justkending #series #captain america fanfiction #mcu #mcu series

108 notes · View notes

itnews452 · 5 years ago

Text

Should Your Child Watch TV News? Surprising Opinions of Top Anchors

KIDS AND THE NEWS

Picture this: 6:30 p.m. After an exhausting day at the office, Mom is busy making dinner. She parks her 9-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son in front of the TV.

"Play Nintendo until dinner's ready," she instructs the little ones, who, instead, start flipping channels.

Tom Brokaw on "NBC News Tonight," announces that an Atlanta gunman has killed his wife, daughter and son, all three with a hammer, before going on a shooting rampage that leaves nine dead.

On "World News Tonight," Peter Jennings reports that a jumbo jetliner with more than 300 passengers crashed in a spinning metal fireball at a Hong Kong airport.

On CNN, there's a report about the earthquake in Turkey, with 2,000 people killed.

On the Discovery channel, there's a timely special on hurricanes and the terror they create in children. Hurricane Dennis has already struck, Floyd is coming.

Finally, they see a local news report about a roller coaster accident at a New Jersey amusement park that kills a mother and her eight-year-old daughter.

Nintendo was never this riveting.