#Karl Heisenberg British

[alcinaslittlemaid]

Heisenberg is so British Dad core I’m sorry-

Nobody asked for this but

☕️British Heisenberg HCS!🇬🇧

————————————

•This man lives of pot noodles and Rustlers burgers

•Can often be found in a Wetherspoons on a Friday night

•Drinks stellar and

•Shops in Aldi and Lidl

•Really into football and watches the euros

•Makes his maids make him beans on toast because fuck every other breakfast

•Slightly racist and homophobic (stereotypical British dad racist)

•Takes his nieces (the dimitrescu daughters) to maccies after the cinema because he can’t knows it’ll piss of Alcina

•Cannot cook for the life of him

•cooked an egg once and burnt it - CREMATED IT

•Smells of B.O, lynx Africa and spunk

•likes mars bars and Dr Pepper

•Likes parklife, madness, blur, queen

Fuck I ran out of british things-

[iampastelry]

Man I love pairings where it's like a disgruntled but undoubtedly excellent in his field silver fox has to deal with a 30-something-year-old terminally average American Dream looking man who's just getting through this shit way easier than he ought to be and being an annoying little shit about it.

[safireinakettle]

Sometimes you just gotta get a little gender envious of deranged characters with kill counts

It’s just part of being

[bluntsam]

i find characters that have distinct ways of talking whether it’s their behavior/dialect or inflection extremely interesting

like i can tell it’s them by the dialog or inflection alone even if it’s not their voice

like it’s the guy! it’s you! i can’t see you but you’re the guy!

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

once again thinking about how karl heisenberg from re8 sounds like if astarion were doing a really bad elvis impression

[theredtrails]

And Nicolai from RE3R...

There's s particular Venn diagram of Resi, Baldur's Gate and pathetic morally gray men and I'm right at that intersection sadly

You’re telling me this guy:

And THIS guy:

Are voiced by the same man!?

[runawayonryo]

In the Beast's Den

Karl heisenberg x reader

Chapter 13: build me up buttercup

Yay I'm back!

You sit on your shared bed, Karl stomping across the old wooden floor angrily.

"That bitch! Damn it if she finds you it's over! Don't you get it?"

He shouts and slams his fist against the wall, causing a loud thud to echo through your chambers. You had reassured him that everything will be fine, but this only fueled his anger more; now here you are. His hat, gloves and glasses have been discarded long ago; laying on the floor somewhere.

His body shakes with rage as he tears down papers from a shelf in front of him.

"I swear she gets me sick sometimes!"

He growls angrily at no one in particular. Your breath catches in your throat when his eyes fall upon you, their hazel colour as beautiful as ever, but now filled with rage.

"sometimes?"

Karl rolls his eyes, his heavy huffing slowly calming down as he finds humour in your question. His grunting turns into a subtle yet throaty laugh, his check rumbling as he laughs. He grins proudly before walking towards you, a glint of something that could possibly be affection dancing in his eyes. Karl pulls you up by the shoulder, his face full of glee as he chuckles happily yet sinisterly.

"Yes, that bitch makes me sick. I'd put a bullet in her head if she wasn't near immortal."

You feel him nuzzle into your hair gently, breathing heavily as you shiver in response to his cold touch. The older man pauses for a moment before leaning back and taking a seat next to you, making you blush furiously. It's almost as if he finds comfort in your touch, your warmth, in you. He pulls back and his hands move down to grip your wrists tightly, his daze suddenly serious again. 

“We need you prepared for what we could face, she is not to be underestimated.”

Karl grumbles as his eyes bore into yours, a sudden pain growing in the pit of your stomach at the mention of his words. He smirks knowingly and brings his nose up to nuzzle at your hair, the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end when he moves to kiss your forehead. 

“Mmm I’d tell you not to worry, but you should. That bitch is more powerful that you can even comprehend. Alone I stand no chance, but with you… The odds could be in our favour. We’ll make a real killing machine outta you.”

You swallow the lump in your throat and hold onto Karl tighter, his strong arms enveloping you in a cocoon of safety. You can't bring yourself to look at him as your hands slip down to his chest, fingering the soft fabric of his clothes and sighing at the warmth radiating from him.

“But I’m not you, I’m just… a random person you scooped up”

He laughs.

"Bullshit, you're mine now. No one else's. And I’ll teach you what you need to know"

You flinch when Karl's eyes light up in a strange kind of excitement and he moves away from you, his hand slipping away from your back to cup your chin. Karl as a teacher, now that is a mental image that makes you chuckle silently. Karl of course notices and raises an eyebrow.

“What? I’d make a great teacher wouldn’t i?”

You nod, biting your lip to stop yourself from laughing at the image of Karl in a formal black suit with an accent in an old British university, in front of an antique blackboard with chalk and his usual cocky smile. Karl watches you, his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he looks between your face and the floor, his mouth opening slowly as he tries to find a way to understand the inner workings of your mind.

“Bitch” 

He mutters and moves his large hand to ruffle your hair playfully.

“Oh but you love me”

You retort, pouting slightly as heat rises in your cheeks. 

“Whatever, from here on out we gotta be careful. That bitch has eyes everywhere. I can’t afford for you to be seen again, or else that big vampire whore might spoil the fun again.”

You snicker at the use of the term 'whore', you can imagine how upset and angry Karl would have been if the blood-bitch got her hands on you, of course he wasn’t going to let that happen. Though one thing that does worry you is his future plans. He had already trained you somewhat before, but this was supposedly different? What did this evil genius have in mind? Likely something over the top or absurd, but that was just his thing. 

Strong, chaotic, absurd and yet oh so fun.

[crowtrobotx]

I think what's so nice about Mechanic!Hisenberg is we get to have the same old heisenberg but without the limitations of the village and Miranda. We get to just see him as a person rather than his obsession with getting free and having questionable knowledge of the world outside. He doesn't have to put on an act for anyone because hes not fighting for his life and freedom. He's just Karl the machine guy who things expiration dates are a suggestion (canon).

-DumpChump

I agree!!!

I have wanted a mechanic!Karl au since like… day one. There’s been a couple one off fics and pieces of fan art (that I’m aware of) and they’re all great but the landscape is still so barren imho. I just really like the idea of him in a setting where maybe he still had some kinda fucked up upbringing (alas I cannot bring myself to separate him from the ‘siblings’ he hates so much if only for the pure comedic potential) but he’s allowed to become the eccentric local grandpa I feel he was meant to be. I don’t think he’d ever be an upstanding member of society or ‘nice’ or whatever but he could have at least been, as is the case for ‘Check Engine,’ a curmudgeonly if competent local car guy haha.

There was a stream waaaay back in summer 2021 where Neil was asked what he thought Karl would do outside the village and he said mechanic - I decided to light up the Twitch chat like a weirdo yelling about how that was my thought too Omg please tell me more about this headcanon British man on my computer screen. I can’t recall exactly how the conversation progressed but he also said something like “I think he’d get into drag racing for a minute too” but he paused a little too long after the word “drag” and frankly? Why not both. Slay, king.

[moonlit-void-to-the-far-unknown]

Hi this is a loving Neil newbon household

He’s a voice actor, actor, mocap artist, creature mocap artist. Sometimes streamer.

And he is just

He plays Heisenburg in resident evil 8

👆this guy. The other character people be thirsty over besides big tall vampire mommy.

But he also played kamski and Gavin Reed in Detroit become human.

This guy 👆 the guy who has a red light in his pool where it looks like she swims in blood. Yeah that’s him.

And Gavin Reed the guy who hit punches Connor after asking for a coffee. God we love this asshole.

Neil newbon is an angel and he has a nice jawline man. Come on.

Plus HES BRITISH.

Like. We love a Brit man.

[simplysable]

Another request, but this time I'm kinda projecting. The lords with an S/O with a severe pollen allergy because I suffer every spring due to mine 😭

Sure thing! Thanks for another request, and I hope that you find some solace in this from when pollen drowns you in the spring <3 thanks again, and I hope you like it!

Resident Evil Lords With a S/O Who Has a Pollen Allergy 🌼

Alcina Dimitrescu

Oh she feels so awful when she sees you sniffling and sneezing every other minute

Your poor red eyes, your running nose, your scratchy voice, it makes her feel so terrible

She tries to keep the windows shut as much as possible so pollen from her gardens doesn’t get in the house, but it’s simply inevitable

Whenever allergy season rolls around, she has her maids put her house plants outside, just in case

She makes sure you drink lots of water, and even though you might not be physically sick, she makes you stay in bed

“I promise, darling, the repulsive weather will be over soon, and your winter will come around.”

Lots of tea

So much chamomile

She gently holds your hands away from your face as you try to wipe your eyes, making them redder than they already were

“Dearest, I know your eyes itch, but touching them will only make it worse. I’ll get a maid to get a wet cloth to put over your eyes.”

Even though she hates the winter, she can’t wait for it to come so you stop looking so miserable

Donna Beneviento

The manor is surrounded by flowers in the spring, so you’re miserable

There are beautiful flowers in Donna’s home, but you’re eyes are so red and dry you don’t have time to admire them

Donna has control of some of the pollen, but not all of it

“My dear, I’ll move my plants outside and let the pollen air out.”

That, actually, let’s more pollen in

Listen she hasn’t done this before!! The whole “partner” thing!! She doesn’t know what the hell to do, and your tired eyes and scratchy voice certainly aren’t helping

She panics

Her cadou reacts

She creates potent pollen

You trip balls

Angie is cracking up as you sniffle on the bed sadly, giggling drunkenly as you point at the blonde man with three fingers in the corner

“Oh darling, I can fix this. Angie, would you get some water for our dear?”

She mock salutes and toddles off, and Donna forces herself to calm down

When your allergies finally tide over, you laugh as Angie tells you about what you said

“You said this dumb blonde waltzed into the house and got himself killed by a big baby! This is fun, you should get pollen allergies more often!”

Salvatore Moreau

He, as a doctor, knows what to do

Water, tea, humidifiers, blankets, VapoRub from the Duke, the whole shbang

As a partner?

He’s so sad when you’re sick

He holds your hands so you don’t wipe your eyes, and he always carries a handkerchief with him in case you have to sneeze

He has scentless, gentle lotion to put on your red Cupid’s bow from all your nose blowing

As soon as you’re taken care of, he shifts into his mutated form and cried into the sky

“Mother Miranda, make the season pass quicker! Make winter come quickly, please!”

Your tired ass waddles outside in five blankets and leans against him, bonking your head on his tail

“Sal, can you stop yelling at the sky and come watch The Great British Bake-off with me?”

He’s okay with staying inside with you as long as you’re hydrated and well rested

And if that pretentious bitch doesn’t win the episode you’re watching

Karl Heisenberg

He has the same allergies as you, so you’re miserable together

You stay in bed with red eyes and sniffling noses, barely talking because of your sore throats

He doesn’t even yell at Sturm as much because he’s too tired

“Kit, can you yell at Sturm? I don’t wanna.”

You’re the doctor of the household since poor miserable Karl is too tired to do anything

You shuffle to the Duke, looking high as fuck with your red eyes, and you buy everything you need to fix your drama queen

“Ah, I see mister Heisenberg’s allergies have rolled around? Well, now he has someone to share them with.”

You just pay Sturm on the head when you pas him

“Thanks, kit. You’re a lifesaver.”

You become his personal body pillow for however long his allergies last

He’s also your body pillow

Because you’re both miserable

“Heis, it’s your turn to go to the Duke’s.”

“Fuck off, I’m dying.”

This lasts for a month

Hope you like it, you poor allergy ridden bloke! <3

[snakelaufeyson]

Dating Someone Who Likes to Cook Headcanons - Karl Heisenberg x Reader

Author’s Note: I’m completely in love with this hobo metal man, and I’m not even ashamed to admit it at this point. I mean look at him! He deserves all the happiness in the world and if canon won’t give that to him I will. Anyways, this was so much fun to write! It’s a little bit long but I hope you guys don’t mind, and if you have requests for him hit me up! I don’t think any prounons are used here!

Listen, this man either knows how to cook very well or not at all, there’s no middle ground

Either way, Karl doesn’t cook much

He doesn’t have the time nor the patience to do so, or that’s what he keeps telling himself

If it’s up to him this man will only eat when he remembers he has to

This means he will be having the worst headache of his life, his body weak and he’ll be grumpier than ever

And he will go “Oh shit I haven’t eaten in 2 days, I should probably do something about that”

Fucking idiot

He gets to lost in his work sometimes

Too many times

Please remind him to take a break so he can sleep and eat, for the love of god

Anyways…

Don’t get me wrong, he loves food, especially meat and anything sweet (chocolate is his favourite)

The man has a sweet tooth and you cannot convince me otherwise

But if old bread or canned food is all there is to eat in the kitchen he is eating that and there’s nothing you can do about it!

The Duke doesn’t exactly stay close to the factory and he is lazy™️

It gets to a point where you’re not even sure if what he’s eating is edible anymore

I mean, sure, that thing used to be bread once, but that was two weeks ago

“Karl, if you can no longer cut it with a knife it is no longer edible!”

*Proceeds to aggressively stab the bread and eat it right out of the utensil without breaking eye contact with you once just so he can invalidate your argument*

“This is the best bread I’ve ever eaten in my life, you’re just being a fucking picky eater!”

Karl doesn’t think he’s ever seen you so frustrated

It’s almost too funny, your face is a mixture of pure shock and utter disappointment

But he’s not backing down

Sigh

Why is this metal man so chaotic

Stubborn little shit

You know you will never be able to convince him this way

And you’re tired of trying to talk some sense into that stubborn head of his

So you take matters into your own hands

See, before you came to the village you used to cook all the time, it was one of your favourite things to do

You learned to cook with your grandmother, and thanks to her it was something you always did with a whole lot of love

It was something that brought you not only happiness but entertainment as well

You used to watch all those famous baking shows like Masterchef and British Bake Off

Look me in the eyes and tell me Heisenberg wouldn’t love to watch Masterchef just to see Gordon Ramsay lose his shit

You can’t

Moving on, you knew what you were doing

But you simply could not cook something when the only thing left to eat in this whole fucking factory was old bread and canned gooey beef

You wake up one morning ready to change things

You assumed Karl was, as usual, working way more than he should on the lower levels of the factory, hidden inside his workshop

So it was time to put your plan into action

Not bothering to go down just to say goodbye you make your way towards the front door

“Where do you think you’re going, buttercup?”

You almost jump out of fear, not expecting him to be in the living room at the time

You turn around and face him, the man smoking a cigar while sitting in an armchair and chuckling at your reaction, especially the pout you made after seeing him laughing

“I’m going to buy some things with the Duke, Heis.”

“Some things?”

Something was very sus about this whole thing, he was sure of it

You take a deep breath and smile, praying to god he believed you

“We’re out of shampoo, honey. You might not mind your hair getting greasy but I do. Don’t worry, I’ll be back so fast you won’t even notice I was gone.”

Lies. He always noticed when you were gone. The factory got into a type of quiet he was no longer used to and had grown to hate

He would never forbid you from going anywhere, but it didn’t change the fact he didn’t like it and missed you dearly when you were gone

Heisenberg would never admit this to a single soul, but every time you left he was terrified you would never come back

The world turned its back to him, everyone abandoned him, and yet somehow you would always find your way back to his arms

He couldn’t understand why but he was eternally grateful for you just being there

You lean in and kiss him goodbye on the cheek, but before you can get away he pulls you close by the collar of your shirt, capturing your lips in his

Not expecting the kiss, you eventually pull away breathless, your face red as the tomatoes you planned on buying

Karl, on the other hand, had the smuggest smirk on his face

That little shit

You playfully push his hat down, covering his eyes while you laugh through your nose at his antics and start to leave

“Don’t take too long, pup!”

You look back and see him smiling down at you, a genuine, happy smile that he should not let out as rarely as he did

Seeing him like that brought you so much happiness it almost made you drop everything and just stay with him for the day

Almost…

But you were too determined to follow your plan

So off you went, coming back sometime later carrying with you two heavy bags filled with all kinds of vegetables, meats, and ingredients, your partner nowhere to be found

For once in your life you were glad Heisenberg’s workshop was deep down the factory, far from the living area

Throwing everything on the kitchen counter you immediately starting cooking, organizing everything you had to do in your head

A few hours later the sun had already set on the windows of the room, and you had a big tired smile on your face, extremely proud of yourself

You had managed to make gnocchi with tomato sauce and filet mignon, not forgetting the beautiful chocolate cake that was waiting for dessert

Shaking your fears away you run towards the elevator shaft, bouncing up and down with excitement

When you finally get to his workshop Karl is bend in front of the table, studying some of his confusing blueprints

You hug his back, pushing his hair away from his face and kissing his cheek, feeling his body instantly relax

“Well someone’s in a good mood.”

“You have no idea.”

He turns to the side, cupping your cheek with his hand “So, how was your walk?”

“It was good! But I’m happier to be here now with you.”

You were being completely honest, and he knew it

You knew exactly how to pull his strings without even realizing

This man’s heart is on the palm of your hand

Please take good care of it

“Anyway, I made you something and I need you to come with me! And I won’t take no as an answer.”

He sighs but smiles, knowing damn well there was no way he could get out of this, instead deciding to take your hand and let you guide him

He could tell how excited you were

It made him very soft

Getting out of the elevator he could already smell it

He had no idea what it was

But he knew he loved it

And that he was starving

Finally getting into the kitchen you let go of his hand and stand beside the setup table, whispering a little “Surpriseee!”

*Shocked pikachu face*

You look at him looking for something, anything

Because honestly his silence was so out of character that it was starting to freak you out

You search for his snarky remarks, his jokes, and usual teasing

But you find absolutely none of that

Only shock and admiration

The man could very well start crying at this point

You did all of this? For him? Why? What did he do to deserve you? Where was the catch? There had to be a catch!

It’s literally that meme

Heisenberg: “I have no feelings, nothing can affect me! My heart is protected by impenetrable metal walls!”

You: *make him a home-cooked meal*

Heisenberg: *gripping his heart* “Goddamnit”

“Why did you… why did you do this?”

You give him a soft smile, walking towards him and holding his hands in yours

“Because I care about you, Karl. And if you’re not going to take care of yourself, someone’s gotta do it.”

He’s doing his best not to start crying, hiding his face in his hair

No one ever cared about him before, but there you were, showering him with love

Taking a deep breath, Karl recomposes himself and holds the sides of your face, pulling you close

“I fucking love you.”

You get on your tiptoes, kissing him passionately

“I love you too.”

Sitting down you explain to him everything you did, a sly grin showing up in his face the moment you mention the cake

“Oh but kitten, I would much rather have you as desert.”

And there was the Karl Heisenberg you knew and loved

“That can be arranged.” you smile, quickly adding “After dinner!”

“You’re spoiling me too much, buttercup.”

“Oh, I’m aware, but you deserve it.”

He opens the palm of his calloused hand, silently asking to hold yours

Kissing your knuckles with an unusual tenderness you can’t help but smile

“Thank you, darlin’, for everything.”

Things would change after that

You two decide you would make having lunch together a tradition, at least most days of the week

Karl would love to help you out in the kitchen

“Hey buttercup, look how fast I can cut these vegetables!”

The childlike wonder in his face was just *chef’s kiss*

He loves you, and he loves your food

And he may not be able to say it but he is extremely grateful for you taking care of him

[cornfields-and-bad-dreams]

Hello there... This is my first time requesting so hopefully I'm doing this right but... Karl Heisenberg with S/O who's learning German? S/O is doing it in secret, they have their headphones on and listening and practicing Pronouncing words and they just don't notice that Karl is there? When they get startled by him they just tell Schiesse (I tend to do that 😂) also they got a bit of an accent? (obviously lol)

If possible can you make reader British?

I don't mind what gender you give reader what you like works just don't make reader too kind or soft just normal or tomboyish also not short

Okay, so I forgot about making them British, so sorry about that, but I hope this is good enough.

Rating: Teen and up

Word count: 786

Warnings: foul language.

"Gottverdammt, dummes Stück Scheiße." (God damn it, stupid piece of shit.)

You jumped at the sudden sound of Karl's voice, that and him hitting the table hard with his fist. Despite not knowing German you could tell what he'd said was some form of expletive. Looking up from your book you noted that Karl was studying his hand, you then noticed the blood trickling down his fingers.

"Are you alright?"

You set your book down and moved over beside him.

"Yeah yeah. Just jammed my fingers is all."

You inspected his fingers, despite the amount of blood that was seeping from the cuts they didn't seem too deep. You sighed.

"You should go clean those up."

Karl clicked his tongue and stood up. Exiting the office he spoke once more as he disappeared into the factory.

"Tut weh wie ein Motherfucker." (Hurts like a motherfucker.)

Other than motherfucker, you weren't sure what he'd said. You could glean context, but other than that you were in the dark. Karl didn't use German too often, well, not with you. But you'd hear him using it here and there under different circumstances. You were always curious as to what he'd say, you didn't like being out of the loop, and honestly, you felt like if you could understand him it could bring you just a little bit closer to him. Not that you weren't close as it was, just, Karl was a cautious man. It had taken time for him to trust you, and more time for him to realize his feelings towards you, yet you knew a part of him was scared of the closeness. Scared that you'd leave him, betray him, or worse he'd lose you. So the thought of learning German for him made you think that maybe it would show him how devoted to him you were. Yet, you were hesitant to ask him to teach you, he was busy with orders from Mother Miranda and building his metal army. You didn't want to ask him to do anything more. Maybe you could teach yourself? The thought had crossed your mind before, you were smart, surely you could figure it out. You'd need some kind of guide though, a book or something. Perhaps the Duke could be of assistance.

It was a few days later and the Duke had arrived to drop off some things you and Karl had asked for. Karl was busy with work so you had the perfect opportunity to ask Duke for help.

"Hey, Duke? Do you have any books or something on German?"

"Looking to expand your vocabulary, are you? I don't have anything like that at the moment, but I can certainly attain something for the right price." The man grinned.

"Whatever the price, I'll pay."

"Excellent." Duke laughed and clapped his hands.

It was a week before The Duke had returned. You'd found that he'd acquired you quite a few books and audiotapes on German.

"I hope these will suffice."

"This is perfect. Thank you, Duke." You gave him a big smile.

"Anything for a paying customer."

You dove right into learning, you studied the books and listened to the tapes. Every day you would practice in secret while Karl worked. You wanted it to be a surprise.

Sitting at the desk in the bedroom you had your headphones on, listening to one of the tapes. While you listened you worked on writing as well, you nearly had a whole sheet of paper written out. Suddenly a hand came down on your shoulder.

"Scheisse." You jumped.

Pulling off your headphones you looked over your shoulder to find Karl.

"Don't scare me like that." You scolded.

"I called your name, obviously you couldn't hear me. What are you doing? And did you just speak German?" Karl leaned forward around you and plucked the sheet of paper off the desk.

"N-no, don't." You tried to stand up and snatch the paper out of his hand, but he just pushed you back down into the seat and held the paper up out of reach.

Scanning the paper Karl Smiled.

"You did speak German, and you're writing it too." Karl laughed looking down at you. "You're learning German and you didn't tell me?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise." You groaned.

"I see, and what made you want to learn it?"

"I hear you speaking German sometimes, I want to know what you're saying. Plus, I thought it would make you happy." You stood up, his hand now gone from your shoulder.

Karl nodded and smiled. Pulling you in close by your hips he gave you a kiss.

"Alles an dir macht mich glücklich." (Every thing about you makes me happy.)

[lovelywingsart]

More of the Resident Evil cats because yes ouo (and because everyone seemed to like them, wow!! Werewolf!Heisenberg and Resi8Cats are pretty popular with all of you, aren't they? uwu)

I had the cute idea for Alcina being a glorious foof and the daughters just following in a little line like the cute little fluffs they are

And then Heisenberg holding back(and trying not to laugh at) Emelia who wants to tear someone to shreds. XD (Emelia basically being a fluffy potato when angry, just like all British Shorthairs. There's a reason Karl is trying not to laugh, she's just... round. :'D Also, he still has his prosthetic leg! <3 )

[thinkdash]

My twin brother and I grew up during World War II, and then in its long aftermath, when we lived with our military family in occupied Japan and Germany. WWII was the central pivot of the 20th Century. Before it, there were seven world powers; after, two.

I later was a postdoc working with renowned physicist Edward Teller, who told me many inside stories about the Manhattan Project that built the nuclear (“atomic”) bombs. My natural, science fictional instincts tinkered with the many what-if notions about how the war might have been different, and one became concrete in my mind: what if we’d gotten the bomb earlier?

New York Times bestselling author Gregory Benford creates an alternate history about the creation of the atomic bomb that explores what could have happened if the bomb was ready to be used by June 6, 1944. Buy it on Amazon

Teller thought it could have, and so did my father in law, Karl P. Cohen, who worked in the early nuclear days and the Manhattan Project.

Everybody loves success, so historians have papered over the fact that when we developed the atomic bomb we made a decisive bad judgment that cost over half a billion dollars of 1940s dollars and delayed the war’s end by about a year.

The bad decision came in 1942 from General Leslie Groves, who directed the Manhattan Project, which was the U.S. R&D program to develop the first nuclear weapons. To make uranium suitable for an atomic bomb, you must enrich it up to weapons-grade, so that it is almost pure U-235, the element’s most fissile isotope. Groves chose to pursue gaseous diffusion over an alternate concept—Karl Cohen and Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Harold Urey’s centrifugal separation—to enrich uranium up to weapons-grade.

We now know that was a huge mistake. Karl and Harold Urey said so then.

If we had stuck with centrifugal separation for another six months we would’ve solved its engineering problems, without question. Gaseous diffusion did not have the necessary semi permeable membranes when Groves decided to use it, and it took two more years—until 1944—to develop them. Nobody uses diffusion to separate isotopes now; too expensive and slow. But the politics of the time weighted Groves decision.

The crucial turning points in my alternative history are the events early in the Manhattan Project, when the Urey group at Columbia could not get funding for centrifuge development. We forget the style of science in that era, when government did little research and corporations gave small sums for specific developments. All such work focused on acquiring technologies useful in the short term.

Big Science came into being for the first time in the Manhattan Project’s large laboratories and intricate coordination, invented chiefly by Groves, Oppenheimer, Fermi and Lawrence. Karl Cohen once remarked to me that in 1939 he and Urey estimated that to develop fast centrifuges might take as much as $100,000 – “so then we knew it was impossible!” At that time Karl was earning less than $2,000 a year.

Suppose we do the Manhattan Project job right, first time.

So how to use a bomb? There would be a fresh one every month or two, at best, so what’s the first target?

In the novel, everybody thinks Berlin is the obvious target. I asked military types and they said no, you must leave in place the civilian authority that can surrender. This is standard doctrine. But in 1944?

We now know that the Prussian wing of the German Army’s General Staff tried to negotiate through the British for at least a cease-fire, from 1943 onward. They tried to kill Hitler and nearly did in July 1944. The commanding generals were all on battlefields in 1944, not Berlin--where the Nazi Party types, whom the Prussians hated, were dug in.

So… What to do with these elements?

I researched many off-trail threads that really happened, but we forget:

That both sides thought of using radioactive uranium as a pollutant, akin to poison gas and worked out details.

That Eisenhower sent teams with Geiger counters to measure such use at Normandy.

That we so feared a German nuclear program, the General commanding the Manhattan Project, Leslie Groves, sent in his top agent to assassinate Heisenberg if the agent thought Heisenberg’s team was getting close to a bomb.

Blend these and many existing letters and memos, my memories from knowing most of the characters in the novel--season to taste, heat, stir.

One essential element in the novel is how well I knew the characters. I worked with them as a young physicist, when they were the wise men of the field. These choices fill out the novel. That gave me insights to go beyond the stacks-of-facts approach historians and alternative history writers suffer under: I knew how they spoke, acted, joked.

The war ends in 1944. What does that do?

First, the Soviets don’t get to reign over Eastern Europe, because they’re kept out of the lands they occupied in 1944-45.

Second, we see what use “tactical” (less than a megaton) weapons have.

Third, ten million more people survive the war. Plus other benefits, which come to life in a long coda to the novel, fiction set in 1963.

To write that part, I summoned up my own memories of the postwar era. There was much terror and thought about the introduction of the H-bomb and the arms race following.

Many thought the world could not survive such forces for long. Such views had accelerated after the grave gray giants of the world, such as Bertrand Russell and even Einstein himself. They made clear predictions in the mid-1950s. They felt that hydrogen bomb war between the USA and USSR was inevitable unless some higher body held all such weapons: the United Nations. Russell had even predicted that the death of civilization under a myriad of the H-bomb’s crimson blisters was inevitable and would happen before 1960.

Can you imagine how the United Nations, holding all the weaponry, could make sure no one else got them? I can’t, and I’m a science fiction writer.

How do the novel’s ideas play out, giving us a different post-WWII world?

I wrote The Berlin Project to see how we might have had a better world than the one we’re in.

Hint: H-bombs aren’t a really good idea.

Gregory Benford is a physicist, educator, and author. He received a BS from the University of Oklahoma and a PhD from the University of California, San Diego. Benford is a professor of physics at the University of California, Irvine, where he has been a faculty member since 1971. He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. He has served as an advisor to the Department of Energy, NASA, and the White House Council on Space Policy. He is the author of over twenty novels, including In the Ocean of the Night, The Heart of the Comet (with David Brin), Foundation's Fear, Bowl of Heaven (with Larry Niven), Timescape, and The Berlin Project. A two-time winner of the Nebula Award, Benford has also won the John W. Campbell Award, the British Science Fiction Award (BSFA), the Australian Ditmar Award, and the 1990 United Nations Medal in Literature. In 1995 he received the Lord Foundation Award for contributions to science and the public comprehension of it. He has served as scientific consultant to the NHK Network and for Star Trek: The Next Generation.

http://ift.tt/2riyDnq

Think-Dash.com

[cvagent2]

Making a better World War II

My twin brother and I grew up during World War II, and then in its long aftermath, when we lived with our military family in occupied Japan and Germany. WWII was the central pivot of the 20th Century. Before it, there were seven world powers; after, two.

I later was a postdoc working with renowned physicist Edward Teller, who told me many inside stories about the Manhattan Project that built the nuclear (atomic) bombs. My natural, science fictional instincts tinkered with the many what-if notions about how the war might have been different, and one became concrete in my mind: what if we'd gotten the bomb earlier?

New York Times bestselling author Gregory Benford creates an alternate history about the creation of the atomic bomb that explores what could have happened if the bomb was ready to be used by June 6, 1944. Buy it on Amazon

Teller thought it could have, and so did my father in law, Karl P. Cohen, who worked in the early nuclear days and the Manhattan Project.

Everybody loves success, so historians have papered over the fact that when we developed the atomic bomb we made a decisive bad judgment that cost over half a billion dollars of 1940s dollars and delayed the war's end by about a year.

The bad decision came in 1942 from General Leslie Groves, who directed the Manhattan Project, which was the U.S. R&D program to develop the first nuclear weapons. To make uranium suitable for an atomic bomb, you must enrich it up to weapons-grade, so that it is almost pure U-235, the element's most fissile isotope. Groves chose to pursue gaseous diffusion over an alternate concept-Karl Cohen and Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Harold Urey's centrifugal separation-to enrich uranium up to weapons-grade.

We now know that was a huge mistake. Karl and Harold Urey said so then.

If we had stuck with centrifugal separation for another six months we would've solved its engineering problems, without question. Gaseous diffusion did not have the necessary semi permeable membranes when Groves decided to use it, and it took two more years-until 1944-to develop them. Nobody uses diffusion to separate isotopes now; too expensive and slow. But the politics of the time weighted Groves decision.

The crucial turning points in my alternative history are the events early in the Manhattan Project, when the Urey group at Columbia could not get funding for centrifuge development. We forget the style of science in that era, when government did little research and corporations gave small sums for specific developments. All such work focused on acquiring technologies useful in the short term.

Big Science came into being for the first time in the Manhattan Project's large laboratories and intricate coordination, invented chiefly by Groves, Oppenheimer, Fermi and Lawrence. Karl Cohen once remarked to me that in 1939 he and Urey estimated that to develop fast centrifuges might take as much as $100,000 so then we knew it was impossible! At that time Karl was earning less than $2,000 a year.

Suppose we do the Manhattan Project job right, first time.

So how to use a bomb? There would be a fresh one every month or two, at best, so what's the first target?

In the novel, everybody thinks Berlin is the obvious target. I asked military types and they said no, you must leave in place the civilian authority that can surrender. This is standard doctrine. But in 1944?

We now know that the Prussian wing of the German Army's General Staff tried to negotiate through the British for at least a cease-fire, from 1943 onward. They tried to kill Hitler and nearly did in July 1944. The commanding generals were all on battlefields in 1944, not Berlin--where the Nazi Party types, whom the Prussians hated, were dug in.

So What to do with these elements?

I researched many off-trail threads that really happened, but we forget:

That both sides thought of using radioactive uranium as a pollutant, akin to poison gas and worked out details.

That Eisenhower sent teams with Geiger counters to measure such use at Normandy.

That we so feared a German nuclear program, the General commanding the Manhattan Project, Leslie Groves, sent in his top agent to assassinate Heisenberg if the agent thought Heisenberg's team was getting close to a bomb.

Blend these and many existing letters and memos, my memories from knowing most of the characters in the novel--season to taste, heat, stir.

One essential element in the novel is how well I knew the characters. I worked with them as a young physicist, when they were the wise men of the field. These choices fill out the novel. That gave me insights to go beyond the stacks-of-facts approach historians and alternative history writers suffer under: I knew how they spoke, acted, joked.

The war ends in 1944. What does that do?

First, the Soviets don't get to reign over Eastern Europe, because they're kept out of the lands they occupied in 1944-45.

Second, we see what use tactical (less than a megaton) weapons have.

Third, ten million more people survive the war. Plus other benefits, which come to life in a long coda to the novel, fiction set in 1963.

To write that part, I summoned up my own memories of the postwar era. There was much terror and thought about the introduction of the H-bomb and the arms race following.

Many thought the world could not survive such forces for long. Such views had accelerated after the grave gray giants of the world, such as Bertrand Russell and even Einstein himself. They made clear predictions in the mid-1950s. They felt that hydrogen bomb war between the USA and USSR was inevitable unless some higher body held all such weapons: the United Nations. Russell had even predicted that the death of civilization under a myriad of the H-bomb's crimson blisters was inevitable and would happen before 1960.

Can you imagine how the United Nations, holding all the weaponry, could make sure no one else got them? I can't, and I'm a science fiction writer.

How do the novel's ideas play out, giving us a different post-WWII world?

I wrote The Berlin Project to see how we might have had a better world than the one we're in.

Hint: H-bombs aren't a really good idea.

Gregory Benford is a physicist, educator, and author. He received a BS from the University of Oklahoma and a PhD from the University of California, San Diego. Benford is a professor of physics at the University of California, Irvine, where he has been a faculty member since 1971. He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. He has served as an advisor to the Department of Energy, NASA, and the White House Council on Space Policy. He is the author of over twenty novels, including In the Ocean of the Night, The Heart of the Comet (with David Brin), Foundation's Fear, Bowl of Heaven (with Larry Niven), Timescape, and The Berlin Project. A two-time winner of the Nebula Award, Benford has also won the John W. Campbell Award, the British Science Fiction Award (BSFA), the Australian Ditmar Award,and the 1990 United Nations Medal in Literature. In 1995 he received the Lord Foundation Award for contributions to science and the public comprehension of it.He has served as scientific consultant to the NHK Network and for Star Trek: The Next Generation.

[lovelywingsart]

Here, have Metalworks(Heisenberg and Emelia) as cats.

What do you get when you add a Maine Coon to a British Shorthair?

A giant fluff ball, a smol potato, and ALOT of purring and cuddling because warm and... well, cats.

And in the distance, you can hear my heart explode. TTuTT

//Imagine Karls purrs though- If you know how big Maine Coons can get (hint, they're MASSIVE), that purr must be just... yes.

I doubt he'd admit to any kind of affection save for the tail thing and usual cat activities, but both of them absolutely have loud motorboat purrs. Emelias purrs may not be AS loud, but she's still pretty damn loud for a smaller cat.//