#Sharon Wilkins

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

Unsung Heroes: Meat Lady

Welcome to Unsung Heroes, a mini-series celebrating the minor & supporting characters in the National Treasure universe.

First up is, of course, Meat Lady. Officially credited as "Butcher Lady," Meat Lady is, arguably, the true national treasure.

Played by the inimitable Sharon Wilkins, Meat Lady steals the show for the the entire exchange that she's in.

When Abigail is separated from Riley in Reading Terminal Market, she escapes from Shaw but jumping behind a butcher's counter. And the attendant of that counter is...well, supportive, but not impressed.

I think this scene works for two reasons.

The reasons ↓

The first is Meat Lady herself. Wilkins give a fantastically deadpan performance as a character who is basically a turbo Riley.

Hear me out.

Riley is the universally beloved main character in National Treasure, sand I think a lot of that has to do with his everyman persona. While all this crazy, outlandish shit is happening he's just like...wtf. why??

He's bringing a lot of this energy to the story.

And I would argue that Meat Lady brings a condensed dose of that same energy. She is just so done with whatever is going on here.

And yet, like Riley, she is actually quite supportive of the heistin' huntin' characters.

MEAT LADY I see why you left him.

Enough said.

The second reason is because the tension is actually really high. As much as this scene is both a physical and comedic rest from the chase sequence, it also underscores exactly how much danger our heroes are in without including any violence.

Something about how intense and heavily armed Shaw seems from Abigail's place behind the case, and how strongly she reacts to seeing the gun he has holstered, really emphasizes how much danger she and the rest of Team Treasure are in.

Like, we're not really expecting Ben to get shot when he's running through the graveyard. We've seen movies.

But this? This scene makes it clear that Shaw is absolutely willing to kill Abigail and anybody else who gets in his way, all without him picking up the gun.

But we're here to talk about Meat Lady.

Nothing close to this scene exists in the 2003 script, by the way. That Philadelphia chase sequence is an action-heavy car chase featuring a Corvette, a horse, and a Declaration stored carefully in the cleavage.

Abigail is briefly kidnapped by Ian in that version, but I love this quiet moment so, so much more.

What happened to her?

I like to think that first she saw coverage of the treasure on the news and was like, well I'll be damned.

And I like to think that Abigail tracked her down to thank her for quite possibly saving her life. They went out for coffee, Abigail told the full story of the treasure hunt and the chase, and Meat Lady shared more about herself.

Abigail would want to invest in whatever Meat Lady's passion is. Maybe it's private school for her kids, buying the butcher's stall, franchising, going back to school, whatever. I'm sure there would be some social two stepping involved to find an arrangement that worked for both parties, but imo Meat Lady is deserving of a bit of that finders' fee. She saved Abigail's bacon.

Yes, I've been waiting all article to use that joke.

Here's to Meat Lady, who looked Shaw in the face and said, 'bitch.'

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Maid in Manhattan 2002

[drama-glob]

can female Asmodeus be voiced by Sharon Wilkins who played sour kangaroo from the broadway musical seussical? Listen to the song biggest blame fool and you’ll see what I mean :)

I think she could. Her voice sounds pretty and I think she's got the range to cover Asmodeus's singing capabilities. :)

[graciebrams]

𓇢𓆸 get to know me

hi I'm ema you can call me em or ems <3 my pronouns are she/her, desi 𐙚˙⋆.˚ 🎐🌟💌

✧ i ١٥٧٤ : rose gold, silver jewellery, coffee, books, ribbons, hoop earrings, lipgloss, handwritten letters, choclate, colours pink, brown and sage green, bracelets, cats, ballet flats, sundresses, rings, sunsets, dried out flower petals, collecting old movie tickets, etc ᱖　⠀˙⠀　｡

ꪆৎ fav artists : gracie abrams, taylor swift, sabrina carpenter, lexi jayde, eileen alister, alessi rose, alix page, maise peters, birdy, the nbhd, chase atlantics, the weeknd, johnny orlando, harry styles, lizzy mcalpine, beabadoobee, girl in red, olivia rodrigo, evanescance, ROLEMODLE, phoebe bridgers, 1D, billie eilish, finneas, lexi caroll, clairo, conan gray, cate, CAS, gracen reign, madison beer, mazzy stars, MARINA, lyn lapid ᱖　⠀˙⠀　｡

✧ fav shows: gilmore girls, anne with an e, lockwood and co., two broke girls, derry girls, b99, my mad fat diary, opposite sex, YOU, insatiable, the office, the good doctor, dash and lily, the irregulars, my life with the walter boys, the summer i turned pretty, friends, breaking bad, girl meets world, my lady jane, maxton hall, ted lasso, supernatural, gossip girl, the oc, bridgerton, OBX. ᱖　⠀˙⠀　｡

ꪆৎ fav youtubers: carys rachel, ceri jones, heather wotherspoon, ur internet mom ash, luna montana, audrey mika, basicgorl, just sharon, naomi victoria, anna lenks, niki and gabi, layze, sarah betts, emma chamberlain, ahaspoofy, tia gabriella, caitlyn marie, nailea, sadie aldis, grace's room, sturniolo triplets, tara yummy, benoftheweek, larray, madeline argy, sab quesada, cam and fam, kalogera sisters, quen blackwell, alana lintao, sam and colby, melieya, kailpeery, nick wilkins. ᱖　⠀˙⠀　｡

✧ other favs: sophia birlem, sadie sink, cailey spainey, lola tung, chris briney, daisy edgar jones, amybeth mcnulty, lily collins, rowan blanchard, nicola coughlan, emma stone, sarah carpenter, cory foeglmanis, diana silvers, nicholas hoult, caitlyn dever, lauren graham, sarosie ronan, anne hathway, tom holland, zendaya, andrew garfield, laura marano, florence pugh, jenna ortega, cooper koch, harrison osterfield, harry holland, sam holland, paddy holland, tuwaine barett. ᱖　⠀˙⠀　｡

ꪆৎ fav movies: little women (1994 and 2019), the princess diaries (1 and 2), anne of green gables, carrie 1976, roman holiday, sabrina (1954), qala, freaky friday, legally blonde, 13 going on 30, to all the boys, kissing booth, adventures in babysitting, 16 wishes, 16 candles, how to build a better boy, priscilla 2023, the fault in our stars, dirty dancing, love rosie, stuck in love, tolkien, the devil all the time, all spiderman and marvel movies, uncharted,

prev urls : sparksssflytv -> graciebrams

• divider by @issysh3ll

[samuelyaboyy]

Had to make a introduction abut me cuz idk

My name is Sarah

My favorite shows are the muppet show, animaniacs, ghost and Molly McGee, casagrandes, the loud house, don't hug me I'm scared, sonic x, sonic boom, the letter people, Eddsworld, sesame street, Rocko's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, CRiTORA, Catdog, moral Orel, muppets tonight, fanboy and Chum Chum, Fred Figglehorn, cartoonmania, mandela catalogue, walten files, Fred the Show, hi hi puffy Ami yumi, your favorite martian the series, nostalgia critic, angry video game nerd and potter puppet pals

My favorite movies are the muppet movie, the muppets, muppets most wanted, adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Fred the movie, Fred 3 the movie, Fred 2 night of the living Fred and CartoonMania: the movie

My hyperfixations are mad scientist cartoon, the rockafire explosion, goosebumps, vocaloid, utau and clone high

My favorite music artists are lemon demon, neil cicierega, your favorite martian, will wood, will wood and the tapeworms, tally hall, Bart baker, ghost and pals, your favorite martian and oingo boingo

My favorite video games are quiplash, trivia murder party, trivia murder party 2, Friday night funkin, five nights at Freddy's, Dave and Bambi, sonic the hedgehog, Omori, team fortress 2, roblox, item asylum, survive and kill the killers on area 51, my singing monsters, my muppets show and my singing monsters dawn of fire

My comfort media are inanimate insanity and peewee's playhouse

I am a bisexual, pansexual polyamorous aroace non-binary transgender genderfluid and xenogender boy

I use he/they/faun/xem/it pronouns and neopronouns

I make xenogenders

I make headcanon about characters from every media

I'm neurodivergent, autistic and ADHD

DNI if:

Homophobic

Transphobic

Ableist

Racist

Vegan

Imvu players

P3d0

Autism speaks supporters/defenders

Xenogender anti

Neopronoun anti

RCTA

Z00ph1l3

N$fw

F3t!sh ppl

Inflation and v0r3 enjoyers

Lemon Demon anti

Spam bots

Favorite characters

Muppets - Uncle deadly, Dr phil van neuter johnny Fiama sal minella marvin Suggs Mr poodlepants chip bill the bug bobo the bear lew Zealand doctor Bunsen honeydew beaker Wayne and Wanda waldo C graphic digit newsman bill the bubble guy Wilkins wontkins bobby Benson link hogthrob Constantine the frog Sam the Eagle Howard Tubman Carter Zelda rose and Mulch

Sesame Street - Count von Count, Bill the Bug and Limbo/Nobody

Bart Baker - Taylor Swift, PSY, Lorde, William, Britney spears and Adam levine

Lemon Demon - Neil Cicierega

Animaniacs - Wakko Warner

The Ghost and Molly McGee - Sharon McGee, Leah stein-torres, Pete mcgee, Libby stein-torres, jinx, Molly McGee, scratch, Darryl McGee and Ezekiel tugbottom

Battle for Dream Island - Puffball

Friday night Funkin - Meri, Beepie, Dave and Bambi

Fred Franchise - Fred Figglehorn

Jashin-Chan - Hatsune Miku

CRiTORA - Kimi canicani, Iggy digahol, Avery Darling, eggy, queen virus, dundun qwerty, Pluto Georgia, spottie Leonard and Ernie joefreckler

Adventures of Elmo in grouchland - Huxley

Channel Awesome - Nostalgia Critic/Doug Walker

Muppets 2011 - Tex Richman

Cinemassacre - Angry Video Game Nerd

Muppet Movie - Max, Doc Hopper and Snake Walker

Pokemon - Sylveon

Fred the Movie - Kevin and Judy

Peewee's Playhouse - Cool Cat, Dirty Dog, Conky 2000, Randy and Chairry

Muppets from Space - K. Edgar singer

Rockafire Explosion - Rolfe Dewolfe and Dook Larue

Cartoonmania - Lucifer Killingsworth, Rufus, Ed Ted Ned and Fred, Anne Mermaid, Roy and Professor Qwertyson

Muppets Most Wanted - Dominic badguy

ABC Muppets - Pache/Pizza

Don't hug me I'm scared - Colin and Shrignold

Muppets Tonight - Heather Locklear

Muppets Wizard of Oz - Wicked Witch of the west

Crash and Bernstein - Crash

Fraggle Rock - Large Marvin fraggle

Clone High - Topher Bus, Abe, Professor Scudsworth and Mr. butlertron wesley

Scott the Woz - Scott the Woz

Owl House - Collector

BFFS list

@elle-eedee @emishows123 @splashy900 @boogiestronic80s @nightmaremp @moshywoosh @cheezecirno

Might pin this later 👀

This was inspired by @emishows123

[starlight-tav]

List of Non-fiction Books on Autism

[Please note: I am only listing the books I have read on this list. This is not meant to be a comprehensive or complete list at all. I want to share the books that have been helpful to me so far. *Updated 09/17/23]

Approaching Autistic Adulthood: The Road Less Travelled by Grace Liu

| This book has a lot of advice about navigating adulthood as an autistic person. I found the advice on dealing with burnout especially helpful!

The Autism Friendly Cook Book by Lydia Wilkins

| This is one of my favorite books! If you're like me, and you really struggle with all things kitchen and cooking, this is a really helpful resource. Not only does it have a useful section that details techniques and supplies that you may need, but the recipes have an estimated energy and skill level! This book has helped me approach cooking more prepared, which helps me with coping with anxiety and preventing meltdowns.

Connecting with the Autism Spectrum: How to Talk, how to Listen, and Why you Shouldn't Call it High-Functioning by Casey "Remrov" Vormer

| This book is one of the most accessible books I've read so far. The language is both concise and easier to follow than most. It is less general than some other books on this list, so if you don't relate to it immediately or at all, that doesn't make you more or less autistic. Your experience (including location, assigned gender, gender identity, sexuality, co-occuring conditions, etc.) influence the way you exist as an autistic person.

Living with PTSD on the Autism Spectrum: Insightful Analysis with Practical Applications by Lisa Morgan, M.ED. and Mary P. Donahue, PH.D.

| If you're struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and are on the Autism spectrum, this book could be really helpful! It provides research in plain language and offers helpful examples of how PTSD and ASD can interact. It also shares insight on how to recognize abuse and trauma, as well as how to advocate/seek advocacy for yourself or loved ones with ASD. I think the personal examples are really helpful, but I do want to caution that these also make it another very specific reading experience. If you read it, and do not see your experience represented, that is not your fault!

Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman

| Written by a journalist, this book packs a lot of information! It focuses on the history of Autism as a diagnoses, and for that reasons can be overwhelming and heartbreaking at times. The author is (I think) overly sympathetic to H*ns Asp*rger's contribution to Autism research; but from what I understand, the book was written at a time before the extent of his involvement with the N*zi party was understood, so maybe a future addition will reflect what we know now much better. I'm grateful that I read it, because it put my own late diagnosis into a perspective that gives me a little bit more peace.

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida

| This book is excellent to read for both autistic people and people who have an autistic loved one since it is focused on answering questions about how some autistic people think and behave (like stimming.) The author is an autistic boy who uses communication aids to express himself, and he has many insights into what it's like to have specific support needs and how it can be challenging to get those needs met.

Sensory: Life on the Spectrum organized and edited by Schnumm

| This is an anthology of comics by autistic creators who use visual story-telling to talk about their experiences. It was so nice to see my experiences in their stories, and to see other's experiences that I can't relate to as well!

Sincerely, Your Autistic Child: What People on the Autism Spectrum Wish Their Parents Knew About Growing Up, Acceptance, and Identity edited by Emily Page Ballou, Sharon daVanport, and Morénike Giwa Onaiwu

| This collection of essays/letters is wonderful, especially if you wish to learn more about the experiences of a diverse group of autistic people. It highlights that there are as many ways to be autistic as there are autistic people in the world (something that many of the books on this list say.)

Spectrums: Autistic Trans People in Their Own Words edited by Maxfield Sparrow

| "friend of mine, i am here, too. i am flapping and humming and feeling and being. i am learning who i am, i am being who i am, i am being loud and bright and joyful and true! and they are afraid, and they do not understand, but i am not for them, and friend of mine, neither are you" (from "a letter to a friend" by ren koloni).

This collection is so, so important to me as a genderqueer autist. The above quote is from my favorite contribution in the book, and I'm so grateful to the author for their words.

Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Dr. Devon Price

| This was the first book I read when I learned that I'm autistic. It is informative and compassionate. I think it is on the lower end of accessibility on the list so far, but it still does a wonderful job of explaining some of the difficult concepts. I think Dr. Price's explanation of the difference between bottom-up and top-down thinking is the best I've read so far, which was especially difficult for me to wrap my head around as a literal thinker. Just remember that if you pick up a book and it's difficult to understand, you're allowed to ask for help, take time to away from it, or put it down for good.

-

That's the list so far! I'm constantly searching for more books to read, so if you have recommendations, please let me know!

[arickaandherfictionalothers]

MCU Musical Fancast

Grease (1978)

Mains:

Danny Zuko: Bucky Barnes

Sandy Olsson: Aricka Rogers

~~~~~~~~~~

T-Birds:

Kenickie: Steve Rogers

Doody: Tony Stark

Sonny: Bruce Banner

Putzie: Thor

Pink Ladies:

Betty Rizzo: Darcy Lewis

Frenchy Facciano: Pepper

Jan: Jane

Marty Maraschino: Natasha Romanov

——————

Secondary:

Eugene Felsnic: Peter Parker

Patty Simcox: Wanda

Thomas "Tom" Chisum: Clint Barton

Leo "Crater-Face" Balmudo: Zemo

Charlene "Cha-Cha" DiGregorio: Maria Hill

——————-

School staff:

Principal McGee: Peggy Carter

Blanche Hodel: Sharon Carter

Coach Vince Calhoun: Nick Fury

Mrs. Murdock: Laura Cardellini

Mr. Lynch: Phil Coulson

Mr. Rudie: Logan Howlett

Nurse Wilkins: Susan Storm

——————-

Others:

Vi: Dori @yeehawselfshipping

Teen angel: Loki

Vince Fontaine: Johnny Storm

Johnny Casino & The Gamblers: Sam; Rhodey; Scott, and the GOTG

————-

@astralshipper @rosieshipper @hyperionshipping @letsgofoletsgo @tsundere-selfship @callsign-revenge

[clairity-org]

Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, MI 8/29/23 by Sharon Mollerus

[cipher-club]

can female Asmodeus be voiced by Sharon Wilkins who played sour kangaroo from the broadway musical seussical? Listen to the song biggest blame fool and you’ll see what I mean :)

Yes, she would be great as a gender bent Ozzie

[itsrattysworld]

Without Prejudice Mervelee Myers Must Put Focus On Role Of 1st Black Female Bishop Church Of England In Representation Of Disabled Women Target Of Systemic Discrimination The Police That Continue Their Hate Crimes Against Me When Nigel Pearce I Meet At Elim House Can Collude With Sharon Anthony Of Southwark Law Centre To Lie About Intellectual Property Activity I Arrange If PC Batchelor 2137AS Is Undercover Why Was He So Careless? I Will Be At A New Met For London -Lambeth-Launch Near Where I Run To Brixton Police Station For Rescue From Mr. Malachi Myers 2000 Rescued By Housing For Women Met Rv Rose Hudson-Wilkin AGM

Without Prejudice Mervelee Myers Questions Role Of The Rev Rose Hudon-Wilkin In Mediating For A Disabled Black Woman Who Met Her At Housing For Women AGM After Returning From Saying My Final Goodbyes To My Mother To Realise We Are Related When She Spoke About Going Home To Interview Her Mum For Her Autobiography Mrs. Gloria Cameron’s Case Dismissed Must Be Referenced For How Lucy Letby Was Abused…

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Did You Hear About the Morgans? 2009

[drama-glob]

can female asmodeus be voiced by sharon wilkins?

I could see or rather hear her playing female Asmodeus. :)

[musidoro]

PALINDROMES (2004), directed by Todd Solondz.

[frankenpagie]

10.27.18

(6)

[fromthemotionpicture]

[nightingaelic]

Companions react to the Courier going for the Pro Deathclaw Hunter or Cracker-Jack Timing challenges.

Why not both? TW: Blood, gore, explosions

"Come on!" the courier yelled, sprinting down the side of the quarry as fast as they could go.

The noise drew the attention of the deathclaws that had taken up residence in the limestone hollow, each one turning to sniff the wind and pinpoint the source of the disturbance. The alpha male roared, and the nesting mother crouched low over her jittery offspring in their gravel nest.

Still, the courier rushed headlong into the canyon, making much more noise than was safe. The rest of the deathclaws began to snarl and gallop toward them, but quick to meet the noise of their charge was an angry buzzing cresting the quarry's rim. A swarm of cazadores poured over the limestone edge, hot on the courier's trail.

Whooping with delight and maybe a little fear, the courier waved their hat in the air as they ran, signaling their companion. They began to zig and zag around the quarry basin, between the piles and crates of tell-tale red sticks that had mysteriously appeared in the deathclaws' den overnight.

Arcade Gannon: "What are we doing?" Arcade swore, pressed his back against the limestone slab he had been crouching behind and lit the fuse next to him. It fizzed and sparked, quickly burning down the rope and out of sight. Arcade covered his ears and shrank as far into the rock as he could, but the first blast of dynamite still shuddered through his whole body and cracked the air loud enough to deafen a cyberdog. Gravel flew left and right in Arcade's peripheral vision, and the explosions were quickly underscored by frantic roars and shrieks from the courier's injured prey.

Arcade could pick out the whine of the recharger rifle as it fired repeatedly, and counted six grenade blasts before the battle was over and the quarry fell quiet. He only dared to move when he heard the courier calling him, urging him to come out of his hiding place.

"I don't care if the NCR gives you an entire state to clear out another deathclaw nest, you are not bringing me along," he announced as he rose shakily to his feet, leaning on the huge chunk of limestone for support. "Having to watch you sneak around here last night planting bombs everywhere through a pair of binoculars was already torture, but this?"

The courier, who stood breathing heavily among the remains of deathclaw and cazador alike, shrugged. "Suit yourself. But next time, then, you're not seeing any of the caps."

Craig Boone: Boone let out the breath he had been holding, loosened his limbs and squeezed the trigger of his rifle. He pulled away from his scope to watch the bundle of dynamite explode once the bullet hit it, setting off a chain reaction that engulfed the quarry in flying rocks, fire and wasteland critters torn asunder. Outside the blast radius, Boone waited, listening to the screams of dying deathclaws being cut short and the whine of injured cazadores stopping one by one. Here and there, the hum of an energy weapon cut through the tangle of noise, and the pop of homemade grenades kicked up smaller bursts of crushed rock.

Eventually, the courier walked out of the Mojave's newest dust cloud and made their way up the ridge Boone had chosen as his vantage point. They were covered in blood, but Boone was certain it wasn't theirs. Any normal person wouldn't have walked out of that quarry alive: Then again, any normal person wouldn't have gotten up again if they'd been shot in the head.

They tossed their dented recharger rifle on the rock next to Boone and laid their string of tin grenades down reverently. "All finished."

Boone raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. The courier caught the rare display of skepticism and grinned. "What? After Coyote Tail Ridge, this was a cakewalk."

Lily Bowen: "Oh, be safe, pumpkin!" Unable to contain herself, Lily bellowed the warning to the courier while she struggled to light the fuse next to her. It took a few tries, but eventually the lighter sparked beneath her large fingers and the flame danced away into the quarry. A few of the closest deathclaws turned their heads toward the sound of her voice, and Lily gripped the hilt of her vertibird blade tightly as they caught sight of her and began to charge. She needn't have worried: They were right on top of the first pile of dynamite when the fuse burned up to it, and were completely annihilated in the resulting explosion.

As the dynamite caches around the quarry began to explode one by one, Lily waded in, sword swinging. All of the cazadores and deathclaws she encountered were already dead, but she buried her blade in their necks to make sure. A few of the creatures still cried out and writhed on the ground, but before Lily could make her way over to finish them off, they were silenced by smaller blasts or the beam of an energy weapon. Eventually, the only two things still making noise in the quarry were her and the courier.

"Come here, dearie," Lily insisted, pulling a handkerchief the size of a small tablecloth out of her overalls. "Let's get you cleaned up."

The courier half-heartedly tried to wave off her attempts to mop the blood and dust off of them, but eventually submitted to her attentions. "We'll go straight back to Sloan and ask to use their showers," she chided as she carefully wiped their face. "You have to look presentable before you turn in the bounty."

Raul Alfonso Tejada: Raul, who wasn't particularly religious, still hedged his bets and crossed himself before lighting the fuse. "No mames, courier," he muttered as the flame spread rapidly along the rope and out of sight. "I'd like to keep my limbs."

He needn't have worried. The explosions he had helped the courier rig went off without a hitch, one after the other in a chain reaction of destruction that showered the quarry in cazador segments and deathclaw tails. A piece of a cazador wing fluttered down out of the dusty sky, drifting softly to the ground until it came to rest next to Raul's boot. He picked the orange, gossamer insect part up, turning it this way and that to catch the light while the courier's sounds of battle echoed behind him.

"A little help, Raul?" he heard them call after a minute or two.

Raul sighed, plucked a spare stick of dynamite from the box they had left him, and walked down to the quarry bed. They were holding off a crippled deathclaw with their recharger rifle, which appeared to have been damaged enough to stop functioning. The immature deathclaw appeared to have realized its attacker was out of grenades as well, and had backed them up against a limestone slab.

Raul lit the fuse on the dynamite and chucked it at the deathclaw. "Duck and cover!"

The courier obeyed and hit the ground hard, just in time for the creature to explode over them. They disappeared under a shower of blood and scales.

"You owe me dinner at the Gourmand," Raul said, crossing his arms and surveying the scene. "Before you get any other bright ideas."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Oh hell yes." Cass popped her head up over the rock she'd been crouched behind, checking the courier's proximity to dynamite caches before setting the fuse she was holding alight. It did the trick, and Cass started whooping too as the explosions began to go off. Unable to hold back her laughter, Cass giggled with abandon as she chucked tin grenades and spare dynamite sticks into the resulting fray. The courier was little more than a shadow, putting down injured creatures left and right with merciful blasts from their recharger rifle that lit up the dust cloud like lightning.

When the debris began to settle, Cass pulled herself up onto the limestone and stretched out with a contented sigh. "That went a sight better than the last time we tried this, Six," she called.

The courier appeared in the quarry's center, panting. Their eyes were just as full of joy as Cass' had been, and they doubled over to put their hands on their knees and rest. "Agreed," they finally said, when they had caught their breath.

"Final count?" Cass asked.

They scanned the canyon together, counting on their fingers. "Twelve cazadores, including the one back at the memorial, and... nine deathclaws," the courier answered, their eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "Personal best?"

Cass nodded. "Definitely. And now..."

She scooted off the rock and patted dust out of her clothes. "... we collect. Those Sloan boys owe us big-time."

Veronica Santangelo: "Oh, this is a bad idea." Veronica gritted her teeth and lit the fuse the courier had left her with, then pressed her hands over her ears as tightly as she could. When the rumble of the explosions had stopped, she dared to peek outside her hiding place, but the floor of the quarry had disappeared under a cloud of smoke, limestone dust and cazador parts. The wounded cazadores were trying in vain to sting the angry lizards that wandered too close to where they lay. "Not gonna work, buddy," Veronica said under her breath, when one of them jabbed uselessly at a surviving deathclaw baby. "That stinger won't get through those scales and thick skin. You're toast."

A smaller explosion obliterated the two creatures as they were locked in combat, and the courier emerged from the mess. "Come down here!" they called, before firing a few blasts from their recharger rifle into the deathclaw for good measure.

Veronica skidded down the quarry's side, scattering gravel in her wake. She brushed her robes off and straightened up. "All finished?"

The courier beckoned her over to where the nesting deathclaw mother had been crouching before the dynamite made its entrance. There, miraculously untouched by the turmoil around them, lay a clutch of unhatched eggs.

"Ohhhhh." Veronica's eyes went wide, and she knelt down next to the nest. She felt the closest egg. It was still warm.

"What do you think?" the courier asked. "Jas Wilkins has dibs on one of these, but what about the rest? Take them to Red Lucy?"

Veronica picked the egg up and cradled it close. "Can I keep one?"

"Uhhhhh..." The courier shrugged. "Okay. But if we bring it back to the Lucky 38, Arcade will kill us."

ED-E: The eyebot at the Courier's side began blasting battle music from its speakers and drew a few of the pursuing cazadores away from the chase. When they were right on top of a crate of dynamite, deposited carefully under cover of night by the courier and their faithful robot, ED-E zapped the concealed fuse and blew the bugs to bits. The eyebot tumbled in mid-air, but quickly recovered and gained the attention of a pair of deathclaws, who fell for the exact same trick. They went down a little less easily, but the courier filled in with a tin grenade and a few blasts from their recharger rifle. The two spun around each other, ED-E beeping triumphantly under the music and the courier grunting and yelling with the effort, until no more challengers arose and they stood alone in the center of the quarry.

The courier turned to ED-E and checked it over for dents. ED-E beeped its satisfaction, and they laughed. "Good job, but we need to get you a new set of songs to play. Maybe we can find Mr. New Vegas and get some holotapes for you."

Rex: The cyberdog bounded at the courier's side, and darted away only once to avoid the Molotov cocktail they tossed at the nearest dynamite cache. The world exploded around the pair in a cacophony of disrupted earth, rock and enemies. Rex latched onto the nearest deathclaw's tail, forced it to turn in a tight circle and remain relatively still until the courier's gun took it down permanently. They tore their way through each of the challengers, insect and lizard alike. When the last enemy fell, Rex remained alert, scenting the settling dust and directing his companion to surviving cazadores and deathclaws that lay dying. Their breaths were each cut short by the courier, and Rex's heart sang.