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writershapeholeonthedoor · 10 months ago

Text

Take Care

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Wanda Maximoff

Summary: Everyone tries to warn Wanda what a bad idea it is to fall in love with the big, bad, scary spy.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language.

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When Wanda joined the Avengers she was sure she had just walked herself into some type of military team so strict and uptight that she was half expecting their fancy airplane to land in the middle of the desert surrounded by barbed wire and heavily armed men. They were, after all, the main ones responsible for keeping Earth safe from every type of villain that might come to them. Aliens, humans, and anything in between. Their team, formed by a literal God, a super soldier, a man who could turn himself into a green monster, a man whose big ego could barely fit inside his iron suit, and two humans - who, really, were probably better than all the other four combined - should live and breath for training, follow routines and focus on getting better and better every time.

Wanda realized pretty quickly that she had been wrong - very wrong - about her assumption.

Tony Stark was a kid stuck in a man’s body. He could barely keep a serious conversation with anyone and spent most of his time making jokes and provoking his colleagues. Bruce was one of the gentlest souls Wanda ever met - though, admittedly, she hadn’t met many of those during her lifetime - but he was a bit like an erudite and lived inside a lab. Thor assembled Wanda as that overly excited kid who got dropped at the amusement park with too much money. Steve was probably the only one among all of them who took this “hero” job as seriously as they should, though it was a bit wasted on him since he didn’t need to train to keep his shape and he was almost unmatchable. And Clint, well, Clint had so many dad jokes in his pockets that Wanda was as impressed by it as she was by his archery skills.

Less than a month of living with them and Wanda already realized that the men who were the most powerful and skilled people on Earth were just like every other man - but with powers and skills no one else had.

It did wonderful things for her because, for once, she didn’t walk into a military base camp like she thought she was going to when Steve and Clint convinced her to tag along after Sokovia, but also because the grief after losing Pietro was very consuming and it was good to have people around her who made her laugh or roll her eyes. It was good to feel things other than sorrow. She got closer to Steve more than anyone else since he was the calmest of them - centered and sweet - but, after a rough start when Wanda could barely get out of bed, she managed to form a bond with the entire team.

The point is that Wanda was aware that those people sometimes acted like the teenagers she often saw on the sitcoms she used to watch with her family. That, of course, did not prepare her to find out that, above all of that, their team also seemed to be keen on keeping updates to their comrades' private lives. In other words, they were gossipmongers.

“So…” The first one to bring it up had been Thor, surprisingly so because the God of Thunder was spending less and less time around nowadays. “I noticed you have a thing for the widow.”

Wanda was not at all surprised that the team picked up on the little signs that she might have taken a different liking to Natasha - of all people, really, and her heart had decided to beat a bit faster to the woman who could kill on two hundred and God knows how many different ways. There were spies on the team and most of them could, somehow, hear better than everyone else too. Also, they would never have gotten that far in battling the bad guys if they had been oblivious to things around them.

What did surprise her, however, was that someone decided to point it out. To her face. While they were trying to choose the movie for that night - Tony’s idea because he was insisting they should pretend to be some type of dysfunctional family who had movie nights or something like that.

With her eyes wide and heart beating fast inside her chest, Wanda glanced over her shoulder to make sure they were still alone in the communal area where the largest TV known by man was. She could hear Tony and Clint bickering in the kitchen because they both had different ideas of what the night snack should be, and she knew Steve, Natasha and Sam must still be in the training room, so obviously Bruce was in his lab yet probably talking with Vision. Even so, Wanda didn’t look even a bit relaxed when she looked back at Thor.

“What?” She breathed out and then, because the nerves were eating her inside, she let out an awkward chuckle while shaking her head.

Wanda really thought the tall muscular man would let it go. He didn’t, of course. “No need to lie to me, shorty,” he said with a large smile that would’ve been charming if he wasn’t so damn daunting. Wanda also wanted to point out that everyone next to Thor would be short and that she was taller than most, but he didn’t give her a chance. “I can see the way you stare at her.”

Oh, God.

Wanda opened her mouth to try and come up with something to say but there was nothing her brain could use to get out of that situation. She wasn’t surprised people noticed but she was surprised Thor noticed. Because, if he did, so did everyone else. And, God, it was terrifying to have people knowing the things she felt.

She had a very complicated life until that point - and it still was, honestly - and Wanda learned when she was still a kid inside an orphanage that anything people knew about you could be used to hurt you. When Hydra started to make experiments on her, it became even more evident. Wanda proved it herself when she invaded the minds of the same people she now shared a roof with and used their worst memories and fears against them. And, after going through training with Natasha, Clint and Steve, Wanda could immediately panic thinking someone knew her deepest secrets.

Thor must have seen the panic on her face because his teasing smile turned more soft and he actually lowered his voice a bit - not that it would make such a difference since his timbre was so deep. “Hey, I’m not going to judge. Humans have so many rules and what they think is moral or not is based on things I can’t understand.”

It took Wanda a few seconds to understand what he was talking about. Thor thought she was afraid he would have a problem with Wanda having feelings for a woman when, in reality, she was scared that he knew she had feelings at all. If she wasn’t so tense, Wanda would’ve laughed.

“That’s not what I wanted to talk about, though,” Thor kept talking and Wanda was amazed he had a plan on what he wanted to talk with her about. Thor was not the type of guy who planned those things. Still holding the remote in her hand, Wanda waited for him to continue. “Look, Natasha is… very brave.” He made it sound like that was the most important quality someone could have. “And scary.” Wanda raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I mean, she’s a good woman. Very beautiful too.”

Okay, he didn’t have a plan.

Wanda slowly nodded. “Sure,” she mumbled, unsure what else she could say.

“She’s also not the woman who do dating,” Thor finally declared, suddenly looking proud of himself. “If you want, I’m pretty sure she would be down to sex, but take care, okay?” Wanda felt her face heating up in a way it had never done before and her eyes glued to the TV in front of her with renewed interest. There was no way that conversation was real. “If you do the sex, don’t get attached,” he warned her gently. “You might end up getting hurt. So, maybe, the best idea is to not have sex. Unless you want to.”

Wanda thought she wanted to disappear, maybe be swallowed whole by a portal or something that would take her away. She had magic and she certainly could make it happen if she tried hard enough but Wanda felt so shell-shocked that she couldn’t move. “Thor…”

The God interrupted her, though, which was good because Wanda wasn’t sure what she could even say. “I just mean that having feelings for someone like Natasha can be very tricky. But, if you ever get your heart broken and need someone to talk to, just come to find me. Unless I’m in Asgard, of course.”

Thor then used one of his ridiculously big hands to pat her on the back, a friendly gesture, but Wanda almost got thrown out of the couch because of how strong the man was. Wanda grimaced and moved away a few inches so he couldn’t reach her again if he tried, and she was about to finally snap and tell him to mind his own business when Tony and Clint entered the space with several popcorn bowls.

“Where is everyone else?” Tony asked and, just like that, the conversation was over.

Wanda couldn’t say she had forgotten all about it after it happened because it was hard to forget that Thor, the God of Thunder, decided to give her love advice, but she was sure it would never happen again. Sadly, Wanda didn’t have superspeed like Pietro to run away if it ever did but she could think about a few other things to escape if she had to.

That said, she didn’t expect that conversation to happen with someone else instead on the very next day. And with Tony of all people.

He had called her inside his lab to help him make some tests on his suit - he was trying to make it strong enough to support Wanda’s magic - and then allowed Wanda to use one of the robotic arms to blow one of the training dummies. Wanda had laughed after that, feeling like a kid playing with things she wasn’t supposed to, before telling him she still preferred the red flow that came from her own hand and giving him the suit piece back.

“Yes, not all of us can shoot explosive balls from our palms,” Tony replied with a scoff while pulling away his things.

“No need to be so jealous,” Wanda taunted him. They walked a long way until Wanda felt comfortable enough around the man and it took a little more time to be able to joke around him, but Tony had a place inside her heart as well.

“Jealous, honey?” Tony teased her back, taking a look at her from over his glasses. “I invented a thing that is pretty much the same you can do.”

“Well, yes,” she conceded before turning one of her palms up and letting a small red ball form just above it. “But you have to carry that suit everywhere.”

Tony sighed and didn’t argue back, which made Wanda smile and put her hands back inside her back pockets. She was about to ask him if he needed help with anything else since she had planned on going out with Vision to show him the ducks by the lake when Tony started talking before her.

“So, you wanna do funny business at workspace, huh?” Wanda had no idea what he just said and just kept staring at him with a blank expression on her face. Upon hearing nothing from her, Tony looked up from where he was typing on the computer and rolled his eyes impatiently. “You know, knock boots.” Tony kept looking, Wanda kept staring, and it became clear she was still lost. He sighed and started waving a hand while he came up with other things to say. “Have some horizontal refreshment, get down and dirty, shake the sheets, practice the act of darkness, have some adult naptime, make an assault with a friendly weapon, do the Devil’s dance, feed the kitty, hit a home run, join amorous congress - Steve would like that one - go cave diving.” Wanda felt like the man had just thrown a bunch of words that had no meaning at her and expected the girl to form a sentence. Tony groaned and his head dropped for a moment before he looked up at her again and declared: “Sex, Maximoff. I’m talking about sex.”

Wanda’s eyes widened, her cheeks became as red as the magic that winded around her fingers, and she took a step back out of shock. Yes, that wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have with Tony Stark of all people. In fact, Wanda would rather stay still as he blasted her with his Iron Man suit instead of having that particular conversation.

Though, as usual, it could get much worse.

“Let me tell you this, you could have chosen someone better to want to do the fun thing,” Tony huffed and shook his head, although he looked quite impressed. “That’s some dangerous place you want to hide your hot dog at.” Wanda wondered if anyone had ever passed out for blushing too hard because she felt a second away from doing it. “Well, guess that’s not the best euphemism for you. Let me think for a second.”

“You don’t need to,” Wanda murmured mostly to herself since, obviously, Tony didn’t pay her any mind.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Tony called out and Wanda watched with her eyes still wide as the artificial intelligence came to life to wait for what its creator wanted. “Can you tell me some euphemisms for lesbian sex?”

“Of course, Mister Stark,” the robot replied and Wanda reacted before it could get completely out of hand.

“Okay, I’m out of here.” Wanda turned around to walk to the door, eager to escape and be anywhere other than there.

She still heard F.R.I.D.A.Y. declaring: “Play rock, paper, scissors with only the scissors.”

“Come down, kiddo,” Tony called out after her. “I’m just trying to help!” Wanda opened the door and took a step out, ready to flee - run if she had to. “Romanoff is a very dangerous place to try to get funny, especially if you are totally smitten by her.”

Wanda glared at him in surprise. She wondered if Thor said something or if Tony also couldn’t keep his own business - and she knew the answer to that. “Tony, please, don’t ever talk to me again,” she pleaded because, honestly, she would never recover from the conversation they just had.

Tony laughed, though, and gave her a playful wink. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you’re head over heels for our most dangerous, and hot, spy.”

“Bye, Tony.”

“Just saying that, if you want to love her with all your heart and soul, you should know Natasha is all about afternoon delights and nothing else.”

Wanda could only pray no one heard the man’s raised voice while she walked away. Thankfully, Tony didn’t follow her but Wanda didn’t go find Vision right away. She needed a few minutes to get over the fact that another person from their team decided to step out of their way to give Wanda a warning about Natasha Romanoff. Gosh, that was a bit humiliating.

However, Tony hadn’t been the first and wouldn’t be the last either, something that made Wanda want to go back to the rubbles of Sokovia. It felt like a better alternative than having her feelings rubbed into her face like they were public domain.

It was definitely better than having that conversation with Bruce Banner for sure.

“I guess I should give you my condolences,” Bruce said out of nowhere about a week after her weird conversation with Tony.

Half of the team was away on some type of mission, to which Wanda and Bruce hadn’t been needed, and both of them had ended up inside the man’s lab while he worked on something while Wanda read a book. She could’ve gone to the back of the Avengers’ compound where she could sit under a tree and enjoy the breeze, but Bruce was interested in some of the Hydra’s experiments and she decided to tag along with him in case he had any questions she could answer. Bruce and her weren’t that close, though they didn’t have problems with each other.

Wanda looked up from her book with a frown. “For what?” She asked. Pietro had died a while ago and Bruce had said he was sorry about it as soon as they landed after it happened, even going as far as giving her a gentle hug and a sad smile.

Bruce’s dark eyes glanced at her in sympathy, though he didn’t stop mixing whatever he was mixing inside a vial. “For falling in love with Natasha Romanoff,” he explained and, above all, he actually sounded sorry for her. “We should start a club for unrequited love or something.”

Wanda’s eyebrows rose comically as her jaw dropped in surprise. She had seen inside both Natasha’s and Bruce’s heads and she knew that it had happened, however, they never spoke about it and, as far as Wanda knew, they both preferred to pretend it never happened. So, to have the man address the fact that he had feelings for Natasha at some point in time was a bit disturbing. Especially because, yes, Wanda knew about it too and, all people considered, she was the one who tried the hardest to pretend she didn’t.

It was none of her business, to start with, but to think about it made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

And now Bruce Banner wanted to talk with Wanda as if they had both been cursed by some terrible catastrophe.

Which, Wanda supposed, was understandable yet extremely unfair.

“Surprised I know?” Bruce asked with a hint of humor.

“I’m starting to think the entire world has been watching me,” Wanda groaned as she closed her book but her voice was too low for Bruce to hear it.

“I too once looked at Natasha as if we could have a future together, just like you do now,” Bruce kept talking and, despite the harsh words, he didn’t sound like a jerk while saying it. It was probably his gentle nature saving him. “And that’s the problem, you know? Natasha doesn’t think she deserves to have a future, so she won’t even try to build one,” Bruce sighed and looked back at the vial. “We have that in common. Neither of us thinks we can have what Tony found with Pepper, or build something like Clint has.”

Bruce was fine talking about Natasha but he wasn’t comfortable looking at Wanda while he spoke about himself. The girl felt some rush of anger inside her and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying all the things that ran inside her mind at that moment. She knew Bruce meant well in the end.

“Maybe you’re both too harsh on yourselves,” Wanda pointed out softly.

When Bruce looked at her, it was pretty clear he couldn’t disagree more with what she just said but, maybe to take the spotlight away from him, he nodded. “Perhaps,” he said with a shrug. “I just wanted to warn you. You’re still young and I’m sure one-sided love won’t take you down. Just take care of yourself, okay? Don’t dream too much, keep your feet on the ground.”

It was the most direct way of saying “don’t be in love with Natasha Romanoff�� without actually saying it.

Wanda didn’t reply - mostly because that’s not how feelings work, after all - and Bruce dropped the subject right after that. Wanda waited a few more minutes out of respect before excusing herself from his lab, taking her book with her, and that had been it. She would do a lot of things to prevent herself from having that conversation with Bruce again because the last thing she wanted was to hear the man talk about a time when he and Natasha talked about running away together - even if it never happened or if neither of them actually meant it.

The rest of the team returned by the end of the night and Wanda found a seat as far away from Bruce as she could manage when Tony declared they should watch a movie together. Turns out that Wanda realized she would rather hear Tony Stark come up with a thousand different ways to address sex than talk about feelings with Bruce Banner. Who would’ve guessed?

After that, Wanda got a break from the entire “let’s talk about your feelings” thing. Wanda left to join a mission with Steve and Vision, then it was time for Steve to leave with Clint and Natasha for something else. It was some nice good two weeks of not having to talk about how bad she was at hiding her crushes but it didn’t last forever, obviously.

“Hey, Red,” Clint said as soon as he was done eating after returning from his mission. It all went well enough that no one had a bruise or a more serious wound but Clint still had enough adrenaline rushing through his veins that he assured everyone he didn’t want to take a rest like Natasha and Steve wanted to. “You and me, training room. You game?”

It was hard to understand Clint at first when she first met him. Wanda’s first language wasn’t English and it could be hard to keep up when he wasn’t saying all the words. She always thought he would get along with Pietro just fine because of that. As time went by, and the more Wanda had English and accent classes with Natasha, it became easier to follow along, though.

So, she simply nodded and followed him to the training room after changing into something more comfortable. Natasha and Steve had been the ones to give her hand-to-hand combat training when she first joined the team but Wanda now sparred with everyone else since she proved she wouldn’t get herself killed accidentally. Clint was already inside waiting for her and they soon got on the training mattress. Clint wasn’t as good as Natasha but he was still better than Wanda, even more so since she wasn’t allowed to use her powers inside the room, and she quickly started to get her ass kicked.

“You’re still not that good at the whole kicking butt thing,” Clint teased her as he reached out with a hand for her to take it.

She grabbed it and got up with a groan when her muscles protested. “I could throw you across the street with a flick of my finger,” Wanda argued.

Clint simply laughed. “Yeah, right. Come on, try again.”

By the seventh time Wanda landed on the matt, Clint was starting to get tired finally and didn’t try to get her to get up. Wanda lay there, sweaty and out of breath, arms open and staring at the ceiling while cursing herself for never being able to keep up with him. Clint was drinking some water, staring down at her with a smug grin, and Wanda was waiting for him to tease her about it too.

He went to another approach, though. “You know, I thought you would’ve learned more things about it since Natasha was the one teaching you. Thought you would want to impress her or something.”

Wanda groaned because, by now, she knew what was about to happen and she wasn’t thrilled by it. “Not you too,” she complained.

Clint’s smirk told her he had heard her but he didn’t ask any questions about it. “Lemme tell ya,” he paused and pointed at the girl laying on her back, “Natasha would not be impressed.”

Wanda rolled her eyes and grunted as she set down so she wouldn’t feel so damn vulnerable. “You shouldn’t gloat. It’s bad luck.”

The man laughed even harder at that. “Right. Keep that in mind if you ever manage to fulfill your wildest dream to get Natasha to pin you down in a more fun way.”

“I’m not having this conversation with you,” Wanda replied and used one hand to prop herself up. She got to her feet and glared at him. “Do you still want to fight or can I go take a shower?”

“You wish you could share a shower with-”

“Bye, Clint,” Wanda interrupted him so abruptly that he just laughed while she walked away.

Wanda was out of the door before he could say anything else but she had just stepped into the hallway when she walked right against a wall. Well, not a wall, she noticed when she looked up after letting out a small squeak. Steve Rogers.

“Oh, hi, Steve,” she greeted him. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“No problem,” Steve assured her with his sweet smile. “I also wasn’t looking. Are you done training?”

“Yes. Clint is trying to be funny.” Wanda rolled her eyes and heard his deep chuckle. “I thought you were resting.”

“I was but I’m kind of hungry now. Do you want to join me in the kitchen?”

“Yes. You and cap should have a tea party,” Clint said as he walked out of the room as well, not even trying to not hit her with his shoulder.

Wanda frowned and glared at him but the man simply laughed and walked away. Seriously, it was like sharing a house with a bunch of kids.

“I do make some pretty good tea,” Steve commented while giving her a little smile.

And Wanda was hooked.

She went down to the kitchen area with him, happily listening to him tell her about the mission and how it went. Wanda sat on one of the high stools, putting both of her elbows on the kitchen island and her hands clasped together while she watched Steve move around at ease to put some water on the kettle. He then walked to the fridge to find some leftovers he could warm up and Wanda couldn’t help but smile at the scene. A super soldier making some tea and eating old spaghetti.

“How were things while we were gone?” Steve asked after leaning back against the counter so he could eat and look at her at the same time.

“Normal,” Wanda replied, even though nothing had been very normal since the entire team decided to watch her every move because they thought it was so fun to see her little crush on Natasha. “Tony tried to make another movie night and was mad when Bruce fell asleep in the middle of what he called the best movie ever made.”

“Yes, sounds normal.” Steve rolled his eyes although the smile on his lips was fond. “Did you train with someone?”

Wanda shook her head. Ever since her training got less rigid - it happened after Natasha declared she was better in her combat skills enough to hold her own against their usual share of villains and after Steve was confident she could run without having a heart attack - Wanda didn’t go to the training room every day anymore. She liked to run in the mornings because it felt nice to clear her mind for the usual two miles she took and she enjoyed sparring sometimes just to learn some new move she might have missed before, but that was it. She relied a lot on her magic and Wanda was truly fine with it even if she knew Natasha would rather otherwise.

Steve too, though luckily he didn’t give her another long speech about the importance of training. “Well, I’m back now. We could train tomorrow morning.”

Wanda grimaced despite her best tries not to. “Sure,” she replied however because, well, she was a part of the team and people had to trust her. The man seemed amused by that, at least. “Maybe we could do that pair thing again,” Wanda suggested mainly because it was more fun to be paired up with someone while both of you tried to take down the other duo.

“I doubt Clint will be up before noon,” Steve said and finally put the now empty container down on the counter. The water was warm enough by now and he moved to grab two cups from the top cabinet - where Wanda could reach but where Natasha couldn’t, much to her disdain. “You want some too, yes?”

Wanda nodded in agreement. “We could ask Nat and Tony to join us, maybe.” Tony hated those sparring things but Wanda still wanted to make him suffer after making her painfully listen to him talk about sex.

Steve put one of the mugs in front of her, placed his palm on the marble and took a sip of his drink while looking at Wanda with amusement in his eyes. He waited until she drank some of it, watched her small grimace, and then chuckled when he pushed the sugar toward her. Wanda grabbed a cube and dropped it on the hot liquid before taking a spoon to swirl it.

“I once knew someone who put four sugar cubes in her tea,” Steve told her, grabbing her attention again.

Wanda’s eyes moved up when she noticed how much his voice had changed when he said that. Steve’s tone was something between longing and heartache, and his face showed something similar by the way his smile lost all strength. Wanda knew who he was thinking about. She had been inside his head once, she saw the woman’s face, and she felt his sorrow for the life that could have been.

It still took her breath away sometimes because Steve had loved that woman so dearly and then someone decided to transform him into a deadly weapon for the military and he lost it.

Since she didn’t know what to say - and because there was nothing she could come up with that would be truly helpful - Wanda reached out and placed her hand on top of his on the counter, squeezing his fingers tightly. Steve seemed surprised by it but he quickly offered her a small smile and squeezed her hand back.

“Love is a funny thing,” he whispered after a few seconds where he was probably debating with himself if he should keep talking or not. “It can give you the drive to be better, to do better, to fight more, to keep going. But it can also take away all of that,” Steve sighed, looked into her eyes, and tilted his head a little. “It can be a blessing and it can be a curse.”

“I know that,” Wanda replied carefully. “I thought I would never be able to smile again when I lost Pietro.” And there were still days where it was hard, where it was impossible to smile or eat or get out of bed or be reminded that she was still alive and her twin brother wasn’t. But there were days when she would be hit by the sudden wish to live for both of them, to try every milkshake and go to every beach and watch every movie. “I know they’re different situations, but I understand.”

“I know you do,” Steve smiled sadly. “You went through a lot already. More than most people would even be able to take.”

Wanda said nothing because she learned very soon that life wasn’t a competition of who had a more traumatic past, especially when she was part of a team where no one had an easy path to where they currently were. No one there had an easy life.

“Like I said,” Steve kept talking after he realized Wanda wasn’t going to say anything, “love can heal and it can hurt.”

“Steve,” Wanda smiled at him, “if you have something to say, just say it.”

He had the decency to look embarrassed and he averted his eyes for a moment, cheeks flushed and lips curled at the corners. “That was it,” Steve said eventually with a shrug. “That was all I had to say. Love can heal and it can hurt,” he repeated while taking the mug to his mouth again. “We need to be careful about it.”

After saying that, he took a sip of his tea and Wanda copied his movement just to keep herself busy for a while longer. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“It’s not my business, I know,” Steve admitted. “I just worry.”

“That I will break down and screw the team over if Natasha wants nothing to do with me and tells me to shove my feelings somewhere else?” Wanda asked without beating around the bush like Steve was. It was better when people were more direct about it, she decided.

The old man, though, grimaced and pursed his lips. “You’re spending too much time with Tony.”

“You should hear some of the things he said,” Wanda huffed but didn’t explain what she meant.

“I just worry, that’s all,” Steve said. “You went through a lot and… and some people might not be able to know how to deal with it.”

Wanda put her cup down. “That’s what every girl wants to hear, I suppose.”

His eyes went wide open after that. “No, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean like-”

“That’s okay, Steve,” she stopped him and slid out of her seat to go wash the mug on the sink.

“Let me.” Steve approached her to stop Wanda from reaching for the soap. He offered her a smile when she glanced up at him.

She could’ve argued if he hadn’t decided to join the large list of people trying to get their noses on her business. Instead, she let him take the sponge and the mug, thanked him for the tea, and left the kitchen. As she walked to the elevator, Wanda couldn’t help but wonder just how easily people could read her. It appeared like everyone living under the same roof as her could read her like an open book. It was very unsettling, to say the least. She wasn’t a spy like Clint or Natasha but Wanda was sure she should be better at keeping things inside if she wanted to join their hero thing club.

Wanda asked the artificial intelligence to take her to her floor and, seconds before, she was walking down the hallway on the floor she shared with Natasha. It was an entire floor just for them since they were the only women on the team but they barely ever used the small kitchen or the living room area. Wanda remembered being new to the team and seeing Natasha walking that corridor all sweaty after a training session, how her mouth felt dry and how her heart beat fast. She wondered if any of the people who had spoken with her before knew about that.

Tony and Clint would never let her live it down, Bruce might try to form some type of connection with her, Thor would probably give her a high five or something, and Steve would blush for days. How any of those men managed to be superheroes was beyond her.

Wanda sighed as she pushed the door open and then closed it behind her after she walked inside the room. She kicked off her shoes out of habit while debating with herself if she should jump into the shower already or rest for a couple of minutes, though that became an easy decision when her eyes landed on the bed. Wanda fluffed her pillow before her hand found a shoulder to gently push against.

She heard an unhappy groan that made her smile before the body on the bed turned around so Wanda was staring at the muscular back. There was a bruise and a small cut there, probably a memoir from the last mission, and she made a mental note to rub some healing ointment later. With another sigh, Wanda slipped under the covers, wrapping her arms around a slim waist and pressing her body against another one in a big spoon position she knew so well. Her nose immediately found the back of a neck between red locks and she took a deep breath in even if she knew there wouldn’t be any perfume to smell - people remember smells, she had been told once, and the goal is to go unnoticed.

“Where were you?”

Wanda smiled at the husky tone caused by drowsiness. “Your friends were either trying to kick my ass or to give me a shovel talk in reverse.” Tony had taught her what ‘shovel talk’ meant when he was telling a story once and Wanda was proud to finally be able to use it in a conversation. There were many American slang she was still learning about.

“Do I want to know?”

“Maybe later, after you had enough rest. You just came back,” Wanda said and then pressed her lips between shoulder blades.

That made Natasha sigh and grab Wanda’s hand that was resting on her stomach. The redhead pulled her closer, impossibly closer. “I’m awake now. Tell me about it.”

Wanda hesitated for a moment because she really wanted the other woman to be able to rest after returning from a mission but she also knew Natasha wouldn’t drop the subject. “Well, it appears that the entire team seems to think I have a crush on you.”

Natasha’s body shook with a chuckle against her. “Where on Earth did they take that idea from?” She joked while pushing herself back against Wanda’s body.

“I guess I’m an open book or something. Everyone has accused me of being in love with you or wanting to sleep with you.”

“They must be insane,” Natasha replied with a smile clear in her voice.

“They think I’m the insane one,” Wanda huffed a laugh and was about to tell the woman to go to sleep again when Natasha started to move. She removed her arm from around the redhead and patiently waited until Natasha turned around to face her, putting a space between them to be able to talk.

“How come?” Natasha wondered. “Please, don’t tell me these people think I’m literally a black widow or something.” She rolled her eyes at that because she could see it happening way too easily.

Wanda laughed. “No, but they do think you’re going to let me down gently. Or not so gently, I suppose. Bruce is pretty sure you’re going to break my heart in a million pieces, Steve thinks I’m too fragile to handle you, and Tony thinks it’s very likely that you would use me for sex and throw me in the gutter.”

Green eyes closed, which made Wanda pout a little because she loved staring at them. “Are any of them wrong?”

There it was. The self-doubting thing returning full force. They had talked about it many times before and Wanda never liked hearing Natasha put herself short. Bruce had made her a bit nauseous but he hadn’t lied about what Natasha thought of herself and her future. Wanda had only a few months to try to make Natasha see that she was allowed to be happy, that she deserved to be happy, that she shouldn’t punish herself for her past, but it was months against a lifetime of beliefs. Wanda knew she still had a long way before her words started making sense to the other woman.

“All of them, actually,” Wanda pointed out. “They didn’t even think you would ever spare me a look.”

“They’re stupid then. You’re a very nice thing to look at,” Natasha teased with a smile and cracked one eye open, which made Wanda chuckle and lean closer to kiss her nose, before she closed it again.

“We agree your friends lack some sense.”

“They’re your friends. For me, they’re coworkers.”

Wanda scoffed loudly at that. “No one believes that. You have a soft spot for them.”

Natasha sighed. “Just because they can’t figure out how to keep themselves alive without me having to save their asses all the fucking time.”

“Well, whatever is the reason,” Wanda said even if she knew Nat wasn’t serious, “they certainly aren’t my friends. They keep telling me to stop looking at you like you hung the stars or something like that. It didn’t make sense when Tony said it.”

“Maybe they tell you that because they’re your friends and because they care,” the redhead commented and opened her eyes again. “They don’t want to see you hurt. They care about you.”

Wanda didn’t have anything to say about that. She was a part of the team for a while now but it felt different to know those people cared for her, that they liked her, that they wanted her around. It was a strange feeling the whole ‘being wanted’ thing. Pietro used to be the only one to make her feel like that and it was hard to feel anything remotely like that ever since he was gone.

“They act like a gossip magazine,” Wanda said instead.

“They do, don’t they?” Natasha chuckled and silence fell around them for a few moments. Wanda was starting to feel sleep wanting to creep in and she knew she had to get up to take a shower before allowing herself to sleep but she felt so comfortable that it was impossible to move. She was about to ask Natasha to roll over again so they could sleep when the woman started talking. “And they think I don’t deserve you. That’s why they keep warning you to stay away.”

“No one warned me to stay away,” Wanda corrected her gently.

“They did and you should.” Natasha bit her bottom lip, looking too much like she was trying not to get emotional at that moment. “I’m broken. All sharp ends and hard edges. You’re soft, you can bruise and bleed.”

“Natasha, with all due respect, I spent the last few weeks hearing our friends try to say how I should or should not feel, sticking their noses in my business and basically saying I was too naive to make my own decisions.” Wanda paused to look deep into Natasha’s eyes. “I won’t hear it from you too. Not after I set there in silence and listened to them talk because they have no idea that you would be laying here in bed waiting for me to join you after you returned from a trip. We agreed not to tell them a thing, I get it, but you can’t agree with them in something like this. Not when you’re living this with me.”

Natasha’s green eyes filled with tears that never fell before she tilted her chin up to kiss Wanda’s forehead. Her lips lingered against her skin for a few seconds until they formed words. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Wanda whispered back.

“And I’m sorry we hadn’t told them yet,” the redhead added.

They talked about it before - about safety, about how it was better if no one else knew, about how keeping them under wraps was better so no bad guy could use it against them - and Wanda now had more arguments to validate that decision. It would be great to see their reactions to find out how wrong they had been but it was also good to know they could keep living their lives without having them trying to get a say about everything. They all meant well, she knew that, though it was hard to remember that sometimes.

“It’s for the best,” Wanda declared with a shrug.

“Suppose it is. I mean, they all think I’m one step away from breaking your heart.”

“They only think that because I’m too soft,” Wanda told her when she noticed the slight pain in the woman’s voice again. “It’s me, not you.”

“You need to stop talking with Tony,” Natasha scoffed before she started to turn around again, apparently tired of the conversation.

“You just wait until I tell them that you bring me flowers sometimes,” Wanda teased her as she wrapped her arm around Natasha’s waist one more time.

“Don’t you dare,” the spy argued fervently. “I have a reputation to keep.”

“And you’re doing a great job at that because everyone thinks you would use a flower to poke my eye or something.” Wanda chuckled at the thought. “Oh, they will never believe it when I tell them about you taking care of me after a nightmare.”

“I’m warning you, Maximoff.”

“And that you rub my feet every time you kick my ass at training.”

“I’m starting to feel like kicking your ass right now,” Natasha groaned.

Wanda just smiled. “How violent. Maybe they’re right and I should take care.”

“Yes, I’m dangerous.”

As she said that, Natasha hugged Wanda’s arm between her breasts to kiss the back of her hand and Wanda thought how lucky she was to be sharing a bed with the big, bad, scary spy.

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romanscoming · 2 years ago

Text

“SUCCESFUL MISSION”

DAD!HENRY CAVILL x FAMOUS!PHOTOGRAPHER!BLACK!READER BASE OFF OF THE POLL I POSTED MOSTLY EVERYTHING IS ABOUT HALF OF 50% BUT DAD!HENRY HAS THE MOST, IDK FOR SURE BUT ILL TRY TO AT LEAST, STILL DO ALL OF THEM BUT LETS SEE HOW IT GOES :). (POLL DOESN'T END UNTIL FEBRUARY 12TH) FLUFF

4 OF HENRY AUTUMN AND CALLIE JUST REQUEST W/ A PLOT AND WITH "DAD!HENRY AND THE TWINS"

-----

JOIN TAGLIST TO BE TAGGED AND @'D IN THE FICS.

2023-TAGLIST | REQUEST | WATTPAD

SUMMARY;

picture you a busy working woman, who travels most of the time, you better famous, and popular but not as popular as the family you met on the airplane,, and not just that the pretty faces you get to speak to and numbers you've given to the little ones.

WARNING !

nothing I think, small talk, children (toddlers)?, airplane, mentions of being famous and stuff, hookup(not rlly) flirting, the little girls being adorable :) blonde haired baby = Callie and Brown haired baby = Autumn.

_________

YOUR BUSINESS HAS BEEN FLOWING HEAVENLY GOOD, you been traveling around a lot, keeping your fans updated on instagrams and twitter, going to meet and greets and other famous stuff the people go to.

You were in California right now, and in the airport to fly to New York to attend some business, but lucky enough you didn't even notice a curly headed male and two toddlers coming along on the same airplane as yourself.

It were so busy, and trying to take focus you didn't notice them at all, but hey work needed to get done.

You sat by the open walkway while you allowed the other person sat by the window.

You'd been on about five different phone calls, three different papers you had written on and about 7 different times you opening up your laptop and connecting your camera to it and viewing, sending and saving photos from the camera.

You were so focus, wanting and having to get this work done you didn't even notice the whispering right across from you and the looks you were given on the other side of the plane.

"That right there is a famous photographer named, Y/N Y/L/N.., isn't she pretty?" Henry whispered to the two little ones siting next to her.

The blonde headed one turned her head fast as hell to get a good look like the pretty lady her father was talking about.

The brown haired one laughed as she pointed at you and said "Th-tat won..? da-addy.. th..tat won!?"

Henry's face full of embarrassment as he choo'd at the young girl for her to stop being loud, "Oooo daddy got a b-big fawt cruwsh on a jiiirl"

Henry looked at the blonde pointing a finger at her to shush as they laughed a giggle even more which caught her attention.

You made eye contact with the brown haired girl as she smiled and giggle at you which exposed a big sweet looking smile from you towards her.

She motioned her hands to you, a heart and pointed at her father which made you pay more attention as her dad brushed her off, "Stop that Autumn.. you going to freak her out."

You just laughed at the girl not even noticing her father just as you turned you head away.

You finally finished more of your work as you were hearing the two little ones babbling around about something,

You figured out to ignore it and mind your business as you used the tv on the seat and picked out a movie, finding dory which was you new favorite Disney show.

Before you could press play, the blonde haired toddler was in the walkway right by your knee..

You smiled at her as you questioned and asked, "Hello there princess, can I help you..?"

She just started up at you for a while before looking back at her sister and then at you.

"Daddy's innn-the t-t-toilet and.. mwe and swissy can-wt!" she complained, dragging her works before stomping her feet as she was embarrassed but trying her best.

You figured she was only about 1or close to 3, still needing speak lessons but was trying her best, you just talked to her as she was a normal child oldest to speak proper, ignoring all the mispronounces and the stuttering.

"You can't what sweetheart?" you said in a smoothing voice wanting to calm her down a bit.

She looked down at you lap for a moment seeing the route for the tv seat, but didn't say a word just pointed at the screen and back at you.

You smiled at you and question, "You and your sissy can watch finding dory?"

She nodded with a adorable pouty lips as you hand out to see if she'll let you carry her, which she gladly accepted snuggling into your embrace and laying her head on your shoulder.

You got to their original seats as you were introduced to the brown haired baby who looked quiet familiar,

You ended brushing it off and greeting the child, "Hi there sweet pea.. your sitting over here all alone like angel, could me and princess.." you paused looking at the toddler in your arms

"Mmm-my nawe iws caw-collie" she says in small pauses, which makes you proud.

"Right, Ms. Y/L/N, and Princess Callie has request to sit with you, madam." you cheered to the chubby toddler,

As she clapped her hands and nodded, "C-callie.., Aw-Autummmn!" she slurred as she point at the toddler in your hands and then at herself.

You sat in their fathers sit with Callie between your legs with the brown headed girl, Autumn was in her own seat.

Not for long tho, you quickly got on Disney plus, searching for something to put on for the both of them just as you heard babbling and cries coming from them both.

"Stawp!.. no! Stawpppp ii..it!" one called out, "nooooo youuuu stAWP!" the other yelled out right after louder

You looked down at both seeing the blonde pushing her sister off of you, trying to keep you all for herself.

You chuckled which caught their attention as they pouted loudly.

The chubby toddler had wet tears coming from out her eyes, a silent sob coming him her as you watched her puffy cheeks turn a bright red,

You put your hands out for her to grab ahold of you as you choo'd at her to not cry, "Oh no.. no need to cry sweet girl,"

"They're enough of me to go around to both of you, okay?" They both just stared at you for a while before you smiled and tickled them both.

"That's the lesson for today, sharing is caring, okay we're on the same level right?" they finally got it with the small giggles that were still coming out of their mouth, they nodded their heads at your question,

You settled Callie back between your lap again, and Autumn on your thigh as she laid her head on your breast relaxing herself.

You were surprise on there attachment on you, which caused you to wonder did they a female figure or even a motherly figure in their life to provide them.

You got your answer quickly as you felt how clingy they were if you only moved a little inch, it was as if they thought you were going to be leaving them very soon,

They ended up calming down, stop whining, clinging on to you as if you were their own mother for them to keep, but you didn't mind.

You guys problem were watching the movie for about a half of 30 minutes when you figured that their father was maybe busy with a phone call.

That thought left you mind as you felt a device slap across your thigh and stopped the young girl from trying to do a password for a phone,

You laughed, "Can I see that Callie.. I'll give it back-I promise."

She gave you the phone just as you opened it you were presented to the lock screen which was a picture of a celebrity.. but not any celebrity the celebrity whose attention you've been wanting for a while, the CELEBRITY YOU WERE CRUSHING ON FOR A WHILE NOW.

You see the picture of Henry Cavill, with Callie clinging to his chess as he held her, and Autumn's legs hanging on his shoulders as she had her head laid on top of his,

They all looked identical by the face, Henry and Autumn looking alike the most by them both having that brown curly texture hair while Callie stood out a little with her dirty-blonde but curly hair.

You were particularly drooling over the picture.. he was such a dilf, like some kind of geek god.

before you knew it, and before you tried,,

You opened your mouth to ask the girls a question just as the brown haired twin called out, "Daddy! hewwooooo daddy!"

The shock-ness written all over you face as you quickly turned your head meeting Henry's eyes as he is staring at you.

"I foo-found cruwsh dada.. see!" You eyes were turning toward him and then the children in you lap, you were all shaken and nervous.

You were trying to from sentences but nothing was working at all, you were so embarrassed-"Sorry.. fuck- this is a mistake.. uhh., I didn't even know they were yours!" you bit your lip,

The girls in your lap were laughing and giggling with those adorable toddler voices and giggles, you could feel your heart racing and your brain melting in seconds.

"It's fine, Y/N.. we seen you when we first arrived on the plane you know, I told them about you." He said as he walked more towards the seat exposing what he had in his hand, "Snawk!!"

You looked down at his hand seeing a bag of Cheetos puffs and two of the baby food puffs.

Just as you felt something missing on you lap, Autumn was about to fall as she was sliding down you lap and pass he sister.

You quickly grabbed her cradling her in your arms as you started to feel a increase in your breath, "Jesus Christ, you almost scared me princess, you got to be careful."

Autumn nodded and apologized, "Sowwy,"

Just as you felt a body slide in next to yours it was Henry, he was so close to you, most likely could even hear his breathing.

"You really good with kids."

You smiled at his words and hummed as you turned the hand with his phone to him, "Callie was close to disabling it.. so I took it."

He claimed it was fine before he unlocked his phone and gave it to the young girl who smiled and mumbled a small "Thank you daddy!"

Which made you and him smile as Autumn pouted a little puffing out her cheeks as she looked back up at you guys.

"Hi Auttie, would you like to play on my phone?" you asked move her hair before her ear as Henry punch her cheek making her move a little as she looks back up at you and nods.

You smile at her before pulling you phone out and doing you password and giving her the phone on YouTube.

You intend to look around and the two kids in your lap, you adore them, just as a voice broke your thoughts, "So, how have you been?"

You looked up at Henry who was already staring at you, smiling as you looked back into his eyes with fiery cheeks.

"I've been okay you know, this whole famous stuff is new to me but I'm working my way though you know." you replied back removing you eyes from and looking out the window.

Henry cleared out his throat before mumbling, "You very pretty."

Which snapped you right out of your thoughts, "Huh,?"

You both turned, facing each other as he tried to avoid your eyes as they were staring down at him, "I said.., your very beautiful and pretty.."

You let out a small laugh and blinked at him before smiling even harder, "Im sorry, sorry-Your an attractive man as well.. all big and strong-which!, Which is a good thing of course!"

Before he could reply back, the babies on your lap were tapping your thigh and hip like crazy to get your attention.

"Y..Y/N, looka!" one started shoving the phone in your face so you can get a better look, "You-cawn have daddy's nwumber!" Autumn called out as she showed you,

your phone on the contacts app..

Callie giggled up a storm as she showed her daddies phone with a random contact and a picture that was really recently.

A picture of the 4 of you, Callie and Autumn in your lap and Henry looking at you loveably and you looking at the Children with a very kind heart.

"Oh Jesus!", you called out as you spotted the phone, "Cal, Auttie.. that isn't Y/N's number girls."

You called to them as Henry watched you, transform into a parental figure for his sweet girls.

"There that's my number okay, you guys are going to call me whenever you can right?" you smiled at the girls in your lap.

They quickly nodded and cheered, "suwccesful mi..mmisson!" they said in sync

"Sorry about that, you can delete my number later."

"No, no it's fine, I'll keep it for whenever they want to be near you, honey." Henry said quickly as you were in shock as he kissed your cheek and let you kiss his daughters forehead.

Before you knew it the plane was landing, you left from their seat shortly after the announcement, and grabbed your lounge which you were helped by Henry as he came in right behind you.

He even helped you find a cab, and place your bags in the trunk, him and his girls were all to sweet and kind to you,

you were most definitely going to miss it, and hoped they'd call you soon.

Once you got home and gotten settled in, you notifications went off on your phone, a message from 'Dada-Henry' you smiled at the contact name before opening the message,

^ ‘the girls said they miss you already, I miss you also.’

You smiled at the message before falling onto your bed and hitting the FaceTime button.

_________

ANY MISTAKES/MISSPELLS TELL ME.

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bekolxeram · 2 months ago

Note

Hi! I have 2.5 questions I was wondering about while thinking of a possible 802/803 disaster. Could you help clear a few things up for me?

If a plane were unable to land for some reason, how could it be brought down to earth without crashing?

Upon landing, a plane has to decelerate. Hypothetically, could there be a failure of some kind that would prevent the airplane from slowing down before it reaches the end of the runway? If so, are there any ways to help slow it down?

I’m sure there are plenty of answers available on the Internet, but I was hoping to get some more nuanced insights from you. If you don’t feel like answering, though, please don’t feel any pressure to respond. I can wait a few weeks before I find out what they came up with. 😅

Thank you! I love answering asks like this!

Full disclosure, I'm not a pilot, just an enthusiast. Everything I know about aviation is based on observation, years of consuming content about the industry and lurking on pilot forums. Please correct me if any professional happens to come across my posts.

This is NOT an argumentative piece against other theories or predictions for S8, just an opportunity to be curious about flying, maybe learn a cool thing or two. (Yes, on my part too.) If you don't care for this, please do not read further and block the tag #aviation realism.

To answer your first question, it depends on why landing is deemed riskier than staying airborne in that particular case.

If something happens to the flight crew, incapacitating both pilots, it actually would go pretty much like Airport 1975. Now, I have to point out how improbable this scenario is. The pilots in a flight crew are not allowed to be served the same crew meal on board in case of food-borne illness, some airlines even advise them against sharing a meal at the same restaurant shortly before a flight. Let's say there's some spy movies level sabotage taking out both pilots without damaging the aircraft or harming the passenger, the cabin crew would enter the cockpit and try to revive the pilots with oxygen and remove them from flight control, just as they're trained to. You don't want someone passed out against the yoke or control column and pushing the nose of the plane down. Then, the cabin crew would ask for medical professionals amongst the passengers, but they'd likely avoid openly requesting assistance with the flying itself unless absolutely necessary. A panicked cabin never helps surviving a serious aviation accident.

There was a Southwest flight last year with its captain fainted mid-flight. A member of the cabin crew should've stayed in the cockpit with the remaining pilot according to protocol, but an off-duty airliner pilot in full uniform commuting to his place of work was spotted, so the cabin crew invited him to help out with radio communication in the fight deck.

If both pilots in the cockpit are totally incapacitated and no one else is qualified to fly an airliner on board, the cabin crew would probably take over radio communication with ATC and ask for further instructions. Even if that particular airline doesn't train their cabin crew to operate the radio, they can always call their airline for help via onboard wifi or satellite phone. Exactly like what Nancy the stewardess does in Airport 1975.

The cabin crew would never ask a random passenger into the cockpit and fly the plane. Also, we unfortunately live in the post-9/11 world, where the cockpit door is locked during flight. Only the pilots in the cockpit and the cabin crew with a secret code can open the door, which is bullet proof. Except when there's a breach in the cabin section of the fuselage, resulting in an explosive decompression, the cockpit door would fly open by itself to balance out the pressure difference.

Continuing on the Airport 1975 theme, what if there's some significant damage to the cockpit, injuring even killing the flight crew? Well, modern airliners are built to be quite resilient. There were 2 different incidents involving a broken cockpit windshield and a partially sucked out pilot in the past, and they both managed to land safely with no serious injuries. The more recent Sichuan Airlines one was even flying over the high mountains of the Tibetan plateau, with multiple automated system, including autopilot, damaged by the rapid decompression and were inoperable. To completely incapacitate the whole flight crew, there has to be much more severe damages to the flight deck, but at the same time, not severe enough to make the whole plane uncontrollable and fall straight out of the sky.

Which brings me to your next question.

A passenger airliner has many components to decelerate the plane for a smooth and safe landing, namely the flaps to slow down the plane during descent and provide extra lift to keep it afloat at low speed, then once it hits the ground, spoilers to disrupt airflow, reverse thrust to turn the thrust backwards and good old brakes to stop the momentum by friction. So if keeping the plane in the sky is preferable to landing it as soon as possible, it could be due to issues with the aforementioned systems.

It can be a landing gear problem, maybe one or more gears fail to lock, or the whole thing completely fail to deploy. That would not be ideal, but modern airliners are designed to withstand a gear-up belly landing. The pilots might want to circle over the airfield to attempt troubleshooting and burn off fuel to reduce the weight of the aircraft first, but it can be done, and it has been done, quite a few times.

youtube

(Please be aware, laying firefighting foam on the runway in anticipation for a gear up/gear malfunction landing is no longer recommended. Studies show it doesn't really help with slowing down the plane, and it can take away valuable resources if the aircraft does catch on fire.)

In case of the nose gear wheel being locked in a horizontal position, rendering gear retraction impossible, like JetBlue 292 I mentioned before, it would be a significantly larger threat, but it's likely to be fine regardless. (That didn't stop the LAFD from mobilizing over 100 firefighters all over the city to LAX on standby anyway.)

If any of the other systems used to reduce an aircraft's speed on approach is inoperable (flaps, spoilers, thrust reverser, brakes), you may need a longer runway to stop the plane in time, but airliner pilots are still well trained for any of those situations. Just last week, there was a Virgin Atlantic A350 at LAX landing without thrust reversers due to a hydraulic problem. Yes, a lot of ARFF trucks were deployed. Yes, the brakes got a bit smoking hot, but it was landed alright.

youtube

So if you think you may have issues slowing down a plane on landing, just declare a mayday, look for the longest runway nearby with optimal weather, no rain or ice making the runway slippery, minimum crosswind blowing the plane sideways, and preferably strong head wind to help blow the plane backwards, enhancing braking performance.

You may ask, what if multiple deceleration systems or even all of them fail? It's highly unlikely, because there are 3 independent hydraulic systems in an airliner, and basic flight control can be achieved with just one.

There have only been 2 total hydraulic failure landing attempts I can think of so far, United 232 and the 2003 DHL attempted shootdown in Baghdad (JAL123 doesn't count, it lost its whole tail). The United one unfortunately crashed at the last moment, even with the help of a flight instructor onboard, but still, half of the passengers survived a statistically unsurvivable accident. The DHL A300 landing was much more successful. After a surface-to-air missile hit the left wing of the aircraft, it caught fire and all 3 hydraulic systems were lost, rendering the plane uncontrollable by usual means. The flight crew ended up steering the aircraft by differential engine thrusts, just like in the United 232 accident, and managed to land back at Baghdad International Airport after overshooting the runway and stopped at an area just outside of the airfield, filled with landmines. (Military personnel guided the flight crew to safety.)

The point is, well trained commercial airliner pilots have many tricks up their sleeves to stop their plane even in the most dire situation. On the other hand, modern airliners have so many automated systems in place that even a total amateur can land them with sufficient guidance from flight instructors on the ground. Tom Scott landed a 737 in a simulator with the help of a certified airline flight instructor for instant.

But if the show decides to combine the two in true disaster movie fashion, I can see how difficult it would be to land the plane safely. Hypothetically, the plane is not expected to be able to stop before the end of the runway, and the people in the pilot seats don't have any better idea, what can be done?

We can perhaps learn from aircraft carriers. Their runways are short, because well, they're ships, in the middle of the ocean, so to prevent fighter jets from overshooting and ending up in the drink, there is a mechanical system called arresting gear to physically catch the aircraft. Military aircrafts usually have a hook in the back to catch arresting cables when landing. It's not quite possible for a commercial airliner making an emergency landing, but there's also the barricade method, seen in Airport '79, with a sort of strong but elastic net erected at the end of the runway.

A lot of US civilian airports in real life actually have a kind of arrestor system installed to prevent catastrophic runway excursion, it's called the engineered materials arrestor system (EMAS). It's basically a kind of soft and energetically absorbent material laid down at the end of the runway. If an aircraft overshoots the runway and hit the EMAS, its landing gear wheels would sink into the material, and halting the aircraft pretty quickly. The landing gear might break off, the passengers might have a pretty tough ride, but it's better than slamming into something solid.

If we completely throw reality out of the way, I say we can't control the weather, the length and the incline of the runway, but we can control the wind. This will probably get me excommunicated from the avgeek community, but I say we put a giant 4 engine airliner at the end of the runway and just jet blast that baby, create the head wind it needs.

Oh, and you know we now have someone working on a big production, hit TV show? I say get a bunch of industrial strength giant fans for special effects and blow the plane backwards.

#I'm sorry anon it got so long #It stops being coherent around the mid way point #Please ask again if you have more questions #911 speculation #ask answered #aviation realism #911 abc

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yelenabelovasbxtch · 1 year ago

Text

Crush On An Archer PT. 2

A/N: Can you believe I actually managed to get out another part in a timely matter without making you wait 5 months in between? I think we're getting to the good part soon so stay tuned.

Kate Bishop X f!reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: Not proofread

The next few days went by fast, you had a couple more practices but didn’t see Kate again and you flew home without even getting to say goodbye.

As soon as your plane landed and you turned off airplane mode, your text notifications binged with Kate’s name on your screen.

“Hey Y/L/N, want to grab a drink tonight?” *Sent 2 hours ago*

“Hey Kate, sorry I didn’t respond sooner, my plane just landed and I’m back in Mississippi now :( I would have loved to though.”

“Damn, didn’t even say goodbye?”

Did she want you to say goodbye? Were you at that level of friendship?

“Yeah, sorry, I had an early flight out this morning.”

“Damn, oh well…all my friends left too so I’m going back to being bored as fuck again. This summer honestly blows.”

“Yeah, I hear that. Trust me, I would much rather be there, than here.”

“How come you didn’t want to stick around a little longer? The semester does start in like only two weeks.”

“I’m not technically “paying” my rent over the summer so I can’t really stay there or else I’d have to put out the money to my landlord and also pay all the other bills that come with it.”

“Ah yeah that makes sense. Too bad you couldn't have stuck around though.”

“Yeah I agree, I am very bored here.”

The two of you continued to talk every day, your friendship grew over text and Snapchat, pretty much the only way it could at this point. You are pretty notorious for sleeping in and every morning you wake up to see Kate’s text message and Snapchat notification pop up on your phone. You get your daily dose of Kate and get to see her beautiful face everyday whenever she’d respond to your snaps or post her BeReals when they went off. They always made you smile, sometimes they made you feel a little more than just a smile… but every morning without fail it was usually a Snap of her in bed and fuck did she look hot. Like who wakes up just naturally looking that good? You could swear it looked like she was “trying or posing” a little in the pics she sent to you but also you wouldn’t put it past her for just looking that good anytime her photo was taken. Honestly, there were some times where she would text you for an hour straight and the two of you would have the most amazing conversations but then other times where she would be MIA for most of the day and you feel like maybe you said the wrong thing. You noticed that she would always come back though. You learned to realize that it was just your anxiety speaking loudly when she didn’t respond and she couldn’t hate you, she barely even knew you. She just was busy and didn’t respond for that moment. Or maybe she was having a hard day but she always ended up coming back and talking to you about it.

You were excited but also really terrified about moving back to school. You and Kate had learned what each other's interests were and talked a lot about certain things you wanted to do together when you moved back. You discussed everything, going to the movies, cooking together, practicing together and you managed to convince her to try building LEGO with you.

I mean, who doesn’t like LEGO?

The text messages between the two of you were often pretty friendly but from time to time she teased you, loved to call you a nerd for all your interests like Star Wars and Harry Potter but you knew she secretly liked them too.

Although she seemed like she was flirting, there were times where she’d talk about guys who were hitting on her and her ex-boyfriends and it just made you feel like there was no chance in hell she would ever be into you. Based on her track record alone, you weren’t exactly her type. Mainly just because everyone she has ever mentioned is a man. Obviously, you can’t read a person off of just that information because you never know. But, it didn’t exactly feel like it was going your way. Anytime she would do or say something that maybe led you to believe she had feelings for you it was almost immediately squashed by another comment or story about a guy.

“So what are you up to today?”

“Not much, probably going to go practice my shot a bit.”

“I feel like all you ever do is practice”

“Well yeah, best archer in the world title has to be honored ;)”

“Haha. I am almost 100% certain the only person who calls you that, is you.”

“Not trueee”

“Your mom doesn’t count…” “Or your dog.”

“Well. I am sure someone else has said it. Besides, practice isn’t allll I do. I’m going to the gym after. Probably hitting arms and a bit of chest today.”

“Okay Bishop, I see you, I didn’t know you took lifting seriously and stuff.”

“Well obviously, gotta make sure I’m in better shape than all the other archers. Especially when you are on the senior team next year.”

“Worried you’re going to be beat out for world's best archer or something?”

“Haha. Very funny. I don’t think I have anything to worry about ;)”

Your conversations were often short like that one but something else always ended up coming up later on. About an hour and a half later your phone bings with a text message from Kate.

*Attachment: 1 Image*

Fuck you mumble under your breath.

She doesn’t do it often, but sometimes she’ll send you a picture of herself over imessage where there isn’t a 10 second expiry like on Snap and every time she does it makes you smile. It feels like this one was taken specifically for you. She wanted you to see this now and she wanted you to remember what this photo looked like. Kate always works out in sports bras, making you think about how you’d kill to get in the gym with her just to see what would happen between the two of you in the locker room afterwards. You have been staring at this picture for way too long, it’s time to respond. How do you even answer a text like that? A compliment? No, she might think you’re into her and take it the wrong way. Flirty banter? As long as it’s dialed back I'm sure it’ll be fine.

“I think I can see a little bit of muscle there on your arms.”

“Oh shut up, you love it and we both know it.”

W-What? Fuck.

“Yeah you wish Bishop.” Good response. Friendly banter right?

She didn’t respond to that last text, you just assumed she went on with her workout. About an hour later you get a snap notification across your screen from her. You may have waited a couple minutes to open it just to not make it seem obvious that you were practically waiting for her name to pop up.

You opened the snap and your jaw practically had to be picked up off the floor.

Sweaty Kate, hovering over her phone for the pic, in a sports bra, sex eyes, thin silver chain dangling.

Fuck. You wanted this picture seared into your brain. The one you received over text was hot but this one was even hotter. It was sexy, it was all you wanted and more and fuck did you want to tell her that.

One thing you noticed while staring at this photo is how long you got to look at how hot she was. She changed her settings for the picture to be set to infinity from 10 seconds. She wanted you to know how hot she looked and she wanted you to take your time admiring her. The only acceptable response back had to be a picture of you acting nonchalant about what you just saw. The last thing you wanted to do was make her think you were ogling over her.

Later that night you were laying in bed scrolling TikTok when her contact popped up at the top of your screen.

“Men are so fucking shit sometimes.”

“What happened?”

Yeah…you will always be an outlet for her even if it’s the worst friend zone of friend zones you’ve ever been stuck in.

“Nothing. Just stupid boys making shit comments.”

“Do I need to knock some heads?”

“Haha I wish. But no, I just can’t deal with my ex and his friends. They’re all privileged assholes anyways.”

“Yuck hate a privileged asshole.”

“Yeah, I met him through this stupid rich people dinner event my mom made me go to awhile ago and I should have known that he wasn’t any different and just as snobby as the rest of them.”

Doesn’t really sound like the ex is much competition if that’s the case.

“Yeah I can imagine that wouldn’t make the best partner. It’s good he at least isn’t a part of your life anymore right?”

“Yes going forward he won’t be. I told him there will be no contact between us again. It just really fucking sucks you know? He was this amazing really sweet guy who I grew to care for and love deeply and then out of nowhere it was like a switch flipped. And the toughest part is that sometimes I feel like I still care for him but then I remember what he’s actually like.”

If she still has feelings this is not good.

“I get it, breakups of course are tough and you just need to take your time to really get back to being you and no longer thinking about this guy.”

“Well said Y/L/N. Enough about me and my issues though. What about you? You got your eye on anyone or with anyone?”

Ah. Fuck it. It’s late, let’s have a little fun.

“Uhh yeah I guess there’s one person but it’ll prob never work out so I gotta move on.”

“Ouuuu omg okay who are they, do they go to our school?”

“Yes and I will not be disclosing that information because I really do not need it getting out haha”

“Boooo, c'mon you can trust me.”

“Oh my god is it because it’s someone I know?”

“Maybe.”

“How well do I know them?”

“Hmmmm I’d say pretty well but I’m not going to tell you who it is so I wouldn’t bother guessing.”

“Boring. I’ll get it out of you when we move back to school.”

“Haha sure you will.”

“Speaking of, there’s this bar down the street from where my place is, my friends told me the team and a few others are going out on the Friday before the new semester starts. Are you going to be back by then?”

“Yeah, I should be. If not, I can always try to change my flight to come in a little earlier.”

“Yeah I think you should. It sounds like fun.”

“I just checked and my flight lands at JFK later in the day on Thursday so once I find a ride to campus I’ll be there probably late Thursday night.”

“Oh you’re flying in and out of JFK? I can give you a ride if you want. I’ve been staying at my apartment in the city for the summer so I can pick you up on my way to campus and save you a few bucks on transportation.” “That’s really nice but you don’t have to do that.”

“Y/n, I insist, it’s no big deal.”

“Okay well thank you, let me at least pay you some money for gas.”

“Don’t sweat it. If you really want to repay me you can help eye my shot next week. I’ve been having some issues with my arrows going a little left and can’t figure out why.”

“Wow, is the best archer in the world asking me for archery advice?”

“Ha. ha.”

“Hehe sorry you know I couldn’t resist.

The next week or so went by unbelievably slowly. The contact between you and Kate was still there but not as much and the fact that she was picking you up from the airport had your mind spinning in circles. You were so unbelievably nervous to see her and be with her, just the two of you again…sober this time. The tension that was created the last time you two were alone felt like it was tearing through you. Everyone knows that things are a little more awkward when you’re sober though. You don’t feel as invincible as when you’re drunk. Whenever you drink, you feel like you have the guts to say whatever you want to. Who knows, maybe the Friday night plans will grow into something more, maybe they won’t.

The morning of your flight you wake up to a message from Kate,

“Hey y/n! Text me when you land and tell me which terminal to pull up to today. Have a safe flight <3, I’m looking forward to seeing you”

The second half of that message gave you butterflies in your stomach. You wanted to be there now, in her arms. Oh god, are you guys at the point in your friendship where you hug when you see each other?

I guess we’ll see.

– End of PT. 2 –

Taglist: @yelenaslyubov @youreatotalposer @jeyramarie @flosbelova @bridgecitybrad @justthis-stuff @chloe7076 @ailenepuff @ravenclawbitch426 @mellowladyangel @amcg0605-blog @kassies-take @yelenaswife1996 @wandanatchick @lilroachsworld @inluvwithfictionalwomen @x666hours @natashaswife4125 @onetruwhore @karmasgxrl @hopelesslyfallenninlove @setsuna1415 @swiftdazer @imobsessedwithmilfss @madamevirgo @louisprettybab @splatalia-jumpanova @jediluka @t00manyfand0ms @oohlala666 @kates-abs-slay @scmg11

#kate bishop smut #katebishop #kate bishop fanfic #kate bishop fanfics #kate bishop fanfiction #kate bishop x reader #kate bishop #wlw #marvel smut #marvel #marvel fanfic #hailee steinfeld fic #hailee steinfeld wlw #hailee steinfeld smut #hailee steinfeld fanfic #hailee steinfield x reader

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joels-shitty-puns · 11 months ago

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Pins and Needles - Chapter 1

Pairing: Post-Outbreak!Joel Miller x Reader

Series Summary: Joel has known you for several years, but it was always strictly business, which was easier and preferred. However, after you run into him in Jackson, avoiding him is more of a challenge than you'd like.

Series Warnings: 18+ only (MDNI). Alluding to sexual scenarios. Mention of masturbation. Kissing. Age gap, reader is 39/40 Joel is 56/57. Violence!!! This features outbreak day memories. Blood, stabbing, cannibalism, death, infected. An airplane crash. Spoilers from season 1 of TLOU HBO. Deaths from that season are mentioned. Nightmares. Angst/tension. Let me know if I missed anything!!

Other stuff: Reader is referred to by the nickname Needles, but other than that descriptors are avoided! Reader is fem.

This series was based on these two anon requests! Here and here

Series list: Here

Word count: 1.1K

You woke with a start, panic surging through your body, your breaths coming out short, sharp, and ragged. You could hear your heart pounding in your ears.

It's okay. It was another nightmare. You're safe. You're okay.

But are you? Are you ever really safe? Sure, you currently lay in your comfortable Jackson bed, but we all know what lies beyond the borders. The reason for the nightmares that plague every night of sleep since outbreak day. The day of your first killing. The first of many. The one that you'll never truly get over. The reason you got your nickname, which you loathe.

Needles.

That's what they call you.

Needles.

When you first earned the nickname, you tried to say no. “Please don't use that name. Anything else,” you begged.

But you were just told “you should use a nickname to protect yourself, and Needles is fitting. It makes you sound tough. That's good. Not everyone is trustworthy in this world.” Little did you know, at the time, the one saying that to you was the one that wasn't trustworthy.

But he called you Needles. He introduced you as Needles. It spread, and soon, others called you Needles. You tried to discourage it the first few years, but everyone used it and eventually you gave up. They thought it was a tough sounding name, and in a way, it is. Whether you knew the background or not, people thought it was “sick” and “badass.” So, forced with the name, you tried to separate it from the reason you earned it. Shut it away into that little spot deep inside your soul that holds all the trauma of this world.

Now you just try to avoid introductions. But on days that it becomes insistent, you simply say “people call me Needles.”

Nobody ever cares enough to ask “what do you prefer to go by?” So instead, you accept that your birth name is another dead thing in this world. Like everyone you've ever truly cared about. Another dead thing like music, movies, laughter, and joy. Or like romance… something you never have really, truly, been able to experience.

But that wasn't important anymore. Now, it was just wake up, survive, eat, sleep, repeat. No joy, no love, no relaxation.

You let out a sigh, rolling over in bed and reading the clock on your wall. 3 AM. Too early to wake up, but the thoughts wouldn't stop haunting you. You squeezed your eyes together, trying to force out the nightmare that follows you in your wake. But it doesn't really work. It never does. The dark circles and bags under your eyes are simply a part of your appearance now, like their own genetic feature, same as your eye color or nose shape.

After what felt like about an hour, but was really only fifteen minutes, you slumped out of bed; tired, achy, and cold. The usual three. At least you have hot running water and soap now. If you can't sleep, maybe a bath will help.

It had been about two weeks since you were taken in at Jackson. The first week, you were kept on watch. Tommy and the others feared you may be a health concern to yourself. Maria stayed with you for a while, but now that you seemed safe on your own, you were able to stay by yourself in the “comfort” of your own cabin. Alone, like always.

This week, you spent all your time alone, only leaving the house for meals in the town cafeteria; picking it up, avoiding eye contact, and carrying it back home, not wanting to socialize with anyone. Next week you would be responsible for picking up duties in town, but Tommy was kind enough to let you find your ground before putting you to work.

They really were nice people. They seemed to care for their community. They helped each other, they worked together to make the town great. Everyone had a role and a place. Everyone was treated like family.

It made you want to escape as soon as possible. You couldn't bear it. Faking like everything was fine when it fucking wasn't.

_____

If there's one thing you've learned over the past twenty years, it's that everyone reaches their breaking point eventually.

Two weeks ago, you had been stumbling through the forest. You were starving, freezing, bordering on frostbite and hypothermia. Days before, you had narrowly escaped your camp after raiders had passed through and killed all of your fellow travelers. You made it out alive, barely, having been “lucky” enough to have ventured off the path to hunt for a couple hours. When you came back, they were torturing your group. You snuck up, pulling your gun and killing them. Unfortunately, it wasn't before seeing the light fade from the eyes of your makeshift crew, having lost enough blood from the attacks.

You always knew that humanity was sick. Doomed to its own demise. You also knew deep down that if needed, you could harm someone to defend yourself and your loved ones. Always viewed as the sweet, innocent girl in your friend groups, whenever you said something about violence or hating people, it was laughed at. You could never harm a fly.

Flash forward to today, that innocent young girl is gone. The blood on your hands feels permanently stained. The deaths you've watched are uncountable.

This was your breaking point.

Your whole adult life and part of your childhood had been subjected to this world - this shit hole of a planet after the fungus took over. You told yourself a long time ago to not make bonds with other people. But even the deaths of those you didn't particularly care about, those that were only with you by convenience, weighed on you. And so, without any will to live, no hope for a better future, you trudged through the snow, hoping to die. Whether it was infected, hunger, thirst, or frost, you were ready for the nightmare to end.

It was at your near demise when you were stopped by a group of men on horseback. They questioned you about your status, sending a dog to verify that you weren't sick like you claimed.

But when the dog returned to the man you now know is Tommy, letting him know you were healthy, you begged him to kill you.

He refused.

You sank to your knees in the snow, body heavy with exhaustion, both physical and mental. Your eyes focused on the ground in front of you, trying not to cry, when you heard the shuffling of hooves, a few horse grunts, and a man’s voice. “Needles?” The man asked, surprise heard in his voice.

You looked up, recognizing the low timbre instantly. You'd be able to recognize him anywhere. The stranger you had known for years.

Joel. Fucking. Miller.

#a! wrote a fic #pedro pascal x afab!reader #pedro pascal fic #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal fanfic #pedro pascal #joel miller #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fic #joel miller fanfic #joel miller x reader #tlou fanfiction #tlou fanfic #tlou fic

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watchingeverydcmovie · 10 months ago

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Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941)

I am watching every movie based on a DC publication in release order, for more information, see my pinned post.

First movie, Adventures of Captain Marvel from 1941.

Release Date: 3/28/1941 (This is the offical release date but also confusingly not the date the film was released, but instead the date that the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.) IMDB Rating: 7.2 Age Rating: Passed Runtime: 3 Hours, 36 Minutes/12 Chapters

GENERAL -

Adventures of Captain Marvel is considered the first comic book character adaptation ever. Captain Marvel (now known as Shazam) was not owned by DC at the time of this serials released.

In general, the plot is about Billy Batson going on an archological expodition with a team, meeting a wizard, gaining superpowers, and then his team steals this artifact and then they're hunted down by a masked villan called the Scorpian who they very quickly realize is a member of their own group.

MY REVIEW -

Is this movie good? Questionable.

It has not aged well, and I wasn't expecting it to have, but oh boy, is there a lot of rascim in this thing. Otherwise, it's engaging enough, if repetative, and it's very often uninentionally funny. The format that serials of the time used means that every chapter ends with a cliffhanger, which often leads to unnecessary drama being added that you can guess the resolution to before watching the next part. This also didn't need to be as long as it is, and there are often plot points that were definitely added just to add runtime.

That being said, I think Frank Coghlan, Jr. as Billy is an extremely likeable lead. He's generally sweet and charasmatic, and I like the movie most when Billy, the female lead Betty, and their friend Whitey are together.

I think the action scenes are well choreographed if a little silly, and all of the actors are pretty good overall.

Final Rating: 4.5/10

Would I watch this again? No. Maybe if it was shorter.

RANDOM THOUGHTS -

Billy Batson spends this entire movie getting knocked unconcious. In fact, all of the characters do. There is so much head trauma in this movie, it's unreasonable, but extremely unintentinally funny. I wish I had coutned how many scenes end with or contain a character just getting knocked on the head and going unconcious, it has to be upward of twenty. Also, when Billy wakes up, he's always gaged, even if other charcters who are with him aren't. This makes sense considered that he has to say the word "Shazam" in order to turn into Captain Marvel. However, it absolutely *doesn't* make sense when you add the knowlege that absolutely nobody knows he's Captain Marvel or that Captain Marvel needs to speak to use his superpowers.

There's one scene where Captain Marvel rescues Betty from a group that kidnapped her and then turns back to Billy before she wakes up. Before she got kidnapped, she was attempting to get to a certain location before the bad guys, and Billy assures that he'll get there faster on his plane, and then brushes her off when she attempts to go with him. I saw this and was thinking "Ah, yes, Billy Batson, who is Captain Marvel, who can fly, does not actually own a plane, and will instead turn into Captain Marvel and simply fly there with his superpowers." Imagine my surprise, when Billy then goes to airport and gets into an actual fucking airplane. Why did that do that?? What was the point??????? The man can FLY.

I think I am far to used to modern superhero comics and movies where, like, "should the hero kill the villain" is posed as a tough moral quandry and the answer is usually "absolutely not", because Captain Marvel kills SO MANY PEOPLE. And not even the main villain, someone else kills the main villain, Billy just throws a henchman off the roof of a parking garage at some point. He gets his powers and immidiately goes lethal.

I'm also extremely used to the Captain Marvel/Shazam narrative of "very young boy gets superpowers and looks like an adult", which means that this movie's "young adult man gets superpowers and turns into a just slightly older but different man" is very funny.

FUN FACTS -

To achieve the special effect of Captain Marvel's transformation, the production team apparently put a trough of flash powder in front of Frank Coghlan, Jr. who played Billy and ignited it, which apparently lead to Frank Coghlan, Jr. losing a few eyebrows if the wind was particularly unfavorable.

Frank Coghlan, Jr. also apparently did not know who Captain Marvel or Billy Batson were before getting the role.

They used a paper mache dummy to achieve the flying effects from far away. It is incredibly obvious when they do this and also very funny.

#dc comics #dcu #shazam #captain marvel #movie review #movies #billy batson #1940s movies #watching every DC movie even if it kills me #seriously this is the first one and I'm already losing my mind just a bit

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lovesongbracket · 2 years ago

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Reminder: Vote based on the song, not the artist or specific recording! The tracks referenced are the original artist, aside from a few rare cases where a cover is the most widely known.

Lyrics, videos, info, and notable covers under the cut. (Spotify playlist available in pinned post)

Time After Time

Written By: Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman

Artist: Cyndi Lauper

Released: 1984

Cover included: Iron & Wine, 2016

Written by Lauper, with assistance from Rob Hyman, “Time After Time” is one of the all-time great love ballads. It was Lauper’s first #1 hit and arguably her signature song. After Lauper had already recorded the large majority of her debut album—She’s So Unusual—her producer Rick Chertoff insisted she needed “one more song.” Chertoff introduced her to Hyman and they began working on the song. Lauper came up with the title while reading TV Guide—Time After Time was a 1979 science fiction movie starring Malcolm McDowell as H. G. Wells, portraying him inventing a time traveling machine. Lauper’s label initially wanted this song to be her first single before she convinced them to go with “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” In her memoir, Lauper recounts: “When the album was completed, the label wanted the first single to be “Time After Time.” But I kept saying to them, “Listen to me—releasing a ballad first defines you in a certain way. You become known as a balladeer, and it can kill your career.”

[Verse 1] Lyin' in my bed I hear the clock tick and think of you Caught up in circles Confusion is nothing new Flashback, warm nights almost left behind Suitcase of memories Time after [Verse 2] Sometimes you picture me I'm walkin' too far ahead You're callin' to me I can't hear what you've said Then you say, "Go slow," I fall behind The second hand unwinds [Chorus] If you're lost, you can look and you will find me Time after time If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting Time after time If you're lost, you can look and you will find me Time after time If you fall, I will catch you, oh, I'll be waiting (I will be waiting) Time after time [Verse 3] After my picture fades And darkness has turned to gray Watchin' through windows You're wondering if I'm okay Secrets stolen from deep inside The drum beats out of time [Chorus] If you're lost, you can look and you will find me Time after time If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting Time after time [Bridge] You say, "Go slow," I fall behind The second hand unwinds [Chorus] If you're lost, you can look and you will find me Time after time If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting Time after time If you're lost, you can look and you will find me Time after time If you fall, I will catch you, oh, I'll be waiting (I will be waiting) Time after time [Outro] Time after time Time after time Time after time Time after time Time after time Time after time Time after Time

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Um, It's Kind of a Lot

Written By: Will Wood

Artist: Will Wood

Released: 2022

This song is about the singer's conflicting emotions of both immense love and fear towards the person they are in a relationship with. The singer expresses various types of fear, such as being afraid of leaving the house, dying of cancer, and four-letter words like "love," but then expresses the overwhelming love they have for this person. This love becomes so powerful and consuming that "it scares me half to death." Ultimately, the singer realizes the immense amount of love that makes them so fearful, and admits that "it's kind of a lot." This song expresses the complexities of love and fear, and how those conflicting emotions can be so intense and difficult to navigate.

[Verse 1] I'm afraid of leaving my house I'm afraid of dying of cancer I'm afraid of black Sedans, white vans, and computers I'm afraid of losing my mind I'm afraid of windows and airplanes I'm afraid of my past, my fans, and my future But I've never been afraid of no one breaking my heart It's not like I'm 'bout to fall and cut my throat on the shards And I'm afraid of damn near everything All my life's a panic trip, a rocketship to planet schizoid Hold me like a tourniquet, and I'll you, like an iron maiden I've grown used to fear But no, not to you yet, my dear [Chorus] Oh, I love you so much it scares me half to death I'm not used to this, how did it happen, baby? Oh, I love you so much it scares me half to death The other half, I guess I'm giving to you Oh, baby [Verse 2] Oh, I'm afraid that you'll change your mind I'm afraid there's somebody better I'm afraid of four-letter words, like "love", "for", and "ever" (Or whatever) And I'm afraid you'll notice all my flaws I'm afraid you already have, obviously And I'm afraid I'll come on too strong, hold you too tight, and scare you too But I never been afraid to wear my heart on my sleeve At least to prove I'm weak, and if you cut me, I'll bleed Oh, could you be the light my X-rays need? All my life's a Duchovny role Oh, Gillian, you won't believe this Spit me out, you don't know where I've been Hold me at claw's length, baby I'm not used to fear of losing something I hold dear [Chorus] Oh, I love you so much it scares me half to death I'm not used to this, how did it happen, baby? I love you so much it scares me half to death The other half I guess I'm giving to you Oh, baby [Bridge] I'll twist my words, a clever turn of phrase Sorry, darling, please excuse my constant need to self-aggrandize Coddling my narcissism, M.A.D., come ride my A-bomb While I beg you to say I'm okay So here's one last lyric to sum up these thoughts I struggled to come up with To make me sound deep and smart, and then I promise I'll shut up Wait, let me think, hold on, I got this Anything but "I'm in love with you" [Chorus] I love you so much it scares me half to death How should I put this, how did this happen, baby? Oh, I love you so much it scares me half to death The other half I guess I'm giving to you Oh, baby (Uhh, I mean, it's kind of a lot…)

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#cyndi lauper #time after time #will wood #um it's kind of a lot #polls #poll tournament #poll bracket #tournament #bracket #lovesongbracket #round1

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msmercury84 · 1 year ago

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"I Double Dare You" "Bois St. Jacques, Bastogne, January 3, 1945"

*This is for hbowardaily Bobweek2023 Heartbreaking Scene*

*Author's Note* Wild Bill actually said,

"Hey, Joe, I told ya I'd beat ya back to the states" as he was carried on a stretcher. Guarnere also said in the book written with Babe Heffron that he knew he had it in him to make it, saying,"They'll give me a wooden leg and I'll be fine." He also asked a nurse to cover his "skidonies" with her hands during surgery.

The incident on the airplane, the wheelchair races and the boardwalk antics with Joe Toye actually happened. The hospital in Maine really provided the seriously injured servicemen whatever they wanted. Guarnere's parents received the yellow postcard from the Army saying that he was recovering from a broken leg. I quoted the entire contents of the postcard.

I will have Wild Bill's account of this life changing incident in the chapter dealing with the filming of "The Turning Point." My depiction of Bill Guarnere is solely based on the actor's portrayal in the movie."

***********************************************************************

January 3, 1945 Bois St. Jacques, Bastogne

The men of Easy Company were doing their best to follow their orders to hold the line at all costs. German artillery fire was relentless and the ground shook with the impact of the shells fired by the enemy. During the artillery bombardments, the sergeants of Easy had to first ensure that their men were in fox holes before seeking cover for themselves.

Men were getting hit and screaming for medics. Not that many medics were in the immediate area, but Doc Roe was in the thick of the battle with his brothers in arms. Before Joe Toye had a chance to seek cover, a shell hit him, severing his leg from his body.

Toye tried to drag himself out of the line of fire, knowing that the German soldiers would fire at a man who was injured. He was saying, as he left a trail of blood in the snow,

"I've got to get up...I've got to get up." Bill was in a nearby foxhole. He paused to listen, telling the man beside him,

"That sounds like Joe. Wait here." Guarnere scrambled out of the foxhole and began to drag Toye to a safer location. Joe told him,

"You said you'd get back to the states before me."

"You ain't goin' anywhere, you're alright."

"I gotta get my helmet."

"Forget it!"

"I gotta get my helmet."

"Forget it, Joe!" Buzz Compton had told the men to stay in their foxholes due to the fact that the enemy would fire upon an injured man and anyone helping that man to safety.

Compton was anxiously watching Bill as he slowly moved Toye further into the woods. He shouted,

"Hurry up, Guarno, you're gonna get bombed!" Bill looked behind him as he continued to drag Joe back to safety.

"Come on, come on!" Then, a shell exploded over Joe and Bill, sending dirt, snow and shrapnel flying into the air. Buck saw a cloud of black soil obscuring the area his buddies occupied.

When the dirt and debris settled, Compton looked in horror at the crumpled, inert bodies of Toye and Guarnere on the ground. He held his rifle as his hand shook and stammered before shouting, "Mmm...Medic! Medic!" Buck had a glazed look in his eyes as his rifle fell to the ground. He removed his helmet and it also fell to the ground. ************************************************************************On the afternoon of January 6, 1945, Leigh finished rehearsing for an upcoming USO show. She returned to the dressing room to change into her everyday clothes.

Spencer quickly got back into her wine colored day dress and black sling back pumps. Before she could put on her coat, someone knocked on the door.

She opened it and was surprised to see Lewis Nixon. Leigh asked him to come in, wondering why he was in Paris. Nixon looked unusually somber. He wanted to be anywhere but where he was at the moment, but Winters dispatched him from Bastogne, insisting that Spencer should hear the news from someone she knew.

Leigh asked him,

"Nix, what's going on? What are you doing here?"

"There's no easy way to say this, Leigh. You need to sit down, I have something to tell you." The color drained from her face as she grabbed the edge of the dressing table and sank into the chair. Spencer struggled to find something coherent to say, finally asking in a very soft voice,

"It's about Bill, isn't it?" Her eyes searched Nixon's, looking for a shred of hope, but he was expressionless. Leigh's voice was breaking as she said,

"Please tell me he isn't..." Spencer couldn't finish the sentence. Nixon found another chair, pulling it up to sit beside her. Lewis could see the fear in her eyes and he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Leigh, Bill is alive, but he has been very seriously injured. Dick wanted me to tell you rather than send a stranger. Three days ago, we were under attack.

The krauts poured it on us with shelling. Joe Toye had just returned to duty. During a barrage of shelling, part of his right leg was blown off."

"Oh, dear God!"

"When there are casualties, the krauts double down on shelling and mortar fire when someone attempts to rescue an injured man. Buck was shouting for everyone to stay in their fox holes.

Lewis briefly relived the horrific scene, recalling the shells hitting the large pine trees, something the men called a "tree burst." Lethal shards of wood flew through the air as the ground shook with the impact of shells.

Dirt, snow and fragments of trees rained down on the men. Some of the paratroopers dragged frozen cadavers of enemy soldiers to provide protection from enemy ammunition as they took cover in their fox holes. Many years later, some of the men could still recall the sounds of bullets and shells striking the frozen bodies.

Other paratroopers used wood provided from the felled trees or they cut the trees to reinforce and cover their fox holes. Some men were fortunate enough to have some canvas or other material to cover the fox holes to keep some of the wind and snow from blowing in.

Lighting a fire in an attempt to keep warm was strictly forbidden because the enemy would see the light from the fire. This made easy targets of anyone close to the fire.

Nixon forced himself to stop reliving the hellish scene and he told Leigh,

"Bill must have heard Toye's voice. He ran out of his fox hole and began to drag Joe to safety. Buck kept screaming at him,

'Come on, come on!' but the krauts zeroed in on both of them. Bill got hit. Leigh, his right leg was very badly mangled. I wish there was a better way to say this. Based on what Doc Roe saw, for all practical purposes, Bill's leg is destroyed from his knee to his foot.

We had another casualty of sorts. Something in Buck was broken after Toye and Bill got hit. He dropped his helmet in the snow where he stood and eventually walked off of the line. Buck was taken to a field hospital and transferred after that, but I don't know where."

Leigh gave Nixon a blank stare as she processed what he told her. Spencer's brain was reeling with the shock of the information she was given. Tears began to flow down her face followed by deep, wracking sobbing that seemed to pour out of her soul.

Nixon wordlessly handed Spencer his handkerchief and held her as the gut wrenching sobbing continued.

"You know that Bill's tough. Let me tell you what he said to Toye. Right before he was taken away, he said,

'Joe, I told ya I'd beat ya back to the states.' I found out that Bill will arrive here tomorrow morning at the American Hospital." Leigh managed a weak grin when she heard about Guarnere's comment to Toye. The full impact of the message she received hit her full force and she replied with a tear choked voice,

"He saves Joe's life and this is what he got in return? I'd like to find the kraut bastard who did this and torture him before I kill him! Nix, how can Bill possibly survive this?"

"Leigh, he's already managed to survive three days of being outdoors on a cot in the makeshift field hospital. This is the first chance they had to get him to the American Hospital due to the krauts keeping the roads virtually closed. I'll take you to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning."

Spencer wiped the tears from her face and blew her nose on the donated handkerchief, placing it on a nearby table. She noticed that Lewis looked gaunt and pale.

"Are you ill?"

"No. The Army in its infinite lack of wisdom sent us to Bastogne during the worst winter in 30 years. They didn't give us adequate clothing, we didn't have enough ammo and the rations couldn't be delivered as planned.

The krauts also send planes with pilots who open fire on us after American planes drop our rations. When we try to retrieve the containers, they strafe us with bullets." She looked horrified.

"What the hell is wrong with the Army? It's inexcusable that they would send men into combat without warm clothing, food and ammunition!

Starving men can't be expected to hold the line at all costs. Bill's already weakened by starvation. How the hell can he possibly survive?"

"Medics in the field hospital have been giving him food and treatment to stabilize him. If anyone can survive something like this besides Toye, it's Bill.

I spoke with a USO official and you can take off as much time as you need. The official told me that you will have money provided for all of your living expenses. This is thanks to the Andrews Sisters.

Before they left for the states, they donated most of their earnings to establish funding for USO performers. This covers any woman who has a seriously injured husband or fiance and is unable to work. You are the first person in need this year, so you're getting a share of that money."

"Thanks for speaking with the officials, Nix, I appreciate it."

"Do you need a ride to your hotel?"

"Thanks, but it isn't necessary. I live in a small apartment. It's cheaper than the hotel, so the officials are allowing me to live there."

"Then let me give you a ride to your apartment. Leigh, you've just had a bad shock and I'd frankly feel better if you would come to the hotel where I'm staying.

I took the liberty of getting a room for you that's next to my room. Before you say anything, consider this. Bill would want someone to look after you."

Spencer knew Lewis was right, Guarnere would insist upon someone helping her in this frightening and emotionally wrenching situation. More than anything, she wanted to be in his arms, having him reassuring her that everything would be fine.

Leigh realized that she had to be strong for Bill and put her emotions aside. He would need all the support and love that she could give.

"Do you have your flask?" Lewis got the flask, handing it to her and Leigh took a few big swallows of the whiskey. In her current emotional state, Spencer didn't react to the impact of the liquor hitting her empty stomach. She thanked him and returned the flask.

"Once I get you to the hospital and you get to see Bill, I'm going back. Dick insisted that I accompany you. He gave me the names of people to contact to facilitate your getting to see Bill. Nixon helped Leigh put on her coat. She left it unbuttoned and started to walk out of her dressing room. Lewis grabbed her purse and carried it with him.

They exited the theater and walked out of the stage door entrance and down a narrow alley before turning right and arriving at the front of the theater. An Army truck with its engine idling waited by the curb

Lewis opened the door for Spencer and she got in, sitting by the driver. Leigh gave her address to the driver and showed him the fastest way to reach the apartment building. While the men waited, she quickly threw some clothing, clean underwear, shampoo, a nightgown, a bathrobe, slippers and stockings into her suitcase.

She exited the building and got back into the Army truck. On the way to the hotel, all she could think about was how Bill could possibly survive physically and emotionally. Leigh then reflected back to their engagement in November. She thought,

"Our dreams were about to come true. Is it all over?" Spencer issued a silent prayer for Guarnere. She fought hard to not break down, but she began to cry. Nixon put his arm around her and gave Leigh another handkerchief. He held her until she composed herself.

Checking into the hotel and getting the key to her room went by in a blur of activity. Once Leigh's belongings were secured in her room, Lewis told her,

"If you need anything, that includes someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, I'm next door. Have you had anything to eat?" Spencer said that she hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"Let me order something light from room service. I'm getting a good, stiff drink for you, too, Leigh. It might help you get some rest. We have to be at the hospital no later than 0600."

"Thanks for everything. I appreciate you looking out for me." Lewis went into his room and ordered an omelette, a croissant with jam and butter, hot tea plus some Courvoisier for Leigh. Spencer went into her room and hung her clothes in an armoire.

The food arrived and Leigh made herself eat, reasoning that she couldn't help Guarnere if she allowed herself to get run down. She drank the strong brandy, took a bath and put on her nightgown before brushing her teeth.

She notified room service that she had finished her food. An employee of the hotel removed the tray, the dishes and glasses.Before getting into bed, Leigh knelt by the bed and prayed for Bill. She went to sleep fairly quickly.

Early the next morning, she was dressed and waiting for Nixon. He showed up at 5:45 a.m. and escorted her to the army truck. Spencer wondered if Bill had arrived and if he had already had surgery on what remained of his right leg.

The driver of the truck pulled up to the front door. Lewis got out and helped Leigh exit the vehicle. He opened the door for Spencer and they entered the lobby area of the large hospital.

Nix went to the front desk and gave the receptionist Bill's name, plus the names of those who could help facilitate Spencer seeing him. Lewis spoke fluent French as he conversed with the woman.

When the receptionist learned that Leigh was the same woman who had been performing with the Andrews Sisters in Paris, this fact further facilitated Spencer being allowed to visit Bill.

When the receptionist asked for Guarnere's serial number, Leigh gave the number in French and had a conversation with the woman in fluent French, surprising Nixon. The receptionist got a clipboard with some papers and asked Spencer to follow her.

Leigh thanked Lewis for his help and for looking after her.

"Give Wild Bill my best," before he left the hospital. Spencer followed the receptionist into an elevator. The woman noticed Leigh's engagement ring, asking in English,

"You are the fiancee of Guarnere?"

"Yes." The elevator stopped on the fourth floor of the hospital. There were some open wards and some rooms that held two patients at a time.

"He is out of surgery and sleeping. Monsieur Guarnere is doing as well as can be expected. He had to have a great deal of shrapnel removed, also. The doctor is giving him medication for pain and some medication to prevent infection. We will need to get some weight on him again."

Leigh and the receptionist walked down a long hallway. The woman pointed to a door of a room,

"He is here." Leigh thanked her and entered the room. Bill was in the bed closest to the window. The other bed was empty. Spencer got a chair and pulled it up to the side of the bed.

Although she had seen Nixon and realized that the other men would look emaciated, seeing Guarnere looking extremely thin and pale brought tears to her eyes.

He didn't begin to resemble the tough, cocky, fun loving, strong young man with a swagger in his step that Leigh knew and loved. Nonetheless, she was profoundly thankful that Bill was alive and she issued a silent prayer thanking God for allowing him to survive surgery.

She would've been further surprised by Bill's appearance if a nurse hadn't shaved off his beard prior to the operation. Since the men were constantly outdoors in the bitter cold, a majority of the Easy Company soldiers stopped shaving.

They had no desire to shave using ice cold water. Dick Winters shaved every day, hoping to keep up the men's spirits, but the brutally cold weather was a strong deterrent.

Guarnere was still under the effects of anesthesia and was sleeping soundly. Spencer saw the outline of his left leg covered by a sheet and a blanket. She noticed that his right leg was removed above his knee. The tears flowed as Leigh imagined the agony Bill had experienced.

Nixon spared her the graphic description of the nightmarish sight of Toye's and Guarnere's seemingly lifeless bodies lying crumpled in the snow stained with their blood.

He thought it best to not tell Leigh how Guarnere's leg had shrapnel embedded in along with chunks of flesh and muscle blown away, revealing the bone beneath. Bill's right foot had been attached to his leg by a pulsating strip of muscle.

Spencer pulled herself together, trying desperately to dry her tears. Leigh was determined to stay by Bill's side. She removed her coat, draping it over the back of her chair before sitting down again.

Leigh dozed for awhile, awaking with a start. Guarnere was sleeping, but he was starting to move a bit. A half hour later, Leigh was feeling relieved when she noticed Bill opening his eyes. He stared at Spencer in disbelief. Guarnere said, in a soft, weak sounding voice,

"Baby, am I dreamin' or are ya really here wit' me?" Leigh gently kissed him.

"I'm here, Honey." She held his hand.

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Spencer noticed that his eyes looked slightly glazed and she wanted to ask a nurse if it was due to pain medication.

"I'm thirsty and I'm still kinda sleepy."

"I'll try to find a nurse and get some water for you. Bill, I'm so thankful that you're alive." He noticed Spencer's swollen eyes that were red from crying.

"Sweetheart, I can tell you've been gettin' upset worryin' about me. l'll make it, I got it in me."

"I believe you, Bill."

"Baby, I wish you would stay out o'here. These hospitals have horrible sights," Bill's voice trailed off a little, "like nightmares. Too much for ya to take." Spencer told him firmly,

"Bill, General Patton himself couldn't make me leave you by yourself in here." Guarnere felt dizzy and a little disoriented.

"Can I get some water?"

"Hang on, Honey and I'll see if you can have some water."

She left Bill's room and walked down the corridor, looking for a nurse or a nurse's aid. Spencer noticed a nurse who was sitting at a desk. Leigh asked her in French if she could get some water for Bill and if his glazed eyes were the result of medication.

Spencer was informed that he should not drink the entire glass of water at once. There was a risk of him becoming nauseated by the anesthesia that would still be in his system, albeit in small amounts. Then, the nurse said that the glazed look in Guarnere's eyes was due to the medication given for pain. She told Leigh, in English,

"I will send someone right away to make sure your young man has a working catheter and that it doesn't cause additional discomfort."

"Would it be OK if I cooked for Bill and brought the food for him?" The nurse approved of the idea, saying that the food could be brought in the following day. Guarnere had to stay on a mostly bland diet for the remainder of the day due to the anesthesia remaining in his system.

Leigh thanked the nurse and took the tray with the water and the glass back to Bill. When she brought in the tray and put it on a table by the bed, Guarnere told her,

"Thanks, Honey." Spencer poured a glass of water, handing it to Bill.

"I can only give you one glass of water per hour and you're not supposed to drink it all at once. The nurse wants you to take it easy on the water because you could get very sick due to amount of anesthesia that's still in your body.

Another nurse is coming by soon to check on your catheter and make sure that you're not having discomfort from it. Starting tomorrow, I'll be allowed to cook and bring in food for you."

Guarnere gratefully took the glass of water, drinking half of it, handing the glass back to Leigh.

"Thanks, Baby. Lookin' forward to the home cooked food."

An older nurse entered the room, saying that she was going to check Bill's catheter. She asked Leigh to leave the room and Spencer complied.The nurse found no infection present and no mechanical problems with the catheter. Leigh returned to the room.

"Do you need anything?"

"No, I don't need anythin'. I'm gonna take a nap." Spencer kissed him.

"Get some rest, Honey. I'll be right here." Before dozing off, Guarnere told her,

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Leigh kissed the top of his head. She returned to the chair she had by the side of his bed.

The pain medication and the lingering anesthesia caused him to sleep for most of the day. Bill awoke in the early evening feeling hungry. He was grateful to have any type of food after nearly starving in Bois Jacques. Leigh offered to feed Bill the soup and bland food that the nurse brought in.

"Thanks, Baby, I can do it." Another dose of pain medication was given after Guarnere finished eating. Bill kept the food down, but he was restless.

Leigh knew that Bill was accustomed to smoking a cigarette after supper. She told him that she needed to speak with a nurse and that she would be back soon. Spencer searched the fourth floor until she found a nurses' station.

She asked the nurse on duty if Bill would be allowed to smoke. Then, Leigh asked where she could find a vending machine where she could purchase a pack of cigarettes.

The kind nurse took a full pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her purse, giving the items to Spencer. She also provided an ashtray. The nurse told her,

"Normally, I smoke French cigarettes, but these American cigarettes are all I could find. It is the least I can do for your fiance since he was fighting the enemy."

Leigh thanked the nurse for her kindness and generosity. She went back to Bill's room. As soon as Guarnere spotted the ashtray, he smiled. Leigh told him how she got the cigarettes.

"A full pack o' Lucky Strikes. Thanks, Honey. Will ya thank the nurse for me?" Leigh promised that she would thank the kind woman for him. She gave Bill the lighter.

"I ran outta the cigarettes you gave me. The guys ran out o' smokes an' I shared what I had wit' 'em." Guarnere opened the pack, got out a cigarette, put it in his mouth and lit it.

He took a long drag from the cigarette, exhaling the smoke slowly. Bill gradually seemed less restless, much to Leigh's delight. Spencer made a mental note to bring in more cigarettes the next day.

Leigh had to leave after she delivered the cigarettes to Bill. The hospital had very strict rules about visitors. Unless it was a situation in which a patient was near death, no visitors were permitted to stay overnight. Spencer kissed Bill before she left for the night.

"I'll be back tomorrow with some food and more cigarettes for you. Honey, I hope you can get a good night's sleep." Guarnere returned the kiss,

"Thanks for helpin' me an' bein' here for me, an' thanks for the smokes, too. Baby, who told ya about my leg?"

"It was Nix. Winters sent him to tell me. He arrived in an Army transport truck. Lewis got a room for me in the hotel that was next to his. He made sure that I had something to eat. Nix also said that you would insist upon someone looking out for me."

"He's a good man, an' he was right. I'm glad he done the right thing an' took care o' my angel." Bill kissed her. Leigh said that she would see him for lunch the next day and she left the room. Spencer saw the nurse who gave her the cigarettes and the lighter.

"My fiance wanted me to thank you for the cigarettes. If it isn't an imposition, would someone make sure he doesn't go to sleep with a lit cigarette in his hand?" The nurse assured Spencer that she would ensure Bill's safety.

"It's obvious that you love him very much. Not all women can accept an injury like his. Your being here will help him remain mentally strong."

"I thank God that Bill is alive. He means the world to me and I love him as much as I did before he lost his leg" After Leigh left, Guarnere reflected on his rescue of Joe Toye. He thought,

"I'm goddamn lucky to be alive. Christ, it was almost a year to the day that Henry died. I didn't think I'd make it. If I didn't make it, who would tell Ma, Pop, my sisters an' Leigh? That would've broken their hearts an' my baby's heart.

It probably scared the hell out o' Leigh when Nix told her. I could see that she's done a lot o' cryin'. Thank God she's gonna be wit' me. Her bein' here makes me feel a little stronger already."

Bill felt exhausted and he soon drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep. Meanwhile, Leigh visited some markets in Paris to stock up on the necessary provisions for the meals she planned to cook for Bill. Spencer started to plan what she would fix the following day and the days after that.

She returned to her apartment and called her parents. They were saddened by the news that Bill lost his leg, but they were thankful that he was alive.

Leigh told her mother to not give Augusta the bad news over the telephone. She said that another worker for Colonel Sink with whom she had spoken promised that the Army would take care of notifying Bill's family.

Louise Spencer told her daughter that both she and Leigh's father would pray for Guarnere's recovery. She also promised that they would light candles for Bill. When Mrs. Spencer asked Leigh how she was holding up, Spencer told her mother,

"Mom, it's been a horrible experience, but that's nothing compared to what Bill is going through. The nurses have approved a plan I have to cook two meals a day for Bill.

He is seriously underweight. All the Easy Company men nearly starved to death because the enemy prevented rations from getting to them.

Bill insists on eating what the hospital serves for breakfast. His mom sent several recipes for his favorite meals. The nurses agreed that he would be more likely to eat home cooking and that he could regain the weight he needs much sooner if he liked the food.

When one of the men from Easy Company told me about Bill, I couldn't stop crying. Mom, I was so afraid that he wouldn't survive the surgery.

The Andrews Sisters set up a fund for USO performers who are unable to perform due to their husbands or fiances being seriously injured.

Mom, you know how deeply I love Bill. He isn't out of the woods yet, as far as recovery and survival goes, but the fact that he's survived so far is very encouraging. I'm going to be here for him however long it takes."

Louise told her daughter that she understood and that she would trust that Leigh would take care of herself. She agreed to not tell Augusta the news and she trusted the Army to handle the situation.

After the call ended, Leigh ate supper, washed her hair, took a bath and went to bed. The next day brought a routine that was to become very familiar to Spencer. She cooked and delivered two meals a day for Bill. Leigh also ensured that he had cigarettes.

Another familiar routine began that day. Spencer would visit Notre Dame Cathedral to light candles for Bill and Joe Toye. Leigh had no idea where Joe was hospitalized. Guarnere made progress, albeit slowly. He had more surgery to remove shrapnel.

After staying in the Paris hospital for two weeks, Bill was transferred to another military hospital in London.Since Leigh learned the location of the next facility to treat Bill, she already had an apartment rented close to the hospital.

By that time, Colonel Sink gave her an honorary discharge from the WAACs after consulting their office in Iowa. The USO released Leigh from duty and she agreed to perform in at least one show when she returned to the United States.

The doctors in London did more work on the remainder of Bill's right leg and he had one final surgery to remove shrapnel. Spencer continued to visit Guarnere and she continued bring food and cigarettes.

Bill was gaining weight and he was beginning to look more like himself. His voice sounded stronger and he was taken off of morphine. Guarnere began to take another type of pain medication. This made him more like himself cognitively speaking due to the fact that he was mentally sharper and less lethargic.

Leigh was overjoyed and relieved when the doctors in the London hospital officially removed Bill from the critical list. She no longer had the fear that Guarnere would die from his injury.

Dick Winters forwarded a letter from Johnny Martin to the hospital in London. Bill enjoyed hearing from his friend. Martin was sent home due to medical reasons before Bill got injured in Bastogne.

Guarnere was stubborn about one thing. He refused to allow Leigh to empty the urinal or the bed pan. Bill firmly told her that the job was for nurses only. Spencer didn't argue with him, although she thought that Bill was getting a little carried away.

After three weeks in London, Guarnere was sent to a military hospital in Scotland. Leigh once again found an apartment fairly close to the hospital. She was thankful that the USO shipped her furniture, clothing and the rest of her belongings. Prior to having reconstructive surgery, the surgeons wanted to trim the bone on Bill's leg. This was the fifth procedure Guarnere had. He told Leigh the following story.

"The doctors numbed where they were workin', but I had to be awake for the surgery. They were almost done, an' they said they had to trim the bone on my leg.

I looked up an' I noticed a saw. I thought, 'Holy God, that looks like a saw used in a butcher's shop. The doctors laughed at me, but I asked this nurse if she would cover my skidonies. I didn't want somethin' that (he pronounced the word as 'dat') important gettin' cut off. The nurse put her hands over me while they finished the surgery."

"I've never heard that word before." She grinned, adding,

"If any woman puts her hands on your skidonies, it should be me. I'm very well acquainted with that part of you " Bill chuckled,

"That's the sassy angel I love. Honey, I can't thank ya enough for bein' there for me through all o' this. That's made me feel stronger mentally an' I think I'm doin' better physically 'cause I'm gettin' good food.

Baby, I know you've been worn out takin' care o' me. I know better than to ask ya to take it easy, 'cause ya won't listen. How 'bout we start plannin' our weddin'?" Leigh kissed him.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Honey. My Bill is back! It's nothing short of a miracle that you're acting like yourself again. Thank God you're stubborn and determined. I wouldn't want you any other way."

She whispered to him, "When you're ready, I'm more than eager to make love with you again. Baby, I love you so much!"

"I love you, too, Honey. I'm lookin' forward to makin' love wit' my sexy angel. As soon as I'm recovered enough, let's get married." Spencer hugged Bill and gave him a very passionate kiss.

Guarnere said goodbye to Leigh from the hospital in Scotland. He was booked on a flight for seriously wounded military men that was headed to a large military hospital in Maine.

The plane had to make an emergency landing in Gander, Newfoundland due to problems with one of the engines. Bill thought that the plane was going to crash, so he hopped on one leg, telling the nurse to give him a parachute.

When she told him to go back and lie down, Guarnere threatened to kick the door of the plane open and jump out. Fortunately, the engine began to work and Bill remained inside the plane.

Leigh sailed back to the United States on a Red Cross ship. She stayed at the YWCA in Philadelphia. Spencer soon found a home in South Philadelphia, not far from the Guarnere family's house. Thanks to Augusta Guarnere, she got a good deal on renting a row house for the price of an apartment.

The owner of the property was a cousin of Augusta's and since Spencer was engaged to Bill, he gave her a very generous discount. Colonel Sink had all of Leigh's possessions shipped to South Philadelphia and Army workers unpacked everything, putting all of the items into the appropriate rooms.

************************************************************************

Once Bill arrived at the hospital in Maine, the workers went out of their way to get the men whatever they wanted to eat. They offered steak, French fries, hoagies (sub sandwiches), ice cream and oranges.

Guarnere told them that he was happy to be alive and that he didn't need anything. One day, he was listening to his favorite Andrews Sisters song, "Rum and Coca Cola." He asked for a rum and Coke. The nurse brought six drinks. Bill drank three rum and Cokes and poured the rest over his body.

************************************************************************

Joseph and Augusta Guarnere got a yellow colored postcard from the Army with the following information:

Feb. 3, 1945

"I am pleased to inform you that on 25 January, 1945 your son, Sgt. William J. Guarnere 13113070 was making normal improvement. Diagnosis: Fracture of the right leg, condition not serious."

************************************************************************

Very early one morning, Leigh was in New York City. She had taken a train from Pennsylvania to Grand Central Station. Spencer got there 15 minutes before the train to Maine was scheduled to arrive. Leigh was appearing with a small group of USO singers who were performing for the men in the hospital.

Spencer carried a garment bag containing her USO uniform and the T-strap shoes she wore for dancing. She also had her purse and a small container of pizzelles for Bill. As she stood, waiting for the train, she saw Lacey Davis approaching her.

Leigh was surprised to see that Davis was pregnant. She noticed the absence of an engagement or wedding ring on Lacey's left hand. At this point in time, being an unwed mother was scandalous. Davis told Leigh hello and Spencer answered her. Lacey immediately noticed Leigh's engagement ring.

"I see that the wedding is still on for the big time singing star and the paratrooper. I heard about the wedding on the radio. The little Songbird was flaunting her ring and her handsome fiance."

"Lacey, I have never said or done anything to warrant your mean spirited words. Is it jealousy? Are you still bitter about not being able to seduce Bill?

For the record, I flaunted absolutely nothing. The Andrews Sisters reported my engagement." Davis gave Leigh a disdainful look,

"I know they reported it, how could anyone miss hearing the news after they practically made a federal case out of it. I'm surprised they didn't contact the President and have the day of your engagement declared a national holiday.

Let me tell you something, Little Miss Perfect, I'm just as good as you when it comes to singing and dancing. Are you related to the Andrews Sisters? Is that why you were selected?" Leigh was beginning to feel angry. She told Davis,

"Not once did I ever say or even think that I was better than you. All three of us had equal chances for the gig with the Andrews Sisters. I knew nothing about the agent being in the audience until I got the gig. My former boss, Colonel Sink, told me that I got the job with the Andrews Sisters. No, I'm not related to them."

"That sounds like a good alibi. If you're not related to them, then I'd like to know who you were sleeping with to get that agent to select you. I went to see a guy who was in tight with that agent and he promised me that gig."

Spencer was still angry but she also pitied Davis. Leigh realized that Lacey was so desperate to sing with the top trio in the country that she fell for a promise made by a less than scrupulous man.

"I got that gig because the agent thought that I could dance in the style of the Andrews Sisters and he liked my voice. If you went as far as to try to seduce someone to get a gig, I feel sorry for you." Lacey glared at Leigh.

"Save your pity for somebody else. I'll be fine as soon as I have this baby and give it up for adoption. Don't you dare feel sorry for me!" Spencer was relieved to learn that the baby would be given up for adoption. Her pity for Davis disappeared when Lacey added,

"I'm guessing that the wedding is still on because you probably feel a sense of duty to stand by your fiance. I heard about what happened to his leg from Samantha Meeks. She said that you've been writing to her. Don't worry, I won't try to steal him away from you anymore. I don't find crippled and maimed men attractive." Leigh fought the urge to slap Davis's face.

Spencer knew that Lacey would go to anyone in the media to say that the Songbird of the 506th hit a mother-to-be. Leigh told her in no uncertain terms,

"You monstrous bitch! How dare you say such an ugly thing about Bill! He's a hero for saving his friend's life and he's damned lucky to be alive. I never worried about you stealing him away from me, because he was never interested in you. Bill told me what he said to you.

Unlike you, I don't see men as something to use for my benefit. I love Bill as much as I did before he lost his leg." Spencer heard an announcement stating that the 6 a.m. train to Maine was pulling into the station. Before the train stopped at the platform, she told Lacey,

"I'd tell you to go fuck yourself, but someone beat me to it." Davis gave Leigh a look of toxic hate as she boarded the train.

The men in the Army hospital in Maine enjoyed the USO show. Bill was making the transition from being bedridden to using crutches. He made sure everyone attending the show knew that his fiancee was "the best damned singer in the bunch." Guarnere was happy to get the pizzelles.

"Baby, I appreciate gettin' the cookies. You've taken good care o' me. The food they have here is great. Anythin' we want, they give it to us. They even have steak.

Sweetheart, why don't ya take a break from cookin'. Honest to God, the food here is really good. I hope I didn't upset ya. Everythin' you made for me was delicious."

"I'm not upset with you, Honey. I had a run in with Lacey Davis in Grand Central Station." Spencer didn't tell Bill about Davis's ugly remark about him.

When Bill asked her about the conversation, Leigh told him the truth, that Lacey accused her of sleeping with someone to get the gig with the Andrews Sisters. She also told Guarnere about Lacey being pregnant and her plan to give the baby up for adoption.

"That's a rotten thing for her to say about ya. That baby is better off bein' brought up by somebody else. I bet you told her off, Sweetheart!" Spencer told him what she told Lacey before boarding the train. Bill looked shocked for a moment and then he laughed loudly,

"That's my baby! I love the spark that makes ya feisty."

************************************************************************

Leigh was at the Guarneres' house when his parents saw Bill on his first leave from the hospital. Augusta and Joseph cried. His sisters were too stunned to cry. They believed the information in the late arriving postcard from the Army stating that Bill had a broken leg.

Spencer immediately apologized to Joseph, Augusta and Bill's sisters. She said that she should have told them immediately instead of relying on the Army to inform them about Bill's injury.

After Mrs. Guarnere translated what Leigh said, she and Joseph told her that it wasn't her fault, because she had no idea that the Army was sending the wrong report about Bill. Guarnere's sisters agreed with their parents. Bill told them,

"They'll give me a wooden leg an' I'll be fine. I got it in me to deal wit' this." When he told of how Leigh was by his side from the time he entered the American Hospital in Paris until he left the hospital in Scotland and how she cooked for him every day, both of his parents and his sisters thanked her. Augusta told her,

"Sweetie, I'm so grateful you were there for Billy. Knowin' that you cooked for him every day so he could gain weight and get healthy again makes me love you even more.

Since you're gonna be part of the family soon, how about you call me somethin' other than Mrs. Guarnere? " Leigh thanked her, telling the Guarneres and their daughters,

"I took care of Bill because I love him. Is it OK if I call you Mama? You're like a second mother to me." Augusta was pleased with the name and she told Spencer that calling her "Mama" was fine. Joseph said something in Italian to his wife. Augusta translated the message for Leigh,

"Joseph would also like to have a less formal name from you."

"How about Pop? That's what Bill calls his father." After hearing the translation, Joseph told Leigh,

"That is good."

Bill was moved to another military hospital, Haddon Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. To his surprise, Joe Toye was in the same facility. They were virtually inseparable from that moment on. Both men were allowed a few weeks at home, then they went back to the hospital. This went on for one year.

One day, Leigh came to visit Bill and Joe. She made pizzelles for Guarnere and sugar cookies for Toye. They nearly ran her down as they raced each other up and down the hall in their wheelchairs.

Spencer wasn't angry, she was happy to see the two friends engaging in horseplay. Bill and Joe apologized and she accepted. While Guarnere was working on making the transition from using crutches to using the wooden leg, the wheelchair helped him move faster. He told Leigh,

"Baby, once I got this wheelchair, I felt like a million dollars. I said, 'get the hell outta my way!' Me an' Joe raised hell. We'd go up an' down the boardwalk up an' down ramps, shoutin'. We'd stop in bars, get drunk, go down the steps to the beach an' drop in the sand headfirst. Then, we'd get stuck in the sand.

We were havin' fun, everyone knew we were there, just home from the war. Complete strangers came up to talk to us." Spencer grinned and shook her head. She knew that Bill and Joe had to have an outlet and a way to let off some steam.

When Guarnere was home for a couple of weeks, he and Leigh spent a great deal of time together. They began to plan their wedding, setting the date for June 23. Invitations were printed and sent out after V-E Day.

#hbowardaily #Bobweek2023 #Day5HeartbreakingScene

@hbowardaily

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thebigshotman · 2 years ago

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(As suspected, my “Dr. Strangelove” review got looooong 😂 It’ll be under the cut for those interested!)

Well despite it being delayed somewhat it’s time once again for my weekly movie review! Where I talk about the movie I watched this week in film class at college. This week is one I’ve wanted to see since I decided I wanted to go into film: “Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”, by Stanley Kubrick. I wanted to watch any Kubrick film, really, but considering this was his one and only comedy that had a lot of interesting elements (like the same guy playing three very different people) I was the most curious to check this one out!

Dear lord, do I wish I checked it out sooner. This movie is going up there with “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Horse Feathers” as one of my favorite movies ever so far. I guess you can tell I have a thing for absurdist comedies lol. Anyway, the plot!

The plot is set during the Cold War, and is kickstarted when a certain General Jack the Ripper (sorry, Jack D. Ripper) orders a nuclear attack on Russia, with no reason why except for a crazy conspiracy of his about “fluids” and the fact that he used the one attack plan that would allow him to get away with it. From there, we jump between three places: Ripper’s base, one of the planes, flown by Major Kong (played by a cowboy character actor), and the Pentagon’s War Room as tensions flair in each spot. Things turn dire once it turns out Russia has a “doomsday device” that will kill everything if they are attacked, and from there the race is on to recall the bombers. But fate continually has other plans, and officials continually are utterly crazy.

Would you believe this is a satire you’re supposed to laugh at? Well you better, cause this movie was very funny indeed! True, it take 20 minutes of its 90 minute runtime to get going, but once it does it doesn’t let go til the strains of “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn. Let’s start with the names as to why. General Jack D Ripper. General Buck Turgidson. President Merkin (…yes really) Muffley. Premier Dimitri Kissoff. And of course Dr. Strangelove himself. These are just some of the names that are treated with complete normalcy in this movie. And they aren’t the funniest thing by a long shot.

The acting is superb. All three of Peter Sellers’ characters, though very different, all get moments to shine (Strangelove, the ending scene, Muffley, the phone call to Russia, Lionel Mandrake, the gambit to call the president about the plane recall code). George C Scott as Turgidson was trolled by Kubrick into giving the scenery chewing performance he does but by god is the movie better for it. And Sterling Hayden as Ripper is deadly serious and sane-seeming at all times, perfectly at odds with his bizarre logic. Even Slim Pickens as Kong gets a few moments, especially the famous scene where he rides a bomb to the ground like a cowboy on a horse at a rodeo.

The look of the movie was really good, too, particularly the giant War Room (I honestly wish it was real, like as a museum exhibit or something). The script, of course, is awesome as well, with amazing line after amazing line (“Gentlemen, you can’t fight here! This is the War Room!”). But above all the thing that’s most amazing is how dry and audacious this movie’s sense of humor is. From Strangelove’s tongue slipping as he calls the President “Mein Fuher” to Muffley’s “if this wasn’t a friendly call you probably wouldn’t have even got it”, I can’t really imagine any comedy or satire today saying or doing half of this stuff. Imagine the reaction it got when it first came out and all of this was still going on! You could argue it still is, but I digress.

If I were to compare this movie to stuff that’s more modern my top two contenders would be “Airplane” and “Don’t Look Up”, but even then it’s not a straight one-to-one comparison. Both this movie and “Airplane” have actors acting dead serious while they say and do funny stuff, sure, but even in its most hilarious moments it’s not balls-to-the-wall like “Airplane”. “Don’t Look Up”, meanwhile, treats its doomsday ending very seriously (like it even gave me pause for a few minutes). While this one doesn’t even give it thought. “Oh, the world just ended? Here’s a cheerful song!”

What I mean by that is that I don’t think there’s really anything else completely like this movie out there, and it’s all the better for it. If you don’t mind military-precision humor that expects you to laugh at the more-than-ever very real possibility of the world ending, I highly recommend this movie! I would absolutely watch it again. If “learning to love the bomb” is a metaphor for learning to laugh at mistakes and the absurdity of life I think this movie is helping me get there lol

Anyway, enough rambling! Cause I could definitely ramble more about this one. Next week is another Kubrick movie! “2001: A Space Odyssey”. I’ve heard mixed things about it but I’m going to go in with an open mind and see what I think! My review of that will probably be the next time you hear from me, as like I said I’m not coming back just yet in order to focus on midterms. But I will be back soon!

Thank you for sticking to the end and reading all of this lol. We’ll meet again some sunny day soon, as the song so nearly went, and I’ll talk to you all then!

George C Scott was so good 😆 Shame he had to be duped to give this amazing performance but still!

#(the highlight was definitely the President and premier squabbling like a couple over the hotline 😂)#(I look to my left and right in the classroom and both people next to me have the widest grins! and so did I 😁)#(gotta reference it at some point…somewhere. lol)#STRING PULLER-out of character

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the-cat-chat · 5 months ago

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June 1, 2024

Anyone But You (2023)

Despite having an amazing first date, Bea and Ben's initial attraction quickly turns sour. When they unexpectedly find themselves at a destination wedding in Australia, the pair pretend to be the perfect couple to keep up appearances.

Warning: Review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

JayBell: This movie does have some of my most hated romance tropes. Miscommunication, lack of communication (this is different from miscommunication, trust me), and fake dating of course. About ten minutes into the movie and I knew I wasn't going to be having a good time. But we persevered.

Where to begin. I think both these characters are way too immature to be in a relationship at all. Their immaturity and lack of ability to make adult choices and have adult conversations astounds me. Although they end up together in the end, if this was real life, I bet they wouldn't last two years before ending in a messy break up. Also, I just don't like the main characters, separately or together. I can honestly say I wasn't rooting for them. I think Jonathan is the only character I really liked, but that's maybe because he's hardly in it and didn't irritate me.

The way the time jump is handled is crazy. There is no chemistry between the parents (who are AWFUL) and their kids, no chemistry between the sisters or the friends either. I know the plot is based off of Shakespeare, but man is it stupid in this modern setting. The dialogue isn't the greatest, the emotional moments aren't very emotional. And the ending is stupid. I don't even want to talk about the helicopter.

What bothers me most is that it isn't funny. The airplane bit, the spider bit on the cliff (who wrote that?), the dialogue, the side characters, etc. And I guess the "raunchy" nudity is supposed to be funny too? But honestly if feels out of place and just strange.

It's a shame. I almost want to say, "I'm not mad, just disappointed." But I have to be honest and say that I am a little mad too.

Rating: 2/10 cats 🐈‍

Anzie: The main two things to take away from this - 1. I’m so sorry. I am sorry I made The Cat Chat watch it, I almost wouldn’t blame anyone (*cough JayBell* cough cough*) from disowning me over this pick. And 2. This past week- I have repressed this movie almost as good if not better than my collection of lifetime traumas. And there’s a lot of that to repress and I’m not particularly good at that, so repressing this movie into the deepest part of my psyche very easily is telling.

I hate all of it. Minutes in I was wanting to stop- but we’ve seen awful movies before right? RiGhT?? No not until this one. If anyone ever asks me worst movie ever. It’s this one. And poor Sydney Sweeny. Bc I love her. And she should not carry this mark forever. And I just hate all the crude humor bc it’s not even funny it’s just at the expense of the actors/ characters and it doesn’t ADD AnYThiNgg in fact it takes it down more. Don’t get me started on the spider scene.

Honorable mentions of just what the actual fluff-

The whole beginning- in the coffee shop - we'll glaze over - but just ending up with the random man that pretended he was your husband so you could pee in the bathroom and it’s customers only blah blah blah- that’s how you end up on dateline. And her leaving and him saying that stuff to his friend??? And the completely absurd fact that we get no reference for the time jumps until the MOvIE is OVeRr!!! And her parents inviting the ex bf. and the dog?? And the cake?? And every character in this and the dialogue STABBbBB meeee to death now. I’m sure Shakespeare is rolling in his grave and I’m sure in all of time in space is it the most HEINOUS version of any of his work.

Ohhh and don’t let me forget about Will Gluck the Mastermind. Oh I’m sorry I misspoke. Will Gluck the Absolute SINNER!!! And what’s with the fact that he’s made Easy A and Peter Rabbit 1 & 2. That’s weird. And what’s weirder his affinity to use Pocketful of Sunshine in Easy A and then tarnish Unwritten with this piece of garbage. How Dare Heeeeee.

Rating: -10/10 Cats 🐈‍⬛

#movie #movie review

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snonkerdoodlefizzy221b · 7 months ago

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@onceuponapuffin and @theaethernetconnection y'all were asking and here's your answer! (Sorry, it's really late)

This is based off of the movie Planes: Fire and Rescue. Never heard of it before? Don't worry--it's part of Pixar's universe of Cars.

In this movie, there's a team of aerial firefighters at a national park called Piston Peak. They've got two helicopters, two planes, a few terrestrial vehicles (the Smokejumpers) with added things like shovels and shit to clear debris, and an on-site mechanic. A trainee airplane is also with them during this movie.

This mechanic 's name is Maru, and I think that if anybody is the Archangel Raphael it's him. Why? It's basically for just one reason.

One of the helicopters had just suffered extensive damage to his hydraulics--

--which was pretty bad: bad enough that if they didn't move swiftly and take the correct measures, he would die. (At least, I'm pretty sure that's the case from what was said in the movie. Either way, that's what we're assuming here.) Maru managed to save him, and we see him not even a day later flying out to save two old RVs trapped in a canyon in one of, if not the biggest fire the park has ever seen.

Maru fixed the helicopter's injuries. Okay, we've got that. It's his job, he could've been trained for that, it could've been experience...but if we're going with my absolute non-knowledge of helicopters and their hydraulics we're going to say that the helicopter's injuries were severe enough that he shouldn't have been able to fly out after just a few hours. Maru fixed him up enough that he was able to achieve the impossible.

At the beginning of the movie, the trainee finds out he has developed a gearbox malfunction that basically prevents him from going over 80% of his torque, meaning he can't push his engines to their limits to fly super fast or he would crash. This would be a relatively simple problem to fix if it weren't for the fact that his gearbox has been out of production for years, and it is too complex for any regular mechanic to build from scratch.

During the big fire, he redlined it anyway to save the two old RVs and subsequently crashed.

Maru managed to build the plane "a custom-made, epicyclic, concentric reduction gearbox", saying that it was "the hardest thing I've ever done". This is a super complex gearbox--complex enough that even a skilled mechanic was able to look at it and say, "Nope, has to be factory-made." And gearboxes are technically a part of the plane's body, which means that they technically fall under Raphael's realm.

Maru's catchphrase is "It's better than new!". This refers to anything he has built, because all of his creations are supposedly better than what you could get at a factory. The entire team backs him on this. Why would he be able to make things better than even the best factories in the world?...unless he has a supernatural advantage?

Maybe he doesn't remember who he is. Maybe he thinks he's just a regular old Joe schmoe who somehow has a magic tine. Maybe he knows full well who he is and is still able to do that. How did he wind up in WoC? I explore that theory in an AU I made (still not finished yet) but you can come up with your own as well.

So that's my argument as to why I think that if anybody ever is the Archangel Raphael, it is Maru.

(sorry if the image ID's are bad i did my best)

being alive during this limbo between seasons 2 and 3 is actually crazy bro. like there are so many crazy theories. I've personally convinced myself that the archangel Raphael is a forklift

#maru planes #disney planes #disneyplanes #planes fire and rescue #good omens #good omens speculation #raphael #good omens meta

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whatstruthgottodowithit · 2 years ago

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Better Man

Fandom: RPF, American Musician, Elvis, Elvis Movie 2022

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Female Reader

Characters: Elvis Presley, Female Reader, Rusty (Reader’s Dog), Jerry Schilling, Charlie Hodge, Austin!Elvis

Word Count: 2747 // Rating: Teen & Up

Summary: And I know why we had to say goodbye like the back of my hand, But I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man

Tags/ Warnings: My Writing, Halloween Challenge, Writing Challenge, Songfics, Established Relationship, Elvis Movie, Elvis 2022, Breakups, Angst, Heartache, Cheating, Lying, Love, Kisses, Fighting, Toxic Relationship, Physical Altercation, Lisa-Marie Airplane, Elvis on Tour, Tours, Anger, Songfic, Lyrics, Crying, Grief, Lads when i tell u that this one broke me, Pls Cheer Yourself Up With Rusty The Dog, Better Man // Little Big Town

Notes: This is part of my writing Challenge for Halloween 2022. All fics are based off of songs I love. The aim is to write one fic a day for 15 days straight. I’m doing a similar thing for Christmas but they will all be headcanons [requests welcome for that] Enjoy x

15 DAYS OF SONGFICS FOR HALLOWEEN (OCT 15TH - OCT 31ST)

I couldn’t sleep. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling unable to switch off my mind. Memories swirled around inside my brain some hurtful, some happy, all a jumble of my life. I sat up rubbing my eyes. They burned now even though I had stopped crying long ago, running empty of tears. I climbed out of bed and walked through to the kitchen of my apartment though left the lights off not wanting to make my eyes hurt even further as I made myself a cup of tea.

My dog, Rusty, danced around my feet excitedly, finally thinking I was out of my funk since I had been in my bedroom since the late afternoon, crying and refusing to leave. He was worried about me and though he didn’t know what was wrong he had stayed with me all day, cuddling into my side in an effort to help.

I sighed and stroked behind his ears suddenly realising that I hadn’t fed him since breakfast, too distracted by my own problems. I grabbed a cup full of kibble from the bag and dropped it into his bowl watching as he dove in excitedly causing new wave of sadness hit me as I realised he hadn’t bothered me at all, putting his own needs behind my own. I must have really seemed just that big of a mess.

I left him happily scoffing his food and made my way to the large window of my lounge which looked out over the city. I held the hot mug of tea in between my hands and took a sip. It stung my dry mouth but I didn’t really mind as it had been the first thing I’d drank in hours. I looked out at the view. The city was abuzz. Cars still weaved through the streets below. Alarms blared. Lights shone brightly in the inky black sky. It was the same as it had been 24 hours ago.

Except it was different for me. Probably different for a lot of others too but I didn’t care about them. Not right now.

‘You know you had to do it,’ a voice in the back of my mind said. I scoffed aloud. I had said that so many times before that it seemed like my mantra.

It was right.

Elvis and I had dated for a long time. I loved him with all of my heart. But we weren’t going to last. He didn’t know what he had when he had it so I had to get out. To save myself.

The memory of the day I left flashed in my mind.

I was sitting on the bed trying to summon the strength to get up off it. My bags were sitting at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me, begging me to come downstairs. But I was stuck on the spot. Elvis was sitting behind me, the silence between us deafening.

‘Do you have to go?’ he asked after what felt like a year. His voice cracked, his throat sounding dry. I sighed. It had been a question I had been asking myself all day. Well, for longer than that. ‘I can’t stay,’ I said. ‘But you want to,’ he countered standing up off the bed and coming around to kneel in front of me. He looked years older, looking up at me with wide eyes, tears brimming on the rim of them. ‘I can’t,’ I said, my own tears spilling over. ‘Why not?’ he said, ‘you love me right?’ ‘More than anything,’ I said sadly, my hand cupping his cheek gently. ‘Isn’t that enough?’ he asked quietly. ‘I wish it was,’ I sniffled. ‘You said,’ he said swallowing thickly, ‘you said that you love me more than anything-’ ‘I do!’ I said. ‘Then why can’t it be enough!? Why can’t we get over this,’ he said. ‘Because I love you enough to forgive you for everything that’s happened…but you don’t love me enough to change,’ I said honestly. Tears spilled over and rolled down his cheeks and I swiped my thumb across his cheek catching some of the dampness there. As he hung his head in shame it made my chest tighten a little.

‘Can you honestly say that you’ll never hurt me again? That some pretty girl won’t turn your head? That I’ll never have Jerry openly lie to me because he’s covering for you? That I’ll never have to force myself awake in the middle of the night just to check that you’re still breathing? That those damn pills ain’t taken you?’ ‘Y/N,’ he said sadly. ‘I’ve tried my best to keep this relationship afloat,’ I whispered, ‘can you honestly say the same?’

My heart felt like someone was squeezing it through my chest as I pulled away from the memory. That was one of the worst days of my life and yet I thought about it quite a bit. Mostly in the middle of the night like now. In the middle of the night when no one would know about it. Yet on those nights I didn’t just think of the bad stuff. The good often showed up too, like now, as another memory flashed through my brain.

‘I really need to get up,’ I giggled. I was lying in bed. My head on Elvis’s shoulder as my fingers fiddled with the necklace he was wearing. His arms were wrapped around me, his lips pressed into my forehead though I could feel him smirk as he whispered, ‘now I don’t know about that.’ ‘Elvis,’ I said moving back so I could look at him, ‘I’ve got stuff to do.’ ‘Better than this?’ Elvis said capturing my chin in between his thumb and forefinger and leaning in to kiss me. It was soft and tender and full of love. It made my heart hammer in my chest. Then he was moving, rolling me over onto my back deepening the kiss as he rested on me gently. ‘No,’ I whispered as he pulled back, ‘not at all but I gotta.’ ‘Stay with me,’ he said his blue eyes shining in the low light as he looked at me. I stroked his soft black hair gently. ‘And why should I?’ I giggled. ‘Because you love me,’ he said simply. ‘Is that so?’ I said. He leaned and pressed a kiss to my lips. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’m right aren’t I?’ ‘More than anything,’ I said with a smile. Elvis leaned in and kissed me again, his hand stroking my face gently. I had a million things to do. Errands to run, clothes to pack for when we left tonight for a show, I had a hair appointment across town in 20 minutes. And yet, I didn’t want to move. I was happy here.

I smiled at that memory. It was nice to remember him like that. That was what it was like for the most part. Until everything started to unravel. Until he got more and more unhappy. He’d take it out on me. We’d argue. He’d push me away, usually pulling some other woman close for the time being until he was ready to face whatever was going on. Sometimes he wouldn’t even talk to me about it. He’d sit and stew about it and then hours or days later he’d come back to me like nothing had happened throwing me for a loop. I didn’t know if that was better or worse than the fighting.

We pulled up at the small airport on the edge of town. Having flown in yesterday morning we were leaving again a mere 24 hours later. Another day another city. I was tired. Last night had been an epic show, the crowd electric and Elvis a God amongst men. I’d seen the same show every night for the past ten days and every night it was better. I loved seeing him on that stage. Electrifying. Tantalising.

Though this morning was a completely different kettle of fish. After the show, I’d been shepherded back to the hotel, alone, which had left me not knowing if I were coming or going. If I weren’t allowed to stick around it meant Elvis was up to something or something was up with me. When I returned to the room I sat up waiting for him to come back but he never did. Eventually, around 4 am, he entered the room and slipped into the bed beside me but before I could turn around and say anything to him he was snoring tuckered out from the show, what he’d been doing afterwards or something Dr Nick had no doubt cooked up for him to get him to drop off as soon as his head hit the pillow.

And when I woke up he was gone. I sighed and climbed out of bed getting myself ready for the day. I grabbed my cases and headed downstairs handing them to the man loading them all up into the convoy of cars we had. That was the first time I clapped on eyes on him properly since the show last night. He was talking to Charlie, laughing about something, but his smile disappeared as he saw me causing a shiver to run down my spine. So I was right, it was me. The problem was I didn’t know what I’d done wrong. He was often like this. When he got annoyed he’d go moody and silent. Whoever it was directed at would either get a tongue lashing pretty soon after or they’d have to figure out what they’d done wrong which wasn’t always an easy task.

I decided to ignore it. He was mid-conversation anyway and it wouldn’t seem that odd if I didn’t interrupt them. Instead, I headed around to where the girls from the sweet inspirations were waiting for our ride. We chatted for a bit before we were led out to our vehicles and I was forced to leave the girls and get into the car with Elvis and the boys. He allowed me to sit next to him, he even threw his arm behind me on the seat but it never touched my shoulders.

As we pulled up to the jet people clambered to get out of the car, allowing Elvis to lead us up to the jet. He did so, waving to the fans on the other side of the lot screaming for his attention, begging for one last look or wave before he departed their town. The boys and I followed each of them taking a seat on the jet but I stayed standing watching as Elvis headed down to the back of it and into the bedroom.

After a moment, I took a deep breath and headed down to the bedroom, sliding the door open. He looked up as I came in, his jaw set before he turned back to where he was taking his shoes off. I lingered by the door, folding my arms across my chest. He didn’t pay any attention to me and I could feel anger bubbling in my stomach, a feeling that was becoming all too familiar to me.

‘So are you going to tell me what I did or do I have to guess?’ ‘What?’ he said looking up at me with venom. ‘Are you going to tell me why you’re acting like some petulant child? I mean I’m in trouble, right?’ I questioned, ‘for what I don’t know but I’m sure I am.’ ‘You don’t know?’ he scoffed standing up. He came towards me, his jaw tight and a sneer on his face. ‘Honestly?’ I said stepping towards him so we were toe to toe, ‘it could be anything with you these days.’ ‘So I just imagined you and that guy did I?’ he spat. I went to reply but my mind was blank. ‘What are you talking about!?’ ‘Don’t pretend like you don’t know,’ he scoffed pulling back, ‘he was all over you! In the dressing room before the show, can I get you this, do you want me to do this for ya!’ ‘That’s his job!’ I screeched. I was sure everyone would be able to hear us now but I didn’t care. ‘Oh yeah?’ he shouted, ‘was it his job to stand at the side of stage with you? Press his hand on the small of your back as he led you about? Whisper in your ear and make you laugh? Was that also his job?’ ‘We were talking about you! He was a fan of you! He was being nice!’ I said, ‘am I not allowed to speak to a man now? Is that it? Only you? No one but the great Elvis Presley can speak to me! I bet if we played that rule in reverse we’d have a problem, right? If you weren’t allowed to speak to any lil thing in a tight sweater or some cheap piece of ass calling by your hotel room!’

I was screaming now. I hated his jealousy. It tore at me, like claws in my gut every time. How could he doubt me? I loved him so much. He rushed towards me and grabbed me by the face pushing me so I was back against the wood-panelled wall. My heart hammered in my chest. He looked like he wanted to scream at me. Yell obscenities. Instead, he was formulating the words he wanted to say but I got there quicker.

‘I love you,’ I said with a small sad smile though his grip was starting to hurt my face. He pulled back, letting my face out of his grasp. I dropped my gaze trying to stop the tears that had formed in my eyes from falling before I continued quietly, ‘I love you more than anything on this earth and the fact you think I would ever, ever, do that to you hurts me more than you could ever know.’ ‘I just…’ he sighed, ‘I’m out there playing a show and I look out and there you are laughing and joking with some guy. There could be 40,000 in that crowd and I wouldn’t care…so long as you were watching.’

He sat down on the bed rubbing the bridge of his nose and I moved towards him, walking between his legs and tilting his chin up so he’d look at me. He looked tired, deep bags were underneath his eyes and he looked paler than normal.

‘I love you so much,’ I said, ‘I just need you to trust that a little more.’ ‘I do,’ he whispered, ‘I want to…it’s just I see you with guys like him and-’ ‘And nothing. Out of all the time we’ve been together has anyone ever turned my head?’ I said. He shook his head, ‘and that’s never gonna change. I love you.’ ‘I know,’ he said quietly. ‘Good,’ I whispered, pulling his head into my torso and wrapping my arms around him. He clung to me as I stroked his hair, ‘because acting like this…it isn’t good for either of us. It’ll break us from the outside in.’ ‘I know,’ he said sadly.

It hadn’t broken us. I had.

I stopped letting him take me for granted. I left him working through the pain by clinging to the pride that I had done all I could. I had tried my best. That if he wanted me, loved me like he always told me he did he would’ve tried harder. Been a better man.

But right now I didn’t want a better Elvis. I wanted my Elvis. The imperfect Elvis. The one that caused me no end of heartache but also no end of joy. I placed my cup of tea down on the windowsill and wrapped my arms around myself. If I held myself tight enough I could still feel him on my skin. I longed for that tonight.

I longed for him to hold me.

Cuddle me like he used to.

Make the tears I was crying disappear.

But he wasn’t here. I moved to my couch and dropped down into it with a hefty sigh. Grabbing the remote I clicked the TV on listening as the early morning news came on. I hadn’t realised how long I had been up.

‘Good Morning and welcome to your local breakfast news. The date is August 17th 1977 and here are your headlines…’

As I said. The world was different for a lot of people today.

#my writing #elvis x reader #Elvis Movie #elvis presley #austin!elvis #austin!elvis x reader #Elvis Presley Fic #elvis presley x reader #angst #halloween writing challenge #better man #elvis fic #songfic #Halloween #halloween challenge

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thegreencanary · 2 years ago

Text

Thank Damn you Henderson

Based on this list from my lovely @youreapipedream and it’s number 2

A/N: This is my work and I don’t give anyone the permission to post it anywhere claiming to be someone else’s. I worked hard on this, if you enjoy it please interact. Requests are open.

Summary: Steve x Henderson!reader see each other at Family video all the time and they flirt but when you bring Dustin in he helps his best friend get your digits.

TW: cursing mainly, it’s pretty much just fluff! Some light mentions of Upside Down stuff but nothing crazy.

It’s kinda short but Steve is fuckin adorable and a clumsy goofball in this. I tried to go for a GN reader but if there are female pronouns I’m sorry!!

“It’s fine Robin, just go home. I think I can handle the last 4 customers we’re gonna see.”

Steve shuffled Robin out the door, she wasn’t feeling good and he didn’t want to get sick. It was a super slow day, plus it was raining outside. Family Video was not the place to be in Hawkins tonight. A few hours passed and two people had come and gone, so he just needed two more to be exactly right about his prediction when the door opened.

“Yes!” He mumbled to himself, just one to go; but he immediately forgot about that when you could be seen just above the aisles looking for something.

“Hey! Y/N right?” Steve hopped over the counter stumbled a bit, causing a small laugh from you.

“Yeah! What’s up Steve?” You flashed the famous Henderson smile, but yours was with all the teeth. You found it funny that he hadn’t put together that you were Dustin’s sibling. Sure Dusty never talked about anything other than the Upside Down or his long distance girlfriend, but you’d think he’d tell his best friend about you.

“Living the dream…not mine but somebody’s.” He smiled at the soft cackle that came from you at his comment. He loved making you laugh, just hearing it made his whole week. Looking over the comedies Steve grabbed ‘Airplane’.

“Definitely this one today. It’s super funny, if you haven’t seen it yet.”

You grabbed the movie from his hand and your fingers touched. He blushed, you blushed and that’s how it was for you two for a few months. You’d come in, flirt and he’d recommend a movie. Regardless of if you had seen it or not you’d rent it and come back with a fresh review. Dustin told you he’d been all dreamy eyed about someone but you didn’t know who. I mean it’s Steve fucking Harrington. He may have lost his “king” title but he could still make anyone swoon. Plus, some of the things he’d done in the upside down made you really fall for him; based on what Dustin told you.

Dusty Bun never let you go with them. He made you promise to stay as far away from all of it as you could. Originally you protested, I mean he is your little brother, but after Billy died you realized how much he needed someone who wasn’t involved in all of it. He needed to come to you and just cry and take shelter in you from all the scary things. God you loved him and he was brave as shit but he was just a kid. You’d been thinking about it a lot lately and decided to take him to get some playing time at an arcade in Indianapolis, then a movie and some pizza. He was still gushing about some awesome game that he loved while you two walked into family video.

“Then when the other ships come out you get to BLAST THE—STEVE! What’s up my man!”

Immediately distracted by his adoptive father, Dustin rushed to the counter. You laughed as the gorgeous head of hair looked between you and Dustin.

“Wait….YOU’RE A HENDERSON?”

Dustin couldn’t help but laugh either. You two kept it pretty under wraps but it was always funny when someone found out.

“Dusty, check on your dad. I’m gonna go find us a movie, horror right?”

He nodded and gave his special wide smile. You kissed his head and looked up and down the aisles for something good.

Steve dropped his voice really low. “Dude that’s the one I’ve been fuckin—I didn’t know you even had siblings what the fuck!”

“Ohhhh you’re trying to become my brother in law huh??” Dustin raised his eyebrows and Steve smacked him.

“Shit I mean I don’t know. I just…it so easy to talk with Y/N and I-“

Dustin cut him off and shouted to you.

“Steve is coming over for the movie tonight!”

“Damn you Henderson I swear to God I’m gonna feed you to a demigorgon”

You shouted over the aisles “okay! I think I found a good movie!” Walking back up with ‘The exorcist’ you smiled and grabbed a pen and paper from your backpack.

“Here. Just call me when you’re done so I know when to expect you.” Steve blushed at the thought of getting your number but he already had it because it’s the same as Dustin’s.

“Yeah I..I know the number. I kinda have it memorized cuz of the butthead over here.”

“Hey!”

“Well…you can call and ask for me if you want…sometime…”

Holy shit what. You wanted to talk to him outside of Family video?? Fuck yes!!

“Yeah?”

You chuckled and nodded. “Yeah”

“Yeah! Okay! Yeah! Awesome! Cool! Yeah! I’m gonna go back to…yeah!” He was making a fool of himself and even Dustin smacked his hand to his forehead. You chuckled and gave a small kiss on Steve’s cheek.

“We will see you tonight okay?”

“Okay!” He’d all but melted at the kiss. Dustin went to say something and he stopped him before he could.

“Shut it Henderson.”

Dustin rolled his eyes and headed to the door as you rented the movie. On the way out he shouted at Steve,

“You’re WELCOME!”

Steve murmured to himself. “Thank God for you Dustin.”

#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve x y/n #steve x you #eddie stranger things #dustin henderson #steve and dustin #Henderson and Harrington #steve the hair harrington

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achillieus · 4 years ago

Text

let you down. (sebastian stan x reader)

summary: it's a universal truth but it's worth repeating; feelings eat us raw. or just an actor and a girl falling in and out of love over the course of three months.

(this was inspired by sebastian's visit to greece for his movie, monday, and is based on that, so that means in the story we’re in 2018. also i have this posted on ao3 too but while i’m writing the last parts i thought of posting it here too)

pairing: sebastian stan x reader

warnings: alcohol, sexual references, implied depression, sebastian desperately needs to hug the reader, infidelity, it's kinda slowburn because i love the yearning, this part is full of angst and built up tension,

part: 3/6

(other parts) (masterlist)

Being Sebastian Stan is not a simple thing. Some days it makes him feel like he is only a porcelain face on screen. Nothing more than photographs and rumors. He had once told an interviewer he was scared people would never know the real Sebastian. What he meant was that he was worried he’d wake up one day and the real him would be vanished.

The world would have eaten him alive.

Walking you home, in empty streets in a small country makes it all easier. His mind is clear of dazzling thoughts and his heart is not racing up. He can smile and no one will be there to take a picture of him.

Somehow that makes him smile more.

And when he does, it feels like Christmas. And you are certain there will come a day where you’ll be so close to oblivion and unable to remember what mint tastes like or what your favorite color is, but you’ll still have the turned up corners of his mouth painted in your head.

He stops walking. You look at him confused. He’s fidgeting with his fingers.

“Back at the party,” he takes a long breath as if trying to slow down his heartbeat, “You were talking with that tall guy.”

He sounds terrified. You don’t understand why. He thinks it’s better that way.

“Yeah I was.” There’s a flicker of surprise in your voice.

“Do you know him well?” You realize you have stopped in front of a pharmacy, the halogen light above you, turning your skin a sick green color.

“I know he’s an actor.” You take a step, finding the courage to walk away from him. “He’s kinda famous here.”

You can hear him move close behind you.

“Do you want me to ask Argyris if he’s single?”

There’s mockery in his voice. It makes you feel intoxicated. It’s your turn to stop walking. Your gaze falls on his face and Sebastian can feel his eyes sting but he keeps them open; wide and pale blue.

Almost green, under this light.

“No.”

“Oh don’t be sh-“

“No, I mean it. I would never date a famous guy.”

“Why?” A hasted breath escapes his trembling lips. And for a moment you think of kissing him right there; in the middle of the street, but you never do.

His world moves too fast for people like us.

That’s what you want to yell back at him, but then you remember;

The evening Sebastian fell asleep in your couch, he was more than a famous guy. He was clutching on your pillow like a kid and he was humming to himself like your father used to.

And he smiled as he fell asleep.

There is no argument left in you. He’s just a boy.

“I’m scared.” Your words slowly suffocate him. He feels the weight of your heart pulling him down.

He nods.

The next two days pass in a blur. You can hear him laugh with people as they walk up the stairs to Argyris’ flat. You’re not used to him not stopping at your door. It makes your cheeks red and your eyes filled with salty tears.

You haven’t realized until now, but you’ve become dependent on his presence.

So when you open your eyes at 4am with your phone buzzing with an Instagram message, you bite your cheeks.

Are you awake?

You stare at the screen to make sure you read it all correct, until it turns black and then lights up once again.

Why are you scared?

You don’t have to be scared with me.

I’m trying. You want to answer. Help me. You want to answer. Please.

You put your phone away until the words turn blurry.

He’s back at your door the following night. He’s wearing a white tank top and his rings. He must have just finished shooting.

You keep staring at each other, both tongue-tied with the words you’ll never say. He looks worried and desperate. You look tired and desperate. Taylor Swift is playing in the background.

“No more AC/DC?” He laughs and your eyes smile.

“Do you want to talk?” He asks.

You shake your head like you’re at war with yourself.

“Do you want to just stay here?” Your voice is too silent but it’s almost deafening him.

Sebastian thinks that he wants tons of things. He wants to hold you. And he wants to touch you. Everywhere. And he wants to know why there’s sorrow surrounding you. And he wants to take it all away.

And he wants you.

But he knows that he can’t tell you that. These words are too heavy for you to carry on your shoulders. At least for now.

“I’ll stay.” He says with a breath.

You give him an almost smile and all you can feel is gratitude.

You lay in your bed together. You’ve slept with other guys in that bed before. And it’s been nude and sloppy and brutal. But this is different. This is intimacy in its purest form. You’re both fully clothed but you both feel naked. And so close. So close.

All Sebastian can hear is the sound of your breathing and every bone inside him is breaking. He is afraid he’s turning paralyzed.

And then you move your body and bring your forehead next to his. Sebastian inhales deeply. You smell of faded vanilla body cream.

You look at him and you know then you can get used to that. You bury your fingers in the hem of his shirt. You want him to come closer. He knows.

“I’ll stay love,” his voice is steady and sincere “Anytime.”

He calls you love because there’s nothing else to call you. He calls you love because you both need him too.

“I don’t think that’s possible.” Sebastian thinks you’re always too sensible. It’s something you keep between the hollows of your body. “But it’s okay.”

His hand is in your hair. It soothes you.

“What happened? What broke you?” he whispers.

You don’t know what to say. You don’t know how everything started. It's hard to remember but there is one image in the back of your eyes that crawls through your skin and makes you shiver. You try to ignore it.

“I don’t know.” He turns his gaze at you but you look at the cold ceiling. It’s so much easier this way.

He doesn’t answer. He just draws circles in the back of your palm and places his lips against the scalp of your head. And while you’ve never been much of a science person, you’re certain this is how a nuclear attack emerges.

When the sun rises and you wake up, he’s not there. Earth moves slowly as the cold sheets press against your skin.

It’s early, there is a soft breeze coming in from your open window. A man is bickering with this wife across the street.

You can hear her call him a liar.

I’ll stay love.

You can hear him yell his apologies.

Anytime.

Why do people lie? Why do we lie?

You don’t try to search for him. You take a shower and drink some chocolate milk. You pay attention to the silence in the room. You almost forget your heart is still beating.

You bump into Argyris’ girlfriend while taking out the garbage. You like her a lot. She’s strong and pretty and smart. You wonder sometimes, how exactly that feels.

You pray she doesn’t mention him. It doesn’t work.

“He must be flying right now.” Suddenly you feel as if there is something rotten inside your chest. It makes you want to graze your skin and throw away everything that's inside.

You look at her slightly confused.

“He’s flying to Toronto; he has to attend a festival there.” She smiles. You’ve noticed she always smiles.

You just nod and step out of the building. Her voice stops you.

“He’s coming back in some days.”

“I don’t care.” Now she laughs.

“There’s no need to lie.” You take a sharp breath. “He cares too.”

You want to believe her words but they seem like choke chains.

You throw your garbage away.

You keep your rotten chest.

Sebastian sits back at his seat and orders a hundred and one drinks. The airplane is chasing the sun. He’s chasing his thoughts. Neither will ever catch up.

He used to like travelling. Airports, suitcases and foreign hotel rooms made him feel free. Now they make him feel the opposite.

The material on his seat is rugged. He wants to go back to your soft sheets. He can’t.

And then he imagines a place and a time where he could just kiss you without any possible consequences. He imagines a place where you could rest your bodies together for a long time without worries weighing you down. He imagines a place where he gets what he wants. A place where that thing between you two is more than enough.

The sun blinds him. He closes the small window and then his eyes.

Being Sebastian Stan is not a simple thing.

Some days he can’t take it.

You’re sitting on the floor and it’s almost 9 in the morning. You’ve calculated the time difference and it’s 2 in the morning where he is. That sounds wrong. Almost scary.

He left three days ago but he’s everywhere. There are photos of him wearing stupid floral shirts and posing in a sophisticated way. And there’s Nicole Kidman next to him.

God. I’ve become infatuated with a man who plays in movies with Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr.

That’s what you think and you know you’re doomed.

You expect him to send you a message or a picture at first, but he doesn’t. You wonder if your time together was only a blurry puzzle of disconnected memories that somehow fits in his past.

He’ll simply forget all of it.

You try not to think about him but then you meet Argyris in the lobby and you have to bite the inside of your mouth so his name doesn’t jump out from your lips.

You go to bed early that day. You hold onto your pillow and you count the hours that separate you.

(13 hours with a plane)

(25 days with a boat)

You count and you fall asleep.

And you fall in love.

It’s not uncommon to rain in Toronto. But today rain feels heavier on Sebastian’s skin. He remembers the day he met you; it was hot and the sun made the window glass look like it was about to melt. That memory is the cause of his shivering.

Once upon a time he was in love. He was in love with a girl who had ethereal written all over her body. He was in love with a girl who was destined for divinity.

But those were the old days; they are dead and gone now. Your skin glistening under the Athenian sun changed it all.

It’s not easy to feel this way. The sky understands so it opens up and pours down on his dark hair. He presses his eyes closed with his fingers. And he tries to imagine a version of himself that doesn’t think about you that often.

He can’t.

Not even when he has a deity as his girlfriend.

The next time you see him, his hair is a little longer and much messier than you remember. And you have to devour all the sense that’s left inside you as not to touch it with your bare hand.

He has a cigarette in his fingers and a dark jacket thrown around his shoulders and everyone’s asking him about the festival. You just sit on the corner of your neighbor’s flat and listen to laughter and glasses clicking against each other. And you smile.

Smile; because he’s here.

And then he notices you and you’re pretty sure his eyes linger on your face a little longer than it's normal for humans. And his gaze is so brilliantly blank and loony that you don’t know how to respond. And then he starts to cough. And he never looks at you for the rest of the night.

You want to believe it’s better this way.

But it makes you so angry; you want to clench your teeth hard.

It goes like this; you don’t exchange any words for the next two days and it feels like your lips will start to bleed.

And you don’t know but his head feels like battlefield.

“When do you know you can’t stop it?” He asks Argyris. He feels ashamed.

“When you don’t want to stop it.”

He grabs the beer can and drinks his confusion away. He hopes alcohol will send his thoughts to sleep but instead it sends him to your door.

He rests his head against the wooden material. He can hear water running down and he can hear you humming a song.

And the foreign words make no sense to him but somehow they sound like lyrical poetry.

He waits for the water to stop and then he knocks.

Your hair is wet and sticks to your blue shirt. Your eyes grow wide when you see him standing there.

“I thought you’d never come at my door again.”

He looks at the floor.

“I shouldn’t.”

He sounds defeated; defeated by his own self. And you can smell the flammable liquid on his breath. And you can see that he has his nails pressed against his palm. You take his hand in yours and he closes his eyes. You caress the little cuts with your fingers. There are no scars but the skin is still red and painted with fear. You understand and it makes you feel dirty and obscene.

You look thoughtful for a moment and then you decide you can’t go on like this. It will split your souls.

“How’s Canada?” His eyes fill with surprise and he laughs. It gives you pride.

“Never been?”

He takes a step inside your place and his eyes fall on the empty bottle of pills at the kitchen table.

He doesn’t say a word about it.

You love him for that.

“I’ve never been anywhere.” Your cheeks are flushed with a soft raspberry color.

Sebastian realizes then that he wants to show you the entire world. Every corner of it. He wants to hold your hand as you walk beneath the Corsican stars. And he wants to memorize the Northern lights with you by his side. And he wants to see you laugh as he falls off his surf board in New Zealand. And he wants every cliché thing there is to do.

His heart stretches at the thought of it.

“Canada is beautiful in its own way.” He looks out of your window.

You wonder if he’s trying to find some more constellations in the sky, but then he turns around and walks towards you.

“I’ve been there a lot of times.”

Of course you have, you think.

He brushes a strand of hair behind your ears. It’s still damp and cold.

“Have you been to a lot of places?” He smiles and nods.

And then you can sense it; the sharp feeling of heartbreak crawling under your skin. You try to ignore it.

“I used to be grateful I travel all the time.”

You place your hand on his chest. The beating makes you calm.

“You’re not grateful anymore?”

He rubs his palm over his face.

“I am,” he inhales “But sometimes I just want to stay where I am.”

Yeah, I know.

He leaves an hour later, still drunk.

Still in love.

On Sunday, he takes you out for dinner. You tell him you don’t like dates. He promises it’s not a date.

You know you’re both lying.

He orders some red wine and he drinks as he watches you eat. It all feels natural to him. Somewhere at the back of his head though, there’s still some rationality left, that makes him think, this can’t be wrong, when it feels so natural.

He doesn’t drink any more.

You’re playing with the maraschino cherry on your dessert when his phone rings and your world comes crashing down.

You don’t intend to but you see the caller ID.

Love.

He had called you love one night.

He feels too guilty to look at you so he grabs the device and gets out of the place.

You want to throw the ice cream on the floor.

And then you want to hit the wall; with your head. But you can’t. So you just bite down at the cherry and wait for him to come back.

And when he does, things are different.

He doesn’t to try to make jokes and you don’t laugh. His eyes are everywhere but on you and your hand stays away from his.

You tell him you’re done with dessert so you can leave.

He has never felt more relieved.

Your pace is fast, but he catches up. You can’t outrun him.

His breath quickens as he comes closer. It’s almost innocent and childlike, the look he gives you.

“I’m sorry.” He whispers and it makes you laugh. You laugh and you shake your head and it’s not enough.

“Why?” He can taste the bitterness all over you. “This wasn’t date. So why are you sorry?”

You keep walking and his breath keeps echoing in your ears. You find the entrance of your building.

You’ve seen the place a hundred times but only now you notice how old it looks. It makes you disgusted. It makes you want to vomit.

It starts with him saying he doesn’t want to hurt anyone.

And then you rest your body at the soiled wall, trying to remind yourself you’ve had your heart broken before. And your eyes are not dry anymore. And you can taste salt in your lips. And he comes closer and he holds you.

You swear you see tears in his cheeks too, but he’s too fast to wipe them away.

“Have you ever done anything only to regret it a second later?”

You’re not certain which one of you asks but you can hear your bones breaking as you throw your head around and he arches his back.

His hands touch the dried tears on your face and it stings like sewing needles. And his lips touch yours. And for a brief moment you feel like you’re stealing from life.

And he can taste all of you; raw.

And it feels like fists that punch him.

And when you pull away you both have already regretted everything.

“Now you have something to be sorry for.”

You wonder if perhaps a broken dignity is better than a broken heart.

i really appreciate feedback, it motivates me tons and also tell me if you’d like to be tagged :)

tagging: @lharrietg @awkward117 @dannaloureen @broccoligf @cutestfangirlvevo @caitdaniels @arymb @buckybarnesishot310 @roguesthetic @itsaliceheree @sara-1705 @dorothea-hwldr @freshfreakoaftrash @drinkfantasy

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan imagine #bucky barnes #monday the movie #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x reader #letyoudown

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