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castleofshit · 4 years ago

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New Vegas Au- Ark

Tw: Lots of violence, minor character death, and suicidal comments.

Summary:

“I have an assignment for you.” Caesar began, giving no time for Ark to ask questions- he wasn’t expected to. “You see, Arca- there is this courier, he has been causing trouble for me. Unfortunately, both Vulpes and Alerio have fallen to his hand.”

Caesar didn’t seem put out by those facts, if anything they were a minor annoyance. Ark on the other hand had to fight to keep his expression neutral. He didn’t care for Vulpes, a known fact among many he knew- most were of the same opinion after all, but even he had recognized the brutal efficiency the man possessed. To be killed by the courier was a testament to this unknown couriers power.

Maybe Ark briefly mused, that could work to his own advantage.

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Ark breathed deeply, heart thudding heavily in his chest as he approached the tent at the center of camp. He had been asked for by name, and he could only assume that meant nothing good. He had been careful, always tying up his loose ends. No one knew- except of course those who were in on it. Which could only mean one thing.

Those who Ark knew were involved were trustworthy. He supposed he couldn’t blame them if one had been forced to give up his name. Better him than any other. He didn’t have much to lose- and those who cared about him would never know the truth, which was fine by him. Though he suspected some of them already did.

He would face the inevitable with honor, though the distinct feeling that he was going to be sick persisted, even as he stood at attention in front of the tent, now only waiting for his summon. Waiting for his death- that’s all this could mean. Only those Caesar trusted most were permitted entrance.

Or those who had caused enough problems for Caesar to see to them personally.

He was beckoned to enter.

He held his head high as he followed an escort, a fellow Legionnaire, inside. Each step felt heavy, but he knew there was no way out of this. His guide stepped to the side, revealing the form of the leader of their army. He was...slumped forward, hand covering his eyes in his seat. Ark’s brows furrowed. He looked small. Vulnerable, unlike the man who had given rousing speeches in the past, who had led hundreds into battle. Something was wrong.

Why would he show such vulnerability to one who Ark assumed he was about to kill.

Almost on autopilot, Ark saluted respectfully. He had resolved to go down defiantly, but for the first time since his summons he got the distinct feeling that he was...safe. Well, not safe in the traditional sense, one was never safe even as a member of the Legion army- or Frumintari in his case. But they didn’t seem to know the unacceptable actions, the mercy, he and a few others had shown over the past years.

Caesar looked up, taking him in. He appeared neither impressed or disappointed. He sat back in his chair.

“Arca, correct?” He asked- it was phrased as a question, but Ceasar’s tone made it clear that he knew he wasn't wrong. This was a formality.

Ark had to fight to keep the brief grimace off his face. That was his name, but not really. It always caused a brief moment of dread to hear it said the way it was given to him.

“That would be me sir,” He replied, keeping his own tone even. It wouldn’t do to cower in front of Caesar, he knew that was unacceptable. It also wouldn’t due to review his true hatred for the man he stood before.

Caesar made a nod of agreement. He leaned forward, arms coming up to rest under his chin. Ark remained standing at attention, as was expected of him.

Maybe Ark briefly mused, that could work to his own advantage.

“I have tried to be civil with this courier, but since he has rudely refused my overtures he must be dealt with.” Caesar waved an uncaring hand. “See to it that he doesn’t interfere again.”

Ark saluted, ducking his head respectfully. “Of course, Mighty Caesar.” The words felt sour as they left his mouth. He turned and left once he was given a clear dismissal.

This....would be interesting.

He had been given a small squad- men assigned by Caesar, men mostly unfamiliar to Ark. A poor move in Ark’s opinion, but they were all stronger than the average Frumentarii. Ark supposed that Caesar planned on overpowering the courier-that Ark was only the lead officer because of his skill in tracking others down.

Those skills didn't go to waste. They had found the courier in less than a fortnight. They had been tracking him for days, following the trail of whispers about the man. Now, Ark could see the glow of the fire from his camp. Ark smiled viciously, that decision was a poor one on the couriers part.

Ark liked to think of himself as slightly less cruel than the average Legionnaire, his actions within the camp on and on raids had proven that a hundred times over, but even he still hadn’t figured out how to quell the vicious blood lust he felt when faced with success. He signaled his group of five men to wait not far behind him as he moved forward to observe the camp beyond the crest of the hill.

He settled down in the brush, pulling out a pair of binoculars, focusing first on the fire then the surrounding camp. One man, that at least would make this easier. He observed him, trying to take in how armed he was at the moment. The man was dressed as a mercenary- though his amo belts had been removed. After a quick scan, Ark located them near what he assumed was his bedding. At least that limited the number of surprises the man could produce when they attacked.

He didn’t look closer at the man beyond that, his back had been turned to Ark’s position. Everything in this encounter seemed to be set to his advantage.

He slid down the hill back to his men. He made the hand motion for them to fan our in a semicircle, and they obeyed without question, all familiar with the signals used in the field. Ark took up his position at the center, the position most likely to land the killing blow on the courier. After all, he had been assigned the job, he wasn’t about to let someone else fuck it up.

They approached as quietly as they could in the darkness, until finally they were upon the courier. All eyes were on Ark, waiting for his signal to attack.

The courier hardly seemed to notice them, groping at the ground to his side as they lay waiting. Ark heard him speak, “Damn, where’d my stick go?”

Ark felt his heart catch in his throat. He knew that voice. He made the motion for his men to wait. Surprisingly they did, even though the trap was primed to spring at that moment.

The courier stretched as he stood, looking around where he had been seated. Ark caught a glimpse of his face.

This man wasn’t just a courier. Uncertainty froze Ark in his spot among the dried plants, even as the world continued to move around him.

He saw it before the courier did. One of his men had begun to creep out of the shadows despite the orders, hand coming up to raise a spear.

The appropriate action would have been to signal his man to stop- Ark was the commanding officer and they were blatantly disobeyed orders.

Instead, Arks hand dropped to his pistol, clearing the holster faster than he thought he was capable. He aimed and fired without hesitation, without clumsiness.

For a moment after the shot echoed through the hills, everything was still, aside from the body as it fell to the ground. Then chaos erupted.

The courier- Eder, there was no doubt about it now, turned toward where the shot came from, toward Ark, his own pistol drawn. Ark watched as his eyes first widened, shock written across his features, then the expression fell into a vicious snarl. Ark half expected him to shoot him dead right there- half hoped for it. It would be so much easier then the absolute shit fit that would happen if they both managed to survive this.

But Eder turned, firing his pistol, landing a perfect shot on one of the four remaining legionnaires that were rapidly closing in.

Ark distinctly remembered Eder always being a horrid shot, but the man in crimson crumpled to the ground mid run.

Unfortunately Ark didn’t have time to dwell on that, as one of his own men rapidly closed in on him. Ark aimed at the man, then pulled the trigger.

A miss. His hand had begun shaking. Ark cursed under his breath, releasing the bullet case, and using both his arms to steady the pistol before taking another shot. A hit, but Ark knew it wasn’t clean enough to kill the man. He slid his pistol into the holster at his thigh, allowing the adrenaline to guide him in the fight. He knew it was reckless, he knew that he should be calculating, but it no longer mattered to him.

The next moments were a blur to him until he heard a shot ring out behind him. A body thumped behind him on the floor, the one between his thighs limp before he came back to himself.

A hand roughly gripped his shoulder, pulling him off the now most likely dead body. He snarled as he was turned to face the only other survivor. Toward the man he had risked it all for. The noise died in his throat.

Just as a fist connected with his jaw, sending him sprawling into the dirt covered ground.

“You.” Eder’s voice carried a rage Ark had never heard before, had never once been on the receiving end of. A pair of hands fisted into the crimson fabric of his uniform as he was hauled up from the ground.

“You motherfucker.” Ark half expected a punch, but he was roughly shoved away. He stumbled a few steps, trying desperately to regain his balance. He wasn’t able to find it, and with nothing other than bushes to support him, he fell back to the ground.

Eder was pacing, he realized as he looked up. The other man was distinctly doing his best to avoid looking at him.

Eder laughed suddenly as he moved, hands rubbing at his face. It sounded hysteric. “I can’t believe him.” He said offhandedly. Ark didn’t know what he was talking about, but knew better than to ask.

It was several moments until Eder stopped, finally looking down at Ark. Ark wasn’t especially pleased about it. The fire was at his back, and the shadows made the man Ark had known, cared about, loved, for years look like someone else entirely. Like something that was no longer fully human. A lesser man might have coward at the sight, but now cornered as he was, Ark faced him with a calm gaze.

Even as his heart hammered in his chest.

“Why shouldn’t I kill you right now?” Eder asked, voice subdued compared to a mere minute before. Now, he only sounded exhausted.

Ark didn’t have an answer for him. He said as much, throat feeling dry as the words escaped him. "You should. You should shoot me dead right now."

Eder might have looked surprised, it was hard to tell in the darkness, but Ark could clearly see his pistol was holstered. Eder made a noise-one Ark wouldn't claim to understand. Was it anger? Disgust? Disappointment?

"It is just like you to try to take the easy way out." Ah, that is what it was. Resentment.

Ark shrugged. "I guess it is." He could have argued, but he knew nothing he could say would be worthwhile to Eder. He had betrayed him. It was that simple.

Eder glared at him, despite the poor light Ark could still make that expression out. "You really don't have anything to say for yourself?"

Ark met his eye evenly. "What do you want me to say, Eder? I am sorry? Is that what you want to hear?" He sounded tired to his own ears. "I was born with them. This is my life. It is who I am. That is not something I can apologize for."

But he had, he knew he had. Helping people escape had been an apology. Warning of raids was an apology. But none of that was ever enough to earn forgiveness for what he had done. And he had no reason to get to justify himself to Eder. Even though that was clearly what the man wanted. A reason to forgive him.

Ark wouldn't provide it to him. He didn't deserve forgiveness.

Oh how life would be so much easier if he really was simply just a courier. Not a spy- not a murderer.

"You can." Eder's voice broke through his thoughts. He didn't sound happy. "No. You will. Get up."

It was a demand, and unthinkingly Ark obeyed. Eder looked him over- he looked disgusted. Ark couldn't blame him. He turned as though he couldn’t stand the sight of him for a second longer, briskly, walking to one of the bags nearby, shuffling through it. Ark would have been amused at one point in time. Eder turning his back to a Legionnaire was a foolish move but now the thought hardly crossed his mind.

Before he knew it, a pair of clothes was shoved into his arms. "We are burning that armor."

#my writing #new vegas au #as in i put mh inspired? characters in the nv universe #ooooooo i hoped i implied enough about arks back story here #and that eder hates the legion bc he does #mh #just for my own tag system

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geroyvoin · 4 years ago

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Alright we’re going to get into a little bit Ivan because this is origin and name stuff and I don’t do this often sooooo here goes

Before I continue I do want to say I ascribe to some of the fun idea of ancient reps existing and acting as a parental figure in some cases to various modern nations, because I was engrossed in ancientalia for a long fucking time hhhhh

But anywho

Ivan’s current name is Ivan Arkayevich Kotov, the meaning behind this being grace from god, from Arcadia, and cat, all respectively. Now, some of these have more meaning than others. His last name is just what it is, it also has a little more fun to it if I were to explain some relation to one of my wife’s characters (but that’s a whole other can of worms lmao) but the other two are interesting.

He has always had Arkayevich, as it stems from the greek name Arcadius; this would have been the name of his father (in this case, it’s the name a friend gave to her Byzantine that we used for things back in the day) but when you look deeper into it, ascribing the meaning, and the facts about Arcadia, it makes it almost an irony. In European Renaissance it is described as an unspoiled and harmonious wilderness. It also, in mythology, takes it’s name from Arcas, a hunter come king I believe? Listen, some of it just is kind of neat.

Then there is his first name. Grace of god. It’s incredibly generic and ironic, considering that, while most his life he has been religious, and he grew up from the get go with religion, he doesn’t find faith an important part of his life, he doesn’t practice it, and he is quick to write a lot of things off.

More of less, you just get a lot of irony.

But it gets better.

The original name her was given was Vadim, meaning to rule or to blame, the meaning got a little lost I believe. But this was the name his mother (an older character of mine as well, Kievan Rus) gave him with *religion* and it was incredibly foretelling of well, portions of history. Other names he had as well were similar veins, just simple weird foreshadowings.

Mostly I just want to touch on those, though, because I’ve been thinking about name things and I think they’re kind of neat. The fact that he is who he is and his name just...falls on him so well, is incredibly nice and satisfying to me.

#knowing yourself is half the battle (headcanons)#also i dont know anything about names but this is what ive found so it might be wrong #i want to do some more digging #but im so happy with it so far

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ultragunzone · 4 years ago

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Some Interesting Facts About

MSR (MSR-10/MSR-15 gun

Accuracy

is at the heart of this AR-10 style semi-automatic rifle by Savage Arms. The Savage MSR arrangement is situated in the Armalite AR-10 quick firing rifle raised to an advanced norm. It is advertised in a few conspicuous structures including chasing, protection, and rivalry shooting and chamberings accessible incorporate .308WIN and 6.5 Creedmoor. Similarly as with other AR-related rifles,

the MSR works through an immediate impingement framework for its self-loader activity.

The MSR-10 Hunter

is a tracker arranged major game arrangement. Its barrel is developed of carbon steel while the specially fashioned recipient is of Aluminum 7075 and the weapon takes care of structure a 20-shot separable box magazine lodging either .308WIN or 6.5 Creedmoor cartridges relying upon loading. By and large length arrives at 39 inches. A Free-glide M-LOK makes up

The handguard while Magpul MOE is the single handed grip (with two-stage trigger) and engineered, movable stock unit. The jolt transporter is of chrome. Over the collector can be fitted different optics on the Picatinny rail area that runs almost the whole length of the rifle.The magazine holds 20 rounds.

The MSR-10 Hunter

Overwatch holds the minimized, demonstrated plan of the AR-10 and has uniquely fashioned upper/lower collector segments. Alongside the forend, the collector segments are covered in the striking NRA Mossy Oak Overwatch disguise design.

The M-LOK

free-skim plan makes up the handguard. A two-stage trigger unit is included just like a Melonite QPQ barrel gathering with 5R rifling design. The magazine holds 20 rounds while the rifle is accessible in chamberings of 308WIN and 6.5 Creedmoor.

The MSR-10 Competition

HD is a rock solid rivalry shooter worked around customization. It is given a PROOF Research 18" carbon-fire-wrapped pure barrel and nickel-boron jolt cattier. The barrel highlights 5R rifling and is joined to a custom-length customizable gas framework.

The Magpul CTR

buttstock is highlighted similar to the Savage movable gag brake. The Hogue single handed grip encompasses the two-stage trigger. The handguard is an unbending, free-coasting plan that incorporates the M-LOK against glare cutting example and red QD sling mounting course of action. The red selector is able to use both hands just like the magazine discharge. Chambering is 308WIN. Generally speaking length arrives at 40.3 inches. The magazine holds 20 rounds.

The MSR-10

Precision is an opposition rifle focused on three diverse accessible chamberings: 308WIN, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 6mm Creedmoor. A hardened steel, rock solid barrel gathering is utilized similar to a non-responding side-charging upper beneficiary. The gas block is movable. The stock is a Magpul PRS plan and the handguard from Arca for the 18" long barrel. The rifle has an able to use both hands security framework and Red QD front sling mounting. The magazine holds 20 rounds.

The MSR-10 Long Range

is an accuracy shooter with an exclusively fashioned upper/lower recipient, free-skim M-LOK handguard, and two-stage target trigger. The Magpul PRS Gen 3 makes up the buttstock and a non-responding side-charging handle is highlighted. Chamberings incorporate 308WIN, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 6mm Creedmoor. The magazine holds up to 10 rounds.

#guns #gun control

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prettyyoungtragedy · 6 years ago

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Written in the Stars (2)

Characters: Bodyguard!Bucky Barnes x reader

Summary: You’re the type of woman who is headstrong and fiercely independent. Heiress to a fortune and one of the most brilliant minds of the 21st century. Until you’re forced into witness protection. Your “Protection” turns out to be 220 pounds of dreamy, sassy, delightful Bucky Barnes. Whatever could go wrong?

Warnings: Swearing, if that's a warning these days.

A/N: Oh man, all the love for chapter one made me scream! I hope you like part 2, here’s Bucky being bossy, an annoyed reader and a little sassy humor for everyone! if ya wanna be kind and throw me a pretty comment and a reblog? I’ll love you forever.

This was generously Beta’d by my beta @suz-123 without whom I will never have any good ideas! thank you buddy!

Tags: Hit me up in my ASK box!

Links are being an asshole so you can find other chapters of this fic in my WIP masterlist in my bio!

“Think you can handle this?” Sam asked as he handed Bucky one of his handguns, watching his friend strap on his bulletproof vest. Bucky didn’t need it but it was better to be safe than sorry in this case, especially when Hydra was involved they probably had ways of bringing the Winter Soldier down.

“Yes, what do I look like? An amateur?” Bucky responded rolling his eyes at Sam’s incredulous question, taking the gun from his hand and holstering it to his hip.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Sam shoved Bucky’s shoulder slightly.

“I know, I’ll fine. It’ll be fine,” He gives Sam a reassuring smile. The pair were an odd couple but had become the support the other needed in hard times. It was weird sharing this unbreakable bond of friendship because of Steve, but it was a comfort to both of them knowing each had the others back. When they weren’t bickering incessantly with each other Sam and Bucky were a formidable force.

“What time is the meeting set for?” Sam gives Bucky the black box with the comms in them and waited as he placed it in his ear.

“Steve and I are meeting at the new apartment in an hour, I have to escort her there.”

“And she’s fine with moving apartments?”

“What do you think?” Bucky’s tone dripping with sarcasm,

Sam laughed and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, gripping it lightly. “That woman is going to eat you alive buddy,”

“Nah, women love me, it’ll be a walk in the park.”

Sam nods, “Well, good luck out there, man. This might not be President Ellis but she sure as shit is more important to us, right now.”

“Don’t need luck,” Bucky grinned at him as the two of them walked out of the weapons vault, he strutted a few feet in front of Sam before turning around to face him, “I am the fucking Winter Soldier.” He spreads his arms cockily as if he were showing off his grandeur.

This response makes Sam chortle with laughter, and shake his head at Bucky’s arrogance. He wasn’t wrong though, Bucky Barnes was part The Winter Soldier and part Avenger, he was a fucking machine.

~~~

It was barely seven in the morning when you hear the door to the safe house open, the rather shitty safe house that Nick Fury and his squad of morons had forced you to live in the past four days.

The soft creak of the wooden floors as their footfalls hit the hardwood. The alarm bells in your head going off and, immediately, you shot up out of the double bed and to your feet, ready to fight whoever was walking towards the bedroom door, not that you were any kind of fighter but if worst comes to worst, you’d be ready to get scrappy about it.

To say you were a little on edge because of the briefing yesterday wouldn’t be a lie. You were putting on this sarcastic brave face, but in fact, you had spent the entire night tossing and turning too afraid that if you close your eyes you wouldn't wake up the next morning.

So, when the bedroom door was flung open, it was only natural in your tired, sleep deprived state that you let out a scream of terror, only to come face to face with James Buchanan Barnes.

“Well good morning to you, too.” He said amusement in his eyes as he took in your cowering figure which was now in a pathetic defensive stance.

“What the fucking fuck?!” You exclaimed at him, straightening up, trying to pick up the modicum of dignity you had left after that scream.

“I was testing you.” He shrugged.

“What the fuck kind of test was that?!”

“To see how quick your reflexes are in a panicked situation.”

You stared open mouthed at him for a moment, a million insults hurling through your mind which you wanted to shout at him, but, instead, you snap your mouth shut and glower at him. Folding your arms over your chest, you realized you were barely clad in a t-shirt and scanty shorts that had been given to you by some shield task force member, as you hadn’t been allowed to your apartment yet to get any of your clothes.

“Get dressed, we’re moving you to a secure location today.” He ordered completely ignoring the fact that you were giving him a death stare.

“Wait, what, when do I get to go home?” You rebutted, but Bucky doesn’t listen to you. He whirled around and marched out the bedroom shutting the door in your face. Once again, you are left stunned at just how rude this asshole was, you stared at the door open-mouthed and blinked rapidly, never in your life had you ever been ordered around and it was infuriating you.

You took a slow deep breath and clenched your fists at your side,

“Deep breaths,” You muttered to yourself, “You can’t kill him, he’s the reason you’re going to live through this shit show.”

One. Two. Three.

You exhaled deeply and opened your eyes, “You can kill him after.”

This thought seemed to make you gleeful, and suddenly you had an idea. If the Winter Soldier was going to be your bodyguard and make your life hard, you were going pull the exact same shit with him. Then and there you decided to be the most painful version of yourself just to see how far you could push your limits with him before he quit.

Grinning to yourself at your plan you made your way to the bathroom to get dressed.

~~~

Twenty minutes later, you stood in front of your protection detail. The Winter Soldier stands a few feet closer to you than the rest of them, he hands you a little ID with your picture printed on it, a watch that has a small sleek black screen on it and what looked like a phone.

“ID to get you in and out of the tower without hassle,” He pointed to it, “The watch is programmed with a tracking device and is connected to Stark servers as well as FRIDAY the Avengers personal AI, there’s a heart monitor, for proof of life and should your heartbeat drop or become erratic in any way it will alert your protection detail. Anything you need, touch your finger to the screen and it will assist you, like a personal assistant. Should I not be with you, there is a panic button and it will alert us of your danger.”

“Proof of life, like I’m a hostage. How fun.” You retorted. You waited as he slid the watch onto your wrist, and the screen flashed to life.

“Good morning, Sergeant Barnes.” A female voice with an Irish lilt rang through the receiver of the watch startling you, slightly.

“Hi FRIDAY, configure the watch. It is on the subject, lock in the location and secure Astro mode.”

“Astro mode?” You piped up looking at Bucky.

“Highest security level.” He responded not looking at you, his gaze is fixed on the watch as he waited for it to configure.

“Configuration complete.” FRIDAY states and Bucky nodded.

Then he pointed to the sleek black phone like object in your hand, “Stark tech, no incoming call or text can get through without going through the security checks at the Avengers tower. All your contacts have been programmed in there and no one can trace the IP or caller ID on your phone. The only people with this number is myself, Steve Rogers and Director Fury, for safety reasons, of course, no one but me will call you.”

“Wait, why do I have to give up my phone? That is stupid.” You began to protest but the look Bucky gives you shuts you up instantly. Clearly, he isn’t in the mood for your shit, well, at least not yet.

He ignores your little outburst and then almost robotically turned away from you towards the three men that stood behind him, patiently waiting for him to finish giving you instructions.

“These three are handpicked by me for this assignment, each one of them has gone through stringent tests and background searches before being assigned to protect you. Should I not be around, the highest ranking officer will step in and take over protection detail.”

“Why wouldn’t you be around, I thought you were supposed to hover like an annoying shadow?” You interjected, sarcastically.

Bucky gives you a deadpan look and ignores your comment again, “For safety reasons, they will only be known to you by their code names.” He pointed to the blonde on the far right, he looked like he deadlifted buildings, “Agent 27; codename Achilles,”

Then pointed to the brunette with blue eyes and a grim face, “Agent 12; code name Arcas,”

Lastly, he pointed to the tallest of them all, broad-shouldered with a hard face, he looked like he never smiled. “Agent 8; codename Dionysus.”

“What’s with the Greek codenames?” You asked, genuinely curious why all their codenames were that of Greek mythology.

Before Bucky could answer you, however, his phone rang and he quickly answered it. A curt conversation over the line indicated to you that whoever was on the other end was telling him to hurry up because he muttered something along the lines of ‘Have some fucking patience’, before cutting the call.

“Let’s move.” He nodded curtly to the rest of the agents, they immediately dispersed and headed for the exit. You waited a moment before Bucky turned towards you, his expression is stoic and hard, and you sense an immediate shift in his attitude.

It was time to get to work.

“I have three golden rules, three rules for you to follow and we will be fine in every situation.” Bucky’s voice almost steely and robotic as he spoke, “Number one, I move, you move, doesn’t matter when or where, you listen to every instruction I give you, no arguments. You stay behind me at all times, there isn’t a moment when you’re ahead of me, unless, I specifically instruct you to be so. I am your human shield, you got it?”

“Oh good, a human shield. This should be fun.” Your snide answer goes unanswered by him as he continued.

“Number two, I am not here to fuck around, I’m not a pretty boy for you to show off to your high society friends, I am not in the field of playing games and entertaining your bullshit. My number one priority is keeping you alive, and if you act like an idiot, you die and I don’t need that on my resume.”

“You think you’re a pretty boy?” You barked out a laugh

“The prettiest,” He bit back before continuing, again, “Number three. Wherever you are, I am. You do not go anywhere without me. You have to piss? I am standing at the door. You have a check-up at the doctor? I am there. You need to blow your nose? I give you the tissue. Do you understand?”

“I mean this is a little excessive don’t you thi-”

“Do you understand.” He cuts you off in a demanding voice, your defiant eyes meet his and you glared at him.

The instructions seemed simple enough but the fact that he was going to control every aspect of your life was suddenly annoying you. He was right, everything you did he was going to have to be there for it and that didn’t sit well with you.

“I have a life you know, I can’t have you hovering around me when I go on dates and out with friends.”

“Well, in the interest of keeping you alive, you’re going to have to suck it up and deal with me hovering, sweetheart.” Bucky moved closer towards you, his steely eyes piercing into yours and as much as you want to fight his every command at that moment, the sensible side of your brain is telling you to shut up and listen to him, “Besides, you won’t be going on many dates in the coming months, believe me.”

“I mean you can try and stop me from living my life, but good luck with that,” You jeered back at him, folding your arms over your chest in defiance.

A look of shock skittered across his face for a moment before he reigns his emotions in, and that stoic expression settled over his face again. Bucky is about to say something to you but changes his mind and just shakes his head.

“Follow my every instruction when we leave,” He ordered you and you felt your nerves prickle at the demanding tone he used with you, but you remained silent, “I move, you move? Got it.”

“Yes Soldier, I got it. Relax.”

Bucky clenched his jaw at your response but chooses to ignore your sarcasm again, clearly, his resolve was resolute because you would have at least expected some kind of chirp back with all the sass you were giving him.

He turned away from you and began to make his way out of the safehouse with you following closely behind him. It’s a quick trip down the elevator and into the lobby of the building where your usual car was waiting for you. You were a little relieved that not everything had changed, you still had the same driver and the same car.

Small victories. You thought.

For a moment you forgot that you were under supervision and walked a little faster, cutting in front of Bucky in an attempt to get to the car before him. It’s an innocent mistake on your part as you neared the freedom of being in a car and not cooped up in that safe house, but that moment of freedom is suddenly wrenched away as quickly as it arrived.

Bucky hand closes around your arm halting you just seconds before your hand touches the door to the lobby entrance. Whether he intended to or not, the force with which he stopped you from exiting startled you and you gasped in shock.

“What the-” You began to say but he cuts you off.

“Stay behind me, I said I move, you move. How am I supposed to protect you if you’re in front of me?” He snapped at you letting go of your arm.

“God fucking damn it, it’s like two meters to the car!” You exclaimed.

Bucky took a deep breath and steadied his temper. He was about two seconds away from yelling at you in the middle of the lobby, but he knew he couldn't, or Steve would punch the lights out of him for embarrassing the team and being unprofessional, also not with these many witnesses around. He stepped around you and pushed open the door, the cool morning air hitting his skin as it gusted into the lobby.

His eyes scanned the area from the entrance to the car, he takes in every detail he can, the pedestrians walking past, the other guests at the hotel moving around, talking to each other walking in and out, his eyes move like a hawk across the rooftops of the building for any signs of danger then when he was satisfied he stepped aside and gestured for you to start walking again.

You rolled your eyes at him and rather caustically walked out the lobby raising your hands in surrender as you approached the car. A hint of amusement hits him as he watched you walk over to the car and throw him a belligerent look before getting in loudly calling out to him,

“Oh, look, whatever shall I do, I made it to the car by myself.” You rolled your eyes at him so hard, Bucky could have sworn he heard them roll.

He shook his head and followed you, biting back the sudden smile that wanted to appear on his face from that display you had just put on.

Man, you weren’t going to make this easy for him.

~~~

Bucky stood in the massive living room of your penthouse apartment in Manhattan, his eyes moving across the living space with quiet amazement. He had been around technological advances and Stark’s fancy lifestyle long enough to know luxury but this, this place was phenomenal.

The entire space looked like it belongs in a magazine, from the beige tones throughout the room, accented by creams and golds to the marble flooring and pillars that stood at the entrances to it.

There wasn’t a thing out of place, not a speck of dust anywhere. For a home, Bucky found it surprisingly cold, but the problem with it was there was too much open space which was like an invitation for anyone trying to get to you.

There were staff that worked for you, chefs, cleaning staff, a driver, people who picked up your clothes, bought them for you, your personal assistant, too many people and too many eyes for his liking.

He didn’t have time to screen every single person in your life, so he made an executive decision right then. The team would have to move you to a different safe house or keep you at the one you were at. It was just safer that way, and if push came to shove he would have Steve run background on everyone in your life before bringing you back here.

Of course, he knew this wasn’t going to sit well with you and a small part of him felt amused by the fact that you were probably going to throw a shitfit about it.

“Sergeant Barnes?” A voice brings his attention back to the people in front of him and he looked up at the person, it was one of the STRIKE members they’d brought here to fit in a new security system.

“What is it?” He replied,

“We are done setting up the system, would you like us to show her how it works?” The agent asked,

Bucky shook his head and took the tablet from his outstretched hand, “No, I’ll run through that with my team. Thanks.”

The agent gave him a polite nod before he walked away once more. Bucky scrolled through the system they’d installed throughout your apartment, it was one of Stark’s best security systems linked directly to FRIDAY. It was biometric so only the pre-approved list of persons could come and go without him knowing about it, but he still didn’t like this place.

Just then you walked into the living room and looked around for a moment before your eyes met his and you crossed your arms at the sight of him. Bucky smirked,

He annoyed you, good.

“So are they done wreaking havoc around my home?” You asked annoyance thick in your tone,

“Yes they are but don’t get comfortable yet, we’re going back to the safe house.”

“Wait what, why?”

“Because I have decided you won’t be staying here,”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re excused, go pack your shit up.”

Bucky watched as your face turned from shocked to completely enraged, he was full well expecting a tantrum from you and that is exactly what he received. Amusement rippled through him as he watched you defiantly fold your arms over your chest and start yelling obscenities at him.

“Absofuckinglutely not! I refused to stay one more night in that crappy apartment in Brooklyn, I would much rather Hydra kill me then stay one more night in that hell hole.” You exclaimed dramatically, “I was promised protection not uprooting my entire fucking life to go live in Brooklyn for this trial, I will not leave, I refuse. You can go to hell,”

You were breathing heavily from anger when you were finally done yelling at him, all while Bucky just looked at you with a bored expression on his face.

“Are you done?” He asked,

“Not even close,”

“Okay well, then you can continue to yell at me once we’re in the car, let’s go.”

And before you could even say anything further, Bucky gripped your arm firmly but gently and began to haul you towards your bedroom to collect your things.

~~~

It was supposed to be business as usual but it felt like the furthest thing from it. You walked into your lab on Friday morning and were met with the sight of Bucky Barnes leaning against the wall, sunglasses on, one hand in the pocket of his black jeans and the other holding his phone in the other. Dark hair falling into his eyes as he frowned down at his phone.

“Why the fuck are you here?” You sighed walking up to him not bothering to say good morning or any other pleasantries for that matter.

Bucky looked up from his phone, an amused smile on his face, he tucked his dark hair behind his ear on one side and shoved his phone into his pocket.

“Why, good morning sunshine.” He replied smoothly, amusement ripe in his voice.

“Again, why are you here?”

“I feel like you seem to be forgetting my instructions.” Bucky said pulling off his sunglasses and revealing those ridiculously blue eyes, “I said, I move, you move, but somehow this morning I show up to move you and, whaddya know? You’ve already left for the day, care to explain?”

There is clear sarcasm in his tone but also a hint of demand. He’s upset with you but isn’t showing it or trying not to at this point. You didn’t want to be escorted to work, not after the shit show last night when you had to run through the entire layout of your penthouse home with them only to have Bucky tell you that you will no longer be allowed to live there because there were too many entrance points.

Needless to say, you threw a shit fit, and stormed off, but, alas, were followed by the Winter Soldier who wordlessly put you in your car and drove you right back to the safehouse, kicking and screaming.

So this morning, you awoke earlier than usual, got dressed and slipped out of the safehouse, without any of the agents noticing. It actually amazed you how easily you got past them, clearly, they weren’t very good at their jobs.

Your whole life you had the freedom to come and go as you pleased and now that you had to hand over the reins of your life to someone else, it was frustrating you. Your every move was going to be monitored and someone beside you at all times, this wasn't the life you were used to.

“Jesus H. Christ, I just needed to feel normal for two seconds, okay. I can get myself to work safely.” You said irritably rubbing your forehead with your hand.

“No, you can’t.”

“Excuse me?”

“You can’t get yourself to work safely because you don’t know what threats there are out there. I, on the other hand, do and seeing as it’s my job to get you places safely, I would appreciate a modicum of agreement here.”

“So would I.” You retorted stubbornly, “You have me cooped up in that shitty safehouse in Brooklyn, when my gorgeous Manhattan apartment is going to waste, deserted and dying without me in it.”

You watched him sigh and clench his jaw again, becoming frustrated with your defiance. Bucky ran his fingers through his hair and looked down at you, a scowl on his handsome face, now.

“I am really trying to be patient here,” He said exasperatedly, “but you’re not making this easy, can you please just follow my instructions?”

“Fucking fuck, fine. But can I at least move out of that shitty apartment and into my home again? I hate that fucking place.”

Bucky lets out an exhale, the exasperation clear all over his face. “Fine, We will move you to a different location not your place but one better than what you’re at, also I take you to work and get you home every day, end of story.”

You rolled your eyes and brushed past him, walking into your lab. Bucky followed you, you watched as his eyes sweep the entirety of it before they settled back on you.

“I really don’t think you need to be here 24/7,” You sighed, “This whole situation is being made such a big deal of, I can take care of myself, you know.”

“This is not a game.” He replied moving to lean against one of the metal lab tables.

“I didn't say it was but I know what I have gotten myself into and I can handle it!”

“No one is saying you can’t, but, you need to take this seriously-”

“I am taking this seriously! You think I don’t know what’s at stake here?!” You were suddenly shouting at him, “I am uprooting my entire life for this god damn cause, I am going against my family for this cause, I know the seriousness of it all!”

“Then stop acting like a child and listen to me!” He shouts back and you fell silent. You weren't expecting him to yell back at you, and it kind of scared you. Bucky suddenly stood taller and his figure seemed to double in size as if he rose to his full height, and it was dominating.

“Get out, I need to work.” You muttered turning away from him so he wouldn’t see the sudden tears in your eyes. It was frustration and fear building up inside you and he wasn’t helping.

Bucky took a deep breath and reigned his anger in, he shouldn’t have yelled at you, but he doesn’t care right now. All he knows is he needs to keep you safe and if you are a belligerent asshole the entire time, it’s going to end up costing someone their life and he’d rather it was not you.

“I will be outside,” Bucky said in a steely voice before he turned sharply and marched out of your lab once more, leaving you alone with the silence, your thoughts and the panic now rising in your chest.

~~~

The lab felt like a safe little bubble as you lost yourself in your work. Hours ticked by before you noticed the ache in your stomach reminding you it was time to eat something. You glanced up at the clock and realized it was almost one in the afternoon, you also realized that you had left Bucky to wait outside for you not bothering to check up on him.

Why the fuck do you care? You had no idea but you felt a little guilty leaving the giant brick shithouse of a human to wait outside for you.

Grumbling under your breath about how stupid it was that you needed him to hover once again, you pulled off your lab coat and tossed it onto the table before walking out of your lab.

You half expected Bucky to be waiting for you right outside the door but to your surprise, he was not. A small part of you was disappointed that he wasn’t but you shoved that aside and quickly made your way toward the elevator, maybe he was going to let up on this ridiculous notion that he had to accompany you everywhere and you could have a peaceful lunch.

Hitting the elevator button repeatedly, you waited watching the orange light flash from floor to floor as it came up to you.

“Just so you know, repeatedly hitting the button doesn’t make the elevator go any faster.” A voice suddenly said beside you, it was close to your ear.

You whirled around, a strangled scream almost erupting from your throat as you slapped your hand over your mouth to avoid screaming. You were met with Bucky’s amused blue eyes and a smirk on his face.

“Motherfucker!”

“No, that would require me to sleep with someone's mother, of which I have not done so, yet. I think,”

“Don’t fucking sneak up on me!”

“I did not, you don’t have situational awareness.” He shrugged.

“I so do.”

“Oh, really? Tell me one thing you noticed that is out of place on this floor.”

You glared at him for a moment, why was he always challenging you, then your gaze swept across the length of the area. It was the reception area of this floor, bright green plants, glass walls, metal doors and signs leading to every lab. The smell of rubbing alcohol and sterilizing agents mixed in the air, with a hint of cherries from the floor cleaner.

There are a few people about, the security guard, Wallace, who as always there, the receptionist, Jody, who was on the phone, a few people sat in the reception area. Either waiting for someone or something, you notice nothing out of the ordinary.

“There’s nothing out of place…” You say it a little hesitant because you already know he's placed something that sets him on edge.

“Look again,” He orders and you follow his command eyes moving across the room again, “See the security? He’s not wearing his badge, why? That should be a red flag already if you didn’t know him. He could be anyone.”

“I know Wallace, he’s worked here for years.” You retorted.

“Beside the point. Now, look at the receptionist, she's not focused on her surroundings, isn't watching who's coming and going, how will she know who any of her guests are? The guy in the green jacket on the couch,” Bucky gestured towards him and you looked in that direction,”He’s carrying a firearm, but I can see his police badge from here which means he's law enforcement, but why is he here?”

“Cops come here all the time for forensics, when they need help or are short staffed.”

“Right, but have you seen him before?”

You looked at the man and shook your head slowly, “No.”

“And see the lady over by the water cooler, look at her nervousness, she’s not supposed to be here and her body language tells me that, immediately.”

You hadn’t picked up any of the things Bucky had just pointed out to you, and it amazed you just how keen his attention to detail was.

“Last but not least,” Bucky stepped a little closer to you just as the elevator dined on the landing, “You walked out of your lab, looked around the room, and never saw me when I was sitting right here.” He motioned towards one of the chairs near the elevator and you frowned.

How the hell had you not seen him, that was not possible.

“But I-” You began to say and he shakes his head.

“Situational awareness.” Was all he said before he gripped your by the elbow and guided you onto the elevator, “Where to?”

“Lobby, we’re getting lunch.”

A curt nod and he pushed the button, his hand remaining on your arm the entire ride down to the lobby and even as he helped you into the car.

~~~

“There’s a bagel stand right there!” Bucky exclaimed, pushing open the lobby door the two of you walk out onto the steps of the massive office building, the air outside is cool and crisp, a nice change to the spring heat for once.

“Well, I don’t eat cheap bagels from a stand, I eat croissants from Butter.” You snorted shaking your head at him,

“What the fuck is Butter?”

“It’s my lunch restaurant, and you’re taking me there.”

“No, I am not.”

“Yes, you are.”

You crossed your arms defiantly and stood your ground in front of him. He’d already took your home from you and your freedom, he wasn’t going to take your lunch place from you now, too.

“Fucking hell,” Bucky muttered caving to your defiance.

~~~

“So, you got rid of my car.” You noted as the two of you walked into the restaurant you wanted to eat lunch at. Bucky tried to protest bringing you here, but you simply stated that if you didn't get lunch from this place you would have a full-scale meltdown in public and he would have to deal with it. To which he begrudgingly agreed even though he seemed tense the entire way there.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because the replacement is an armored car that can withstand the rounds of AR-15’s.”

You fell silent at that response, you weren’t expecting it or that he was prioritizing your safety at such a high level. As you walked towards the table near the window the usual spot you sat at Bucky stopped you. You frowned up at him and waited as he looked around the room, before steering you in a different direction.

“What are you doing? I want to sit there.” You protested.

“No, you can’t sit here.” He shook his head.

“James I want to sit there, I always sit there, it’s my table.”

“No. Look around, for fucks sake.”

You paused your argument for a moment and looked around with a frown, you clearly didn’t see what he saw.

“I don’t see anything.” You snapped.

“The exits are blocked from that area of the room, they are obstructed by the pillars. The window opens up the vulnerability of a sniper, and the area is raised, hazardous for quick escapes.”

Everything he had just pointed out was something you wouldn’t have even thought of, it made a little more sense why he was assigned to you, the man was like a robot when it came to safety.

“Situational awareness.” You said softly, realizing he was right.

“Situational awareness.” Bucky nodded, a pleased glint in his eyes when he sees you finally understand what he is trying to say.

“Alright, where are we sitting?” You asked.

Bucky gestured to a table nearby and walked you over, his hand on your back as he did so. The waitress comes over and hands you a menu she flashes Bucky a wide smile which he returns. Obviously, she blushes three shades of red and scurried off once more, you rolled your eyes at this. To be fair, he was really pretty.

Bucky took up a stance near the table not joining you, he crossed his arms over his massive chest, that broody look settling over his face once more as his eyes moved across the restaurant. You frowned at him,

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Sit down, you idiot.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I don't care, I don’t want to attract attention by having your 220-pound ass hovering around me.”

“It’s for safety.”

“Well, you look really stupid and people are starting to stare, so sit the fuck down.”

Bucky chuckled, an actual chuckle and this amazed you. Had you really gotten the grumpy Winter Soldier to chuckle?

He doesn't say anything, instead, he walked over, kicked back the chair and dropped down into it, beside you. Resting his hulking forearms on the table, he looks at you, pointedly.

“Better?”

“Much.” You replied unable to keep the amused smile off your face.

He shook his head and said nothing. Instead, he watches you with a playful glint in his eyes. He doesn’t know how, or why, but he finds himself having a glimmer of interest in you. Maybe he even liked you a little, it was all that defiance and sass, it just reminded him of small Stevie.

Boy, was he in trouble with this one.

#bucky barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes #Bucky x reader #Bucky Barnes fic #Bucky Barnes imagine #Bodyguard!Bucky #bodyguard!au #Bodyguard fic #Bucky #The Winter soldier #Marvel au #marvel fanfiction #reader x bucky #sassy bucky

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lvnce-mcclain · 5 years ago

Text

the bonds that break

Summary:

The sound of Krolia’s footsteps echo too loudly in his ears—a bass to the quick rifts of his breath, pounding in his head and tipping him over the brink. “Keith—”

“Don’t,” Keith snaps, the click of his teeth only adding to the symphony of overstimulation. Krolia’s steps stop. Keith can still hear her breathing from behind him.

“What you saw isn’t anything to be afraid of, Keith. The future is not something to fea—”

“You’re wrong. There isn’t a way in hell that could be my future.”

Learning to love is hard enough; learning to forgive yourself after losing love is even harder.

Chapter: 1/4

Word Count: 19.3k

Sequel to bonded (in your arms).

Chapter sample below, read the full version on AO3.

Keith’s father used to talk about the sky as if it were a lost lover. He would sneak Keith out of bed during clear desert nights—a midnight that meant so much more when the early shift came at the station the next morning—and take him to the porch with the telescope already waiting. Keith would always wait with a buzzing anticipation when the forecast was predicted to be as transparent as the act Keith would put on, pretending to be asleep when his father would come knocking on the door.

His dad would tell him facts about the stars; the formations; the history and culture. The way his father’s eyes would search the sky—looking for answers that cost more than the astronomy books Keith found hidden under the couch—captivated Keith and made him fall in love with the sky too.

Some nights, his dad would tell Keith stories. Stories about the lore, about the myths surrounding the stars. He would tell stories about wars and punishments—Cassiopeia—mother and sons being reunited—Callisto and Arcas—about heroes and lovers—Andromeda. Mostly, he would tell Keith about the distance between the stars though; he’d talk as if he felt every inch between each brilliant light and it burned him up. Sometimes Keith wondered if that’s why his dad chased fires; if that burning got to be too much, so he put out the fires he could actually control.

Keith’s attention would always fall from the telescope lens a few minutes into each lesson, listening raptly to the way his father would recite every story he knew about any constellation. There was always so much care given to every detail, every description, and Keith wanted to love those words that much too.

Now, though, Keith knows it wasn’t what was hidden in the stars his dad loved so much; it was who.

The part of him that longed to see what his father saw in the stars on those nights felt like a wound he carried with him. It ached for so long he almost felt empty without it after the memories he shared with his mother healed the raw and gaping edges of that wound; he could see those constellations his father would map out in every new memory they explored together each day in space, slowly mending that ache.

And while time in the abyss helped to heal some of him, it mostly gnawed at another wound that was already sore before he began his mission; one that was self inflicted and bled into a matching scar left on the person Keith never meant to hurt. He tries not to dwell on too many what ifsbecause he knows he can’t bring himself to regret his decision to take this mission—not truly, not when he would never have reached this sort of understanding with Krolia under any normal circumstances. It still burns most nights, though, when he remembers what he had to leave behind to move forward. Who he had to leave behind. And on those nights, he understands his dad more than he ever thought he’d be able to.

#klance #klance fic #laith #laith fic #my fic #the bonds that break #bonded series #whoops i forgot to post this here

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eddycurrents · 5 years ago

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For the week of 22 July 2019

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #12 concludes what has been an excellent horror tale from Garth Ennis, Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina, and Rob Steen with another trip into existential terror as we’re given a glimpse of what this is all about and what’s coming.

| Published by AfterShock

Action Comics #1013 keeps a lot of plates spinning as it works through elements of “Year of the Villain”, Event Leviathan, the ongoing Invisible Mafia story thread, and the Rose and Thorn revival. It’s kind of impressive as to how it remains entertaining and engrossing with as much going on.

| Published by DC Comics

Age of Conan: Bêlit #5 is another ending this week, as we finish off Bêlit’s coming of age origin story, as she confronts the Stygian priest and lays claim to her title of Queen of the Black Coast. Great art from Kate Niemczyk, Scott Hanna, Andrea Di Vito, and Jason Keith.

| Published by Marvel

Amazing Spider-Man #26 introduces us to the new Sinister Syndicate fully as they plan an attack on Boomerang. It’s kind of funny to see him still getting into trouble even now that he’s trying to stay legit. Great art from Kev Walker and Laura Martin.

| Published by Marvel

Ascender #4 gives us a few surprises in the fight between the vampires and the resistance. The grey washes, with mixes of red, from Dustin Nguyen on the vampire’s throneworld is very impressive.

| Published by Image

Batgirl #37 launches the new creative team of Cecil Castellucci, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Jordie Bellaire, and AndWorld Design with part one of “Oracle Rising”. There’s a nice battle with Killer Moth, emphasizing what some villains are doing in order to try to get noticed by Luthor to receive the offer, while playing up the expense that goes into crimefighting. Also, the Terrible Trio unleash something probably not too good.

| Published by DC Comics

Dark Red #5 concludes the first arc as Chip and Evie try to fight off an army of Nazi vampires. It’s good, with some nice funny moments. Great art from Corin Howell and Mark Englert.

| Published by AfterShock

Detective Comics #1008 is a straight-forward single issue story of Batman and Joker at the circus from Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, Dave Baron, and Rob Leigh. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the extended arcs, even as it sets up a new threat in the “Year of the Villain” offering.

| Published by DC Comics

Dial H for Hero #5 gets a little meta as we dive into the Multiverse, the Heroverse, and the Bleed from Sam Humphries, Joe Quinones, Scott Hanna, Jordan Gibson, and Dave Sharpe. The use of breaking through panels, reproductions of old comics scenes, and a variation of styles just deliver phenomenal storytelling.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Dungeons & Dragons: A Darkened Wish #2 continues to fill in the backstory of the adventurers’ time with the White Sails, introducing us to the pitfalls that harried them, before giving more hints in the present of the nightmare that tore them apart. B. Dave Walters, Tess Fowler, Jay Fotos, and Neil Uyetake are delivering an entertaining fantasy tale here.

| Published by IDW

Fearless #1 is a new three-issue anthology mini-series spotlighting a number of the women of Marvel, both characters and creative talent. This first issue leads off with a continuing lead feature from Seanan McGuire, Claire Roe, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Janice Chiang, as Sue Richards, Carol Danvers, and Storm prepare to visit a girls camp as motivational speakers. There’s also an entertaining Mille the Model back-up from Leah Williams, Nina Vakueva, Rosenberg, and Chiang. And a very funny Jessica Jones story from the Captain Marvel team of Kelly Thompson, Carmen Carnero, Tamra Bonvillain, with Chiang. Though short, that last story is pretty much worth the price of the issue alone.

| Published by Marvel

Five Years #3 sees Tambi meet with Ivy and Julie to discuss that various nations around the world are dangerously developing Phi-alloy technology. Also a surprise appearance of people we thought were out. Great art as always from Terry Moore.

| Published by Abstract Studio

The Flash #75 delivers three stories for this extra-sized anniversary issue. The lead concludes the “Year One” arc. This is some of the best art that I have ever seen from Howard Porter, he and Hi-Fi just deliver amazing artwork here. There are also two back-ups, one hinting at things to come in the future for Barry and the other tying in to “Year of the Villain” as Captain Cold receives Luthor’s offer.

| Published by DC Comics

Guardians of the Galaxy #7 begins the second arc, “Faithless”, from Donny Cates, Cory Smith, David Curiel, and Cory Petit. It really introduces us to the new Universal Church of Truth as they take out an entire squadron of the Nova Corps and then worse things happen as the Guardians go off to investigate. I love the name for the Guardians’ new ship and that final page is one hell of a shock.

| Published by Marvel

History of the Marvel Universe #1 is an interesting project from Mark Waid, Javier Rodríguez, Álvaro López, and Joe Caramagna. It’s framed as Galactus telling Franklin Richards (at least I think that’s Franklin Richards) the history of the universe before it dies and the next is reborn. As expected, it’s dry facts, but it’s fascinating in how it’s comprehensively presented and the artwork from Rodríguez and López is jaw-dropping gorgeous. There are also annotations in the back to show where these events come from. It’s well put together and I highly recommended it to die-hard Marvel fans.

| Published by Marvel

Invisible Kingdom #5 concludes the first arc with an almost entirely one-sided battle between the Sun Dog and a Lux battleship. G. Willow Wilson, Christian Ward, and Sal Cipriano elevate the tension nicely through this issue and give a few surprises when everything seems grim and it looks like the end.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Killer Groove #3 wonderfully showcases one of Jackie’s cases as it intertwines with the music scene and criminal underworld. Ollie Masters, Eoin Marron, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou are doing a nice job with this series of crafting one larger story out of many separate smaller tales.

| Published by AfterShock

Lazarus: Risen #2 is another dense read. The series has always been hefty, but this new format has elevated things further, doubling up comics content and adding a prose short story, the letters pages, and extra content like gaming material and the usual in-world advertisements. I’m loving it. Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, Tyler Boss, Santi Arcas, Simon Bowland, Adam Christopher, and Crystal Frasier are definitely giving you your money’s worth and more here. Excellent comics content as the war between Carlyle and Morray/D’Souza heats up.

| Published by Image

Livewire #8 pits Amanda versus Jada for a final round. It’s still interesting how practically everyone is trying to portray Amanda’s actions as harmful and villainous. Great art from Kano.

| Published by Valiant

Martian Manhunter #7 sees J’onn and Diane uncover some of the results of the experiments that have been going on with the kidnapped and missing people, it’s horrifying. Incredible and haunting artwork in this one from Riley Rossmo and Ivan Plascencia.

| Published by DC Comics

Marvels: Epilogue is a short, but sweet, coda to the Marvels series from Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, John Roshell, and Richard Starkings. It spotlights events from X-Men #98 through the eyes of Phil Sheldon and his daughters, capturing some of the awe, wonder, and terror that Sheldon experienced during the main series. The book is filled out with an interview with Busiek and Ross on their experience with the series and what it’s like to look back on it 25 years later, as well as interviews with the editors who worked on the book.

| Published by Marvel

Middlewest #9 sets out a new quest for Abel as he comes across the Nowak people. Skottie Young, Jorge Corona, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Nate Piekos are continuing to make magic with this series. The art is beautiful and the story is endlessly captivating.

| Published by Image

Psi-Lords #2 continues to investigate these four captives, changed for whatever reason by the Psi-Lords, and the habitat of their prison. An interesting jail hierarchy of gangs is revealed and a bit of a memory of the four’s lives before being captured. Gorgeous art from Renato Guedes.

| Published by Valiant

Star Pig #1 is weird. Very weird. Delilah S. Dawson, Francesco Gaston, Sebastian Cheng, and Shawn Lee give us the story of a kid on her way to space camp whose ship is struck and destroyed by an asteroid, saved by a space pig and a scavenger energy ball. It’s probably one of the more unique tales I’ve seen in a while.

| Published by IDW

Sword Master #1, like Aero before it, features two stories. In the first, Greg Pak adapts into English a tale from Shuizhu and Gunji of the titular hero, Lin Lie, and his quest to find his missing father. It’s an interesting start and the artwork from Gunji is gorgeous. The back up original story pairs Shang-Chi up with Lin in a story from Greg Pak, Ario Anindito, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Travis Lanham. It follows up on their appearance in the New Agents of Atlas tie-in to “War of the Realms” and presents an interesting antagonist on their trail.

| Published by Marvel

Valkyrie #1 is a wonderful debut from Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, CAFU, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Sabino. We get some continued supporting cast from Jane Foster’s time as Thor, although with a new status quo, and an interesting hook in trying to track down Dragonfang, the former Valkyrie’s sword. The art from CAFU and Aburtov is beautiful.

| Published by Marvel

Warlord of Mars Attacks #2 continues this crossover of John Carter and Mars Attacks. It’s interesting how it incorporates Edgar Rice Burroughs’ stories as actual things in this world and explains how Mars as a dead planet and one as teeming with life as Barsoom could exist simultaneously.

| Published by Dynamite

The Weatherman Vol. 2 #2 gives us more of a look at the nightmare that has consumed Earth as the crew attempt to find the doctor who might be able to fix everything. It goes about as well as could be expected. The monster designs and execution from Nathan Fox and Moreno Dinisio are incredible.

| Published by Image

Web of Venom: Funeral Pyre #1 is another one-shot catching up on the wider world of Venom as we barrel headlong into Absolute Carnage. Cullen Bunn, Joshua Cassara, Alberto Alburquerque, Jay David Ramos, and Clayton Cowles give us a great story checking in with Andi Benton, the former Mania and occasional sidekick to Flash Thompson’s Venom.

| Published by Marvel

Wonder Woman #75 continues “Return of the Amazons” from G. Willow Wilson, Xermanico, Jesus Merino, Vicente Cifuentes, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Pat Brosseau. This arc basically brings Wilson’s run around full circle to deal with some of the elements that kicked off her first issue as Diana faces off against Grail. Some really nice double page spreads with border art from Xermanico.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: Archie #706, Archie vs. Predator 2 #1, Bone Parish #11, Books of Magic #10, Clue: Candlestick #3, Curse Words #23, Doctor Strange #16, Farmhand #10, Freedom Fighters #7, Grumble #8, House of X #1, Justice League Dark #13, Lumberjanes #64, Magic: The Gathering - Chandra #3, Magnificent Ms. Marvel #5, Marvel Action: Avengers #6, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #41, Night Moves #5, Redneck #22, Secret Warps: Arachknight Annual #1, Shuri #10, Star Trek: The Q Conflict #6, Star Wars #69, TMNT: The Rise of the TMNT - Sound Off #1, Tony Stark: Iron Man #14, The Wicked + The Divine #44

Recommended Collections: Black Panther - Book 7: The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda Part 2, Go-Bots - Volume 1, Harrow County: Library Edition - Volume 3, House of Whispers - Volume 1: The Power Divided, James Bond: Origin - Volume 1, Lodger - Volume 1, Lumberjanes - Volume 12, Savage Sword of Conan - Volume 1: The Cult of Koga Thun, Self/Made, Star Wars Adventures - Volume 6: The Flight of the Falcon, Thor of Realms, William Gibson’s Alien 3

d. emerson eddy might well be a space lord.

#This Week in Comics

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strongfeelingsaboutsalads · 6 years ago

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psst! i wanna hear #s 2, 5, 6, 8, 12, 17, 18, and 20 about the humans! all of them B)

My partner is trying to kill me. Do you see this? Anyway, long-ass belated ask response under the cut.

2. what’s their opinion on Logan Thackaray?

Lynette, Amara, Rasheem, Vesh: He exists.Miguel: Who?Galen: So in canon I suspect he doesn’t have any strong feelings. But commander AU… I’m trying and failing to find a more tactful way of saying that he makes Logan his bitch. I hate my brain. Galen would just really enjoy breaking him.

5. describe their childhood.

Lynette’s earlier childhood was pretty unremarkable. Calm, comfortable. Two brothers, one a twin (fraternal, you’d never know it to look at them,) and one several years younger. Then somewhere in her teens, her mother died suddenly and everything went downhill very fast. Her father took it very hard. A couple years of irresponsible living (and spending) later, he died as well, leaving the twins to try to pull things back together. Some extended family was able to help them a bit, but they were never very high up the noble hierarchy, and in his grief their father nearly ruined them. It’s been a slow, long struggle for stability since.

The Landi siblings are odd to talk about, since throughout her childhood, everyone including Amara saw her as a boy. A particularly effeminate boy that exactly no one was surprised to learn wasn’t straight, but still a boy. (Probably the biggest surprise came in learning that “he” had any interest in girls at all.)

Amara grew up distinctly aware of the series of roles she was expected to fill. Her family ran a textile trade, which she was expected to continue. Nobility came with the expectation that she’d continue the family line by some day marrying and having children. And alongside that, the expectation she didn’t even realize bothered her the most until it struck her there might be an alternative, the expectation she’d do so as a man. She learned to handle pressures from all directions. Mesmer magic ended up coming naturally to a mind that was already trained to carefully manage appearances and keep focus on multiple projects at once. And privately, it allowed some release through fantasy. She got very good at convincingly changing her appearance.

Rasheem’s childhood is marked by an inverse kind of frustration. He’s long felt like the extra, the untalented one that no one really expects to do much. The sad thing is, he’s not entirely wrong. He has a complicated blend of resentment and admiration for his sister, whose talents he tried and failed to emulate. (Though at the time he saw it as his brother he was trying to keep up with. He’s still not entirely used to having a sister.) But he does still love her, because when it’s really mattered she’s been quick to support him.

Galen was a farm boy. An awkward, awkward farm boy who spent entirely too much time doing gods-know-what outside on his own, and who took far too much interest when he saw a priest of Grenth perform some minor necromancy. His family situation was pretty normal; hard working parents, a mother who ran a tight and clean household, and siblings he sometimes even managed to get along with. But he was always a bit detached from most people. Adolescence didn’t help. As a teen he was tall and lanky with the vaguest hints of facial hair that refused to grow in more than wisps, and he was still as awkward and nerdy (I’m not sure Tyria even has that word, but the concept applies) as ever. He grew into his looks.

Vesh’s was not good. Some details are still fuzzy to me. I know she grew up in DR, and her name was originally Eliana. She was only raised by one parent, I’m still undecided which, and she’s not even sure whether or not the other is alive. The one she was raised by definitely isn’t, they likely died when she was anywhere from 9-14. She was always desperately poor, and despite her parent’s insistence on Elonian lineage, obviously of very Orrian heritage. By the time she was a teenager, a certain knack for the more abstract, energy-focused aspects of necromancy was manifesting. That’s when she gave up the struggle to not be the creepy Orrian girl entirely. The persona of Parivesh, witch of the Mists was born. It isn’t the only identity she goes by these days, just the easiest for her to fall back on. She’s developed a few different personas to deal with the constant sense of lack of belonging. Not all of them female, I should note.

Miguel was part of a big, reasonably well-off family of half a dozen or so siblings, of which he was one of the younger. He ended up left to his own devices a lot, and got himself into plenty of trouble. Modern diagnostics would say he has a pretty clear case of ADHD that he never outgrew, so “shut up Miguel” is something he heard a lot growing up. From pretty much everyone. But he doesn’t hold any resentment. He’s a big exuberant puppy of a person, and besides, he ended up doing pretty well for himself anyway.

6. do they feel particularly blessed by one of the Six?

Lynette, in-game choice Grenth: This has some canon relevance, as she’s a moderately religious person who’s had a lot of reason to think about death, and had to make peace with it.Amara, Lyssa: There definitely is a sense of appropriateness here. I’m not sure she’s particularly devoted, but it’s difficult not to feel a connection to the dual-faced goddess when she herself has had two very different faces she’s shown the world.Rasheem, Dwayna: Not really.Galen: …I’m not even going to answer that.Vesh, Kormir: She isn’t at all the religious sort, but if any god could earn her genuine respect, it’s the one who was once human. I do think Kormir speaks to her in a way the others can’t.Miguel, Melandru: Um… He likes birds? That’s nature-y, right?

8. do you have an in-game location for their “home?”

Lynette lives in one of the Shaemoor houses. I have a specific one I imagine, but it’s not terribly distinct description-wise, and I like to imagine it a bit bigger and fancier. I figure the whole world would realistically be scaled up a bit, anyway.Amara and Rasheem live somewhere in the Ossan quarter. I know I’ve picked out specific houses at one point, but I don’t quite remember. Pretty sure Rasheem ended up moving in with his boyfriend, but IIRC he’s in the same general area.Galen: There’s a little house in Kweli, one of the few if not the only one with a real interior. And it’s impossible to AFK in because the periodic forged attacks go right by the door and aggro on you.Vesh: …No actually.Miguel has a particular spot in Lion’s Arch, overlooking the harbor.

12. how do they feel about sylvari?

Lynette has had at least one sylvari as a long-term work partner and intimate friend. Generally positive. Occasionally remembers that they don’t have the same concept of class that humans do, and as someone who spends a lot of time worried about class structure, she finds this refreshing.Amara has no strong feelings. She knows some sylvari. They’re nice.Rasheem is much the same.Galen gets the title of resident dendrophile. He’s functionally (perhaps literally by now?) married to one, so… He’s generally had good experiences with them. Though things like the entire race spawning from the same mother and the fact that his husband is technically 14 are still weird if he thinks about them for too long.Vesh strikes me as the one most likely to take an academic interest in how sylvari work, if given the opportunity. The complex magical underpinnings of life as we know it are very much her thing, and she’d probably end up asking a lot of questions about the Dream to any sylvari willing to answer. She’s definitely had some sylvari friends by now, but I’m not sure if she ever got around to pestering them about it.Miguel will likely never get over the weirdness of (theoretically) being able to have conversations with someone who was literally born yesterday. But as people they seem alright.

17. how well does the dance animation fit their personality?

Lynette: Not very.Amara: It could be worse.Rasheem: Ditto.Galen: no

Vesh: Not very.Miguel: In one of his sillier moments, yeah, I could see it.

18. what sort of climates do they prefer, if they care at all?

Lynette is pretty comfy with Krytan weather.Amara is much the same. Though she does like when it’s a bit cooler, because she likes layers of clothing.Rasheem is also comfortable with Krytan weather.Galen likes cold weather. He finds it invigorating. And yet, he ended up living in the desert. Sigh.Vesh has no strong preference, though I think she might favor warmer.Miguel likes it hot. If only because he looks damn good with his shirt open. Or off.

20. what’s your favorite thing about playing them?

Seeing as I don’t actually RP them, answers are skewed toward either the superficial, or just what I generally like most about the characters.Lynette is a power lesbian and makes me cry because I’m gay.Amara is gorgeous and has the best judgmental stares, and I cry because I’m gay.Rasheem has a damn fine ass.Galen “Saltybitch” Blake is the saltiest of bitches, and makes a wonderful avatar for my grumpiest of moods. While somehow managing to be unfairly hot.Vesh’s abs make me cry because I’m gay.Miguel Enrique de Arca Santiago e Pereira is the most extra thing on two legs, and I love having a character like that.

#lynette rhodes #amara landi #rasheem landi #galen blake #parivesh #miguel pereira #5 nearly succeeded in killing me

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indycar-series · 2 years ago

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ARCA Quick Facts: Talladega Superspeedway

Round 3 of the ARCA Menards Main Series.

Event Name: General Tire 200

Event Date: Friday April 21 - Saturday April 22, 2023

Location: Lincoln, Alabama

Series: Main

Track Type: Tri-Oval, Superspeedway

Track Length: 2.660 miles (4.281 km)

Banking: 32-33 degrees

Race Laps and Distance: 76 laps for 202 miles (

Year of First Race: 1969

Defending Winner: Nick Sanchez

Previous Winners: Jim Vandiver (1969, 1975), Ramo Stott (1970, 1970), Johnny Halford (1976), Ron Hutcherson (1977), Bruce Hill (1978), Sandy Satullo II (1979), Billie Harvey (1980), Mark Martin (1981), Jim Vaughan (1982), Rick Roland (1982), Davey Allison (1983, 1983, 1984, 1985), Red Farmer (1984, 1988), Grant Adcox (1986, 1986, 1987, 1987, 1988), Tracy Leslie (1989, 1989), Jimmy Horton (1990, 1991), Charlie Glotzbach (1990, 1991, 1992), Tim Steele (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998), Jeff Purvis (1994), Mike Wallace (1995), Bob Strait (1999), David Keith (2000), Bobby Gerhart (2001), Keith Segars (2002), Paul Menard (2003), Blake Feese (2004), Kraig Kinser (2005), Frank Kimmel (2006, 2013), Michael Annett (2007), Justin Allgaier (2008), Justin Lofton (2009), Dakoda Armstrong (2010), Ty Dillon (2011), Brandon McReynolds (2012), Tom Hessert III (2014), Blake Jones (2015), Gus Dean (2016), Justin Haley (2017), Zane Smith (2018), Todd Gilliland (2019), Drew Dollar (2020), Corey Heim (2021), Nick Sanchez (2022)

Winningest Driver: Grant Adcox (5 wins)

Weekend Schedule:

Practice: Friday @ 3:00 pm EST (7:00 pm UTC)

Qualifying: @ 4:00 pm EST (8:00 pm UTC)

Race Start: Saturday @ 11:00 am EST (3:00 pm UTC)

Where to Watch:

Broadcast: FOX Sports 1 (FS1)

Radio: MRN/SiriusXM Channel 391/SiriusXM Online Channel 981 or ARCARacing.com

Got any questions about Talladega or the ARCA Menards Series in general? Send me an ask, and I will do my best to answer your question in a timely manner!

#arca menards series #arca main #arca quick facts #talladega 2023

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ashxpad · 3 years ago

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Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master OSS II Review: Lighter, Faster, Better

Sony has built up its G Master series of premium lenses as being the pinnacle of lens design for their customers. So what happens when that lens design begins falling behind after five years on the market? Hit refresh.

Design and Build Quality

While the new Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II brings significant developments over the original, its overall size is still the same. That puts it at 7.87 inches (200 millimeters) long and 3.46 inches (88 millimeters) in diameter. Its weight, however, has dropped from 3.26 pounds (1480 grams) to 2.30 pounds (1045 grams). Additionally, this weight is now centered right at the tripod foot for better balance.

Looking at the exterior, the lens has a good-sized focus ring at the front end. I find it easy to manipulate with just one finger while the rest of my hand can be gripping around the zoom ring for flexible control of the lens. Paired with a Full Time DMF (direct manual focus) switch, the focus ring can be enabled to always be active regardless if the camera is in an autofocus mode. One negative that stood out is that this ring seems to make a pronounced grinding sound when being turned that’s louder than any of the other lenses I have or have tested.

Moving to the zoom ring, it is slightly wider than the focus ring and has a good amount of tension to it. Paired with the fact this lens internally zooms and that the weight is not at the front, rather toward the back near the camera, I did not experience any zoom creep while walking around.

Behind the zoom ring is something that Sony has never done for a zoom lens before: added an aperture ring. The aperture sweeps the range of f/2.8 to f/22, of course, plus there’s an “A” setting to have the f-stops be set by the camera instead. Along with the aperture ring, the lens now has an Iris Lock switch on the bottom left side. This switch can lock the ring into staying on the “A” setting, or instead, it can lock the lens into the manual f-stop range but not allow it to accidentally cross over into “A.” On the bottom right, there’s an aperture de-click switch.

Some other quick notes to make about the build is that the quick-release tripod foot shamelessly still does not have a built-in Arca-Swiss plate as we’ve seen from competitors. It also does not have grooves at the horizontal and vertical positions that allow me to precisely change orientation without looking at the alignment dots. Lastly, the lens hood uses actual felt on the inside to absorb light and eliminate reflections which is a nice touch for a premium lens.

Image Quality

Moving on to the image quality, this lens has a new optical formula, uses new elements, and adds an ED aspherical element. As a result, this lens shoots impressively sharp even wide open, and the resolving power enables me to crop in 100% with almost no tell-tale signs I’ve done so. Color fringing is extremely tough to find even in hard contrast backlighting.

Further testing the sharpness, I found that at the center of the frame at 70mm, peak sharpness is obtained stopped down at f/7.1. At 200mm, peak sharpness at the center was at f/9. Looking at the corners of the frame, 70mm was sharpest at f/13 and 200mm was sharpest at f/13 as well. That said, I’d be comfortable shooting this lens from f/2.8 to f/20 and still feel confident I’ve obtained a good level of overall sharpness.

200mm at f/2.8.

200mm at f/2.8. 100% crop.

The whole zoom range shows prominent vignetting which clears at f/8. The samples below were shot with in-camera corrections off to better show what kind of compensation needs to happen. Of course, once these in-camera corrections are enabled and automatic profiles are applied in editing, this would be fixed at the cost of noisier edges from normalizing the exposure.

Vignetting at 70mm.

Vignetting at 200mm.

The new lens shares the 11-bladed circular aperture that was in the original and together with the new optics produces a fine out-of-focus blur. In instances where high contrast or busy backgrounds can often be challenging to wash away, I thought that this lens did a good job at handling these distractions for the most part. Bokeh balls have no ugly onion ring effect on the inside and even the edges show no hard ring.

Shot at 70mm minimum focus distance. The mushroom cap is about the size of my thumbnail. The apparent size is slightly larger shooting at 70mm over 200mm at close focus.

Shot at 200mm minimum focus distance.

Shifting gears, let’s talk about autofocus: it may be the primary reason to buy the 70-200mm GM II. It’s blazing fast. The new lens uses four XD linear motors and Sony clocked it as four times as fast as the original. I believe it. The moment I knew this was the real deal is when I put on a 2x teleconverter and there was absolutely no change in its ability to instantly focus point-A to point-B on anything, anywhere.

Taken with the 2x teleconverter mounted.

Accurately autofocus tracking a moving subject is going to require a camera that can perform up to the task just as well. With that said, my a7R III handled tracking with the 70-200mm GM II better than most other lenses I’ve used on it. Paired with a newer, faster camera like the Alpha 1 will yield even better results.

Autofocus is also near silent. When sweeping the focus range there is a very quick, very quiet “creak” sound. In video mode, sweeping the autofocus produces more of a stutter, but it’s still very quiet. Tracking subjects produced little to no perceptible sound.

Tracking shot at 70mm.

Tracking shot at 200mm.

Telephoto Zoom With Prime Lens Performance

With the 65th E-mount lens, Sony has produced another winner. The Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master OSS II steps up its autofocus in a big way, but also makes welcome changes to the operability by including Full Time DMF control and a physical aperture ring. Remarkably, this all comes in a lens that is nearly a pound lighter than its predecessor.

Shot at 70mm.

Shot at 200mm.

Are There Alternatives?

The first alternative that comes to mind would be the original Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM lens. The company has said that it will not be replacing it in the lineup with the new mark II model, rather it will be sold alongside it at a lower price. This aging lens was part of the initial launch of the G Master series in 2016 and although the autofocus system has fallen behind, it’s still made with G Master-qualifying XA lens elements that result in high image quality.

Another alternative for those that read these reviews more as an escape to fantasyland would be the much less expensive Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD lens. For only $1,200, Tamron has impressed many photographers with how much image quality they can get out of this highly portable, fast telephoto lens at less than half the cost. The downside is it skips some of the build features like optical stabilization, a tripod collar, internal zoom, and customizable buttons.

Should You Buy It?

Yes. Photography gear has come a long way in the five years that the original 70-200mm GM has been on the market. This update balances out the system and offers top-end performance to keep pace with the newest cameras.

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