#can we fix our nations broken heart | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rachetmath · 2 years ago

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Ruby: Jaune our characters are not that mixed up.

Jaune: Ruby are you freaking kidding me?

Ruby; Jaune you got admit we are complete opposite to one another.

Jaune: Yes but the presentation makes it worse.

Ruby: How so?

Jaune Ruby I killed Penny.

Ruby: So I killed people too.

Jaune: Name one.

Ruby: Roman.

Jaune: A grimm ate him.

Ruby: Umm….

Jaune: Pyrrha died fighting Cinder against Ozpin’s orders. Ozpin died fighting Cinder. Leon died somehow. Clover and Ironwood I don’t know. Penny died by my hands. So who did you kill with your weapon?

Ruby: Oscar.

Jaune: So a fake Oscar is worth crying over the real one huh?

Ruby: Your point.

Jaune: You didn’t kill anyone. So how are you struggling to kill no fight with your weapon if you never token a life with it. While I’m able to fight with mines despite it’s condition.

Ruby: Um.

Jaune: That can give someone the impression that Penny’s death met nothing to me.

Ruby: But Jaune you had years.

Jaune; PTSD. Survivors guilt. Any form of depression or disorder can last for years Ruby. And you say I had years but Penny was still on my mind during a Ponder Storm. And then I was trying to be hero to the paper pleasers, who mind you were trying to off themselves, because it seems I can not be a hero in Remnant.

Ruby: Oh.

Jaune: Now let’s go back to what you say about not being good enough. How so?

Ruby: Well I failed to save Penny and Pyrrha. I failed to save the people of Mantle and Atlas. I only made things worse.

Jaune: Okay look. There is no such thing as perfect plan. Things are bound to screw ups. It’s impossible to avoid. But again, Pyrrha chose to fight Cinder and died. Penny chose to die. In theory because she thought you died.

Ruby; Um.

Jaune: Next wasn’t Ironwood going to kill thousands.

Ruby: But our plan could get millions in danger.

Jaune: You right, but that forces Atlas and Mantle to get together and stop discriminating against each other to survive. Better that than having one half of the nation fend for itself while the other thrives.

Me; (Look I’m not trying villianize James but we have to admit his plan was darker than the kids.)

Ruby: Oh.

Jaune: And then we have Ozpin. Or Ozma who’s first idea was to sleep with his first love.

Ruby: Um.

Jaune: Use every relic possible but still doesn’t know how to kill her. He single handily divided the world he was suppose to help fix.

Ruby: Mm

Jaune: Exactly.

Ruby: Your point?

Jaune: Ruby, you threw away a perfectly functioning weapon while I have a broken sword with a rusted shield. You killed an illusion. I killed an actual person. You say your not good enough well sweet heart at least you didn’t have to forge your identity off lies and fake transcripts. You had training. You had support. I had nothing like that. Not even from my family. Pyrrha showed me something like that but then she pushed into a locker. Your leadership always seems to go fine. Mines doesn’t.

Ruby: I mean it sometimes does.

Jaune: Yeah. (Until the writers fuck me over one way or the other.)

Ruby: I’m still not seeing your point. My friends helped you more than me.

Jaune: Because you didn’t say shit. My problems were completely visible and hard to hide. Yours were minor compared to mines.

Ruby: No they aren’t. I struggle with my identity. I was too weak. I wasn’t good enough.

Jaune: How?! Look your problem was simple. You had hard time processing change. As well as being overwhelmed by stress. And you know what that’s my bad. Because I couldn’t help you. Why? Because I was already going through of my own problems. I couldn’t make time for you. Your sister couldn’t make time for you because she was prioritizing her own happiness. Weiss couldn’t help you because she was trying to figure out what to do after her home got destroyed.

Ruby: Um-

Jaune: However here’s the thing. Yang was out right now. But wouldn’t me and Weiss neglect our problems to listen to you. Would we not give our time and our ears to you if you asked. Did you think about that?

Ruby: No.

Jaune: NO! You just ran off. Basically you questioned our loyalty to you. You questioned our friendship. You did exactly what Penny and Pyrrha are guilty of.

Ruby: And what’s that?

Jaune: You didn’t give me chance. You made a decision and you didn’t consider how it effected everyone around you. Including me.

Ruby. Oh.

Jaune: I think he can say the rest.

Ruby: *sees me and sigh* You do know a lot people will hate you right?

Me: I said before, I don’t control the show. I don’t control the fan base. I just leave my penny worth opinion down and move on. So let’s start. Ruby I didn’t feel bad for you at all.

Ruby: What?

Me: In fact, I enjoyed your suffering. Mainly when you got jumped.

Ruby: Really? You didn’t feel sorry for me at all.

Me: No. I would… but sweet heart you were a horrible person.

Ruby: That’s not true.

Me: You lied to someone who gave you their trust. That led to them to being more insecure and highly emotional to where they become reckless and foolish. And never took responsibility for that. Oscar did. Jaune did.

Ruby: Alright that just one thing.

Me: One thing? That one thing caused four hunters lives. That one thing caused millions of people’s livelihoods to be ruined. That one thing caused the relic.

Ruby: Okay but I suffered.

Me: Jaune suffered more than you. He went back in time. Had to be Alyx and Lewis Rusted Knight. Only to get poisoned by Alyx, the same girl who he come to find out was killed by the Curious Cat. He waited. He waited for you. Try to find a way home for you.

Ruby: So?

Me: Ruby your problem wasn’t even that bad. All you had to do was open up. Shit my bet is Jaune or Weiss would have listened. Basically your were acting like a child and I don’t care about you.

Ruby: UM.

Me: Shoot I don’t know why cat needed you to get to Remnant. He could’ve tried Jaune. Like bro imagine the reason Jaune and CC had beef because that cat was secretly torturing him. Like CC instead of helping you, was using you to get close to him. And Neo when she destroyed you that should sent him over the edge.

Ruby: …

Me: Basically y-y-you showed me how weak you really are. Like I don’t understand. I get your fifth teen in canon but still.

Ruby: But my friends-

Me: No-no-no. They should’ve token more responsibility too. Blake, Yang and especially Weiss need to start being more supportive to your health. Mainly, because Weiss barely did anything to help Atlas or you at all.

Jaune: What about me?

Me: Motherfucker you need to go home. You need a break. Gets some training. Get some bitches. Go get some pussy. I don’t know. Relax. Cause you earned it. Like I’m sorry but for the much “development” you’ve gotten, I’m surprise KnightFall shouldn’t be canon.

Jaune: …

Me: Bro you fit this post:

Me: Like you have gotten hoed so many times by not just your friends. But the fan base and the writers themselves. Look just take a load off okay? Get help! Jesus, you got to be Salem’s descendant cause life be bringing you pain.

#rwby #ruby rose #Jaune Arc #weiss schnee #yang xiao long #Blake Belladonna #rwby curious cat

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romanoffsbish · 2 years ago

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Afterglow

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

A Torn up Masterpiece

Semi-CW/IW Canon — Not EG Canon

Warnings: Break-Ups, Heartbreak, Blood, Violence, Death (Steve/Vision). Happy Ending though.

—•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•—

Put you in jail for something you didn't do. I pinned your hands behind your back, oh.

—•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•—

Natasha warned you this would happen, but you were incredibly naive, and just as selfish.

"Nat, I—.," she turned to you from the window with a glare so harsh you stumbled backwards., "You what Y/N? Thought following me after I expressly told you not to was a good idea?"

——

You watched the woman you loved with all of your heart become an enemy in a matter of mere minutes. Only an hour ago was she sleeping soundly atop of your chest after an exhausting reunion, and now she's ripping your heart out of it instead with no remorse.

She was terrified, that much was clear, but she also looked to you like she'd been betrayed. Natasha didn't trust easily, that was her nature, but in the last five years you'd broken down every last wall until you reached her tattered heart; just to be another person to slash it...

"Natalia Romanov, we have you surrounded.," the familiar voice of one General Ross boomed against the shifty trailer, and the redheads jaw clenched., "Put my hands behind my back, and escort me out to them Y/N.," her eyes held no room for an argument, but you didn't care.

"No, I-I won't turn you in Natasha! I can't.," she softened for the briefest second., "There's no other way Y/N, you've sealed our fate.," she handed you the handcuffs then turned away from you and her heart broke when you sniffed aggressively as you latched the metal around her wrists but her stoic resolve never faltered.

"Good going kiddo.," Tony clapped your back, and you spluttered at the insinuation., "Nat, No I-I swear.," Tony gripped your shoulder so hard that you faltered, then your eyes met a sea of green, the storm brewing within them was harsh, yet gentle with its pleading. The both of them silently saying to you: "shut up and play pretend.," to which you responded by dropping your gaze from the redheads and by stepping into line with Tony who sighed in clear relief. "We'll fix this Y/N, I promise you that much."

—•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•—

Fighting with a true love is boxing with no gloves ; Chemistry 'til it blows up, 'til there's no us. Why'd I have to break what I love so much. It's on your face, and I'm to blame.

—

I need to say: Hey, it's all me in my head.

I'm the one who burned us down, but it's not what I meant. Sorry that I hurt you.

—

I don't wanna do this to you.

I don't wanna lose this with you.

—•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•—

Tony was no help to you, but in your time of need you found solace in the Captain, even though you were just at odds a month prior., "Y/N, I could do this alone you know.," the man was nervous as can be, he knew he was risking facing Natasha's wrath by allowing you to tag along, but he also couldn't deter you but he still had to try., "As if Rogers, now let's go!"

The raft was deemed impenetrable, but it was like nothing to get in for a Super Soldier and a determined girlfriend with a stolen Stark blaster. Taking out the men was just as easy, you we're starting to wonder if this was privy to what the national defense team looked like, because if so the Avengers really did need to make up or the states were surely doomed.

Steve and you entered the room stealthily, your eyes landed on Wanda first, your heart broke at the sight of the young girl in heavy restraints. Without even a second thought you blasted the lock of her cell, setting her free, then you used your powers to fry the latch off her cuffs.

When you were certain she was okay you turned around to see Steve free'd everyone else, but Clint and the ant guy you briefly fought as they chose to stay behind. That's when you noticed Natasha with a menacing expression on her as she spoke to them in harsh whispers.

By the time you were going to approach she was done, looking to you her harsh exterior faltered briefly, but you watched as she put it back on, turning away from you without even speaking to you. It'd been a month since the arrest, and you were just hoping for peace, but it was clear the redhead was still furious.

Everything Natasha does is to protect you, she'd have remained in that cell for all of eternity if it meant you were safe and sound. So she's going to continue protecting you even now, even if that means breaking your heart, and shattering her very own just the same., "We're over.," Natasha managed to get the words she never imagined using out, her heart twinged as they poured from her lips, but she kept a straight face to live up to the facade.

"What?! Nat, no, please...," you cried out as you instinctively launched forward, latching onto her from behind and holding on for dear life., "We can work this out—please, I love you so much. We can live on the run together. I don't care just so long as I have you—please Natty."

Natasha was grateful you couldn't see her, the way her eyes were brimming with tears against her will wouldn't help her to sell the breakup., "I'm tired of your inability to listen Y/N, don't come looking for me again—I'm done here.," she shrugged you off, then continued to walk away from you, leaving you to fall into your sister who was quick to catch your body.

"Shh, sweetheart it'll be okay.," Wanda coo'd, she looked to Sam for help, and the man was at a loss for words, but he scooped you up, and carried you out of the building anyways. Nat watched him leave with you from the shadows, then she snatched Wanda just before she could leave too., "Erase the footage Wanda, she can't go down for this.," the Sokovian nodded, red irises flashed before Natasha to show her the job was complete., "She's safe now Nat."

"Thank you.," the redhead finally let her tears fall without restriction so the witch pulled her in for a hug., "It'll be okay Nat, we'll figure it out, and you'll be able to get her back.," the reactive flutter in her chest felt empty, the words she needed to hear didn't feel promising, but she wouldn't give up on you—never, so she decided to believe the words that there was something to hold onto here; there had to be.

—•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•—

I lived like an island, punished you with silence

Went off like sirens, just crying.

Why'd I have to break what I love so much?

It's on your face, don't walk away.

—

I need to say: Hey, it's all me in my head.

I'm the one who burned us down, but it's not what I meant. I'm sorry that I hurt you

—

It's all me, just don't go.

—•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•—

Natasha was nervous as she entered the main room of the compound with the rest of her fugitive-esque comrades besides her. Rhodey greeted them., "Well. You guys, really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years.," he wore a bittersweet smile, and pulled her in for a brief hug, and though she returned it with a smile her eyes were scoping the room for you.

"Hey guys, don't listen to the old man, I think you all look great.," you softly greeted from the side as you entered the room with supplies, but just like Nat's eyes were only on you, yours were fixed on her just the same., "Hey Y/N.," she smiled warmly at you, the same way she used to when you would wake up besides her, it was her way of saying 'I'm so fucking sorry—we'll talk later, please...,' and you smiled back at her in confirmation before refocusing.

Natasha couldn't take her eyes off of you the whole time that Steve droned on about the stones removal, and where it would take place. Two years had come and gone without you and she had never been so miserable before, it was like once she had you her heart would never be able to beat properly again without you there.

"Her thoughts are so loud.," you chuckled as your sister buried her face in your shoulder., "Stop listening.," you suggested and she glared at you., "What part of loud don't you get Y/N?"

Natasha felt her unsteady heart settle when she heard your far away giggling, she remembered all those times where it was her to cause it. Unwarranted jealousy filled her at the idea that someone else might be that for you now, that her misconception of protection cost her you.

"Go talk to her.," the witch grumbled, and now it was your turn to glare., "Not now Wands, it is the time for a serious battle, not a world war.," your sister snorted, then she looked to you with soft eyes., "Love is worth the fight Y/N/N.," her eyes then drifted to the 'man' asleep at her side, and you comfortingly laid your head atop hers.

After a couple hours the jet landed, and you were the one helping to get Vision safely into the building. Everyone briefly debated what was the best course of action until the King's high tech security system alerted you to company., "Wands, you stay here to guard Vis, we'll be a-okay.," you gently kissed her cheek., "Don't you think you should stay too?," Nat suggested, you deadpanned., "No, not at all."

*She's a big girl Natasha*, Natasha shrugged, *I'm just trying to ensure she remains alive.*

The battle was heinous, ugly creatures broke through the barriers in droves, and no amount of energy you could surmise was ever enough to dwindle their numbers down. It was as if they were simply respawning, and if the sheer size of the army you were facing wasn't enough you now had giant murderous wheels coming at you, and the woman who still owned you.

With everything you had left you focused your mind on short circuiting the machines, which worked out swimmingly, but then you faced their sudden need to tumble forward, so you did all you could do as you tackled Natasha.

She huffed at the sudden impact, and you stared down at the breathtaking blonde, and for a moment you decided this wouldn't be the worst way to go if she's the last thing you'd see. The impact you were expecting never came, you looked up in time to see your sister tossing the machines into a pile of the monsters.

"Y/N.," Natasha calmly said your name, and you were painfully aware that you were still on top of her., "Uh, sorry.," you scrambled off of her, then in a stroke of luck your poor sister was tossed into a ditch so you didn't have to face the awkward situation for very long.

"You'll die alone, as will he.," Wanda winced when the alien kicked her down, and Nat cooly spoke for the both of you., "She's not alone."

Between the three of you she was handled in no time, and without a moment to breathe you were all traveling across the field to face the proclaimed madman himself. He basically obliterated your friends, tossing the strongest people you knew around like they were rag dolls, and you were truly shocked., "Nat!"

Thanos threw her across the field on his way to your sister and the stone. You knew you should be focused on the mission, but your mind was racing with thoughts of protecting Natasha. Nothing mattered to you more than that.

You began to rip the branches away from the blonde, no matter how painful it was, or near impossible it felt you were determined to free her from Thanos's odd magical confinements., "Y/N, stop—I'm okay, and you're bleeding.," you shook your head., "No, you're not okay Natasha, you're trapped, and I won't have it."

It was a pointless fight, the more you tore away the more they grew right back, but you weren't thinking that rationally. Seeing Natasha in this vulnerable state worried you to no end, and she could see just how stressed you were, it was a bittersweet warmth, but it indeed blossomed in her chest to see just how much you still cared.

Natasha shimmied out of the trap just to hear Wanda's pained scream, both of you watched in horror as she was tossed away from a dead Vision, then your eyes tracked to where Thor was stood with a grimace, then in the next instant your entire body was tingling., "Nat?"

Your shaky, battered hands gripped hers, she looked at you fearfully when she saw all of your friends fading into nothingness behind you., "Y/N? I—.," her lip trembled when she felt your hand dematerialize in her own., "No, please..."

"It's okay.," you did your best to calm her down, because sure you were fading away, but seeing her so broken truly hurt you more., "I love you Natasha, we'll meet again, I promise."

Your blood was on her hands, her already gushing ledger was now tainted with you too.

—•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•—

Meet me in the afterglow.

—•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•~~~~~~•—

Natasha couldn't believe what she was seeing as she looked at the compounds live footage, the shrinking man was stood there shouting, and her hand was swift to buzz him inside.

"So you're saying that you spent the last five years in a time vacuum?," she looked at him for clarification, her hope now slowly fizzling., "Yes, well no—it's not a vacuum, it's a portal.," he clarified., "Also Miss. Romanoff, it wasn't five years for me, it was only five hours."

Natasha watched the man scarf down her peanut butter sandwich while processing his proposed solution. It was far fetched, but it was the most promising thing to show up at her door yet so she wasn't going to squander it. There was absolutely nothing she wouldn't do to get you back, she didn't think she could hold out much longer without you and her sister.

Both victims of a heartbreak induced by her, and both snapped away before she could make the amends she'd been desperately trying to. Shaking her mind of the tragic honesty she focuses on calling the only man she knows who can pull something of this magnitude off.

Tony, after being reminded of him letting Y/N down on more than one occasion decided he will indeed do his part to fix this horrible mess.

The teams were set in stone: Natasha and Steve were to collect the soul stone from Vormir, and the trek up the mountain side made enjoying the view of a purple and orange sky impossible.

"I bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain.," the redhead grumbled, and the super soldier chuckled., "It isn't that bad."

"Speak for yourself.," she huffed, but before the playful banter could continue she was raising her gun at the ominous floating entity., "Natalia Romanov, daughter of Ivan.," he shifted slightly., "Steve Rogers, son of Sarah."

"Who are you?," she growled., "Red Skull.," Steve answered through gritted teeth, his first ever Avenger level foe somehow slithered his way into what he hope would be his final one.

"Where's the stone?," he readied his shield and his fists, but the entity before him held no fight, he simply guided them to the cliffs edge., "What you seek lies in front of you... as does what you fear.," the friends shivered at his grim tone., "The stone is down there?," Nat asked.

"For one of you. For the other, in order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul for a soul."

Natasha took a seat on a log, the gravity of the situation weighing her down, but she knew that no matter what took place on this mountain that she'd ensure that you got to return, that you would get to live—no matter the cost.

"Whatever it takes.," Steve repeats his earlier sentiments, and Natasha jumps to her feet., "No, it can't be you Steve, it has to be me."

"Natasha, now you're being ridiculous. I've lived a long, and full life. It is my time far more than it is yours.," the burly man pulls his friend in for a hug., "Don't squander this second chance at love Natasha.," her heart skips as he mentions you—someone to come home to., "Missing out on my chance with Peggy is my heaviest regret; fix the mistakes of the past."

"Steve, it has to be me—my ledger is dripping."

"So is mine Natasha."

"What?! No it—.," he chuckled sadly as he moved to cut her off., "I defended, rallied and stood for a corrupt military time and time again Natasha. Costing thousands if not millions of young people their lives. All that potential for life squandered away fighting the senseless battles of selfish government heads all because I wore the stripes and sold the war."

Steve sighed as he saw the look in her eyes, so he placed his hands on her shoulders., "Let's get this over with Romanoff.," he stepped away and raised his fists, prepared for the fight of his life, and that's exactly what she gave him as she struck the man with a large volt of electricity., "Tell her I loved her Steve, with all my heart."

The man writhed on the ground in pain, but fortunately for him the serum coursing through his veins coupled with pure adrenaline lent to him returning to his feet swiftly., "Tell her yourself Natasha!," he grunted, throwing his shield with just enough force to knock her down, and it effectively knocked the wind from her lungs, and therefore the fight in her body.

"Give this to Sam when you guys win.," he rushes out, he's not got long before she's back on her feet., "Tell him that there's no one more deserving of the mantel than him.," he left the shield atop of her to slow her down even more., "Please, also tell Bucky that I love him, that he's allowed to move passed his ledger, and that I'm sorry, but this is the end of the line."

—

Natasha's not sure how it got this bad so fast, but as she clutches her ribs, and wipes blood from her lip she wonders if it was all for not.

Did Steve jump for nothing?

Will you really be gone forever?

Does she die today knowing that she failed you in every manageable way possible?

"On your left.," the coms crackle but she hears the man loud and clear., "On your wing.," you add, and Natasha's heart beats wildly when she looks up to see you actually on his wings., "Woman! Get down.," your giggle warms her entirely, and she herself smiles fondly when thinking of how only you could enter the end of the world battle in the happiest of spirits.

"Lady Natasha.," the redhead turns to face the beaten down man who'd shared in her fight against the purple titan of the past., "Catch!"

Natasha's eyes widen when Mjolnir is headed straight for her, she instinctively reaches out to catch it, and when her fingers crackle with a bit of blue she gasps—she's worthy.

"I knew it!," she smiles back at the Asgardian, then she readies herself for battle., "Avengers," she presses down on her coms., "Assemble."

The entirety of your side charges forward, you find yourself smiling as you follow Natasha's lead, she was always the real voice of reason so you are rather proud of her for filling the role. All you wanted to do was talk to her, as that was what you were so close to doing after two years before you were snapped into the void.

It was grueling not being able to, but you knew you needed to focus as the aliens surrounded you, jolts of electricity continued to leave you, knocking them down in droves, but your body was still exhausted from the previous battle back on Wakanda, because for you that was only a few hours ago, so your work got sloppy. Now you found yourself on the ground, sharp talons hovering above your face, you pushed against its arms until red tendrils lifted the creature, and Mjolnir flew it across the field.

Wanda yanked you up from the ground, and as you steadied you locked eyes with Natasha just as soon as the hammer returned to her. She smirked at your look of shock, and you shyly dropped your head before following your sister who had intended to face the purple man.

While she held him in the air, tearing his suit from his body you used jolts of electricity to keep the aliens away from her, and to your absolute luck a blonde reminiscent of a comet comes barreling down from the sky, and takes the gauntlet from the evil creature with ease.

Carol had the gauntlet, Wanda held her hand, and you slipped yours into hers for the safest bet that none of you will leave in a body bag.

"No.," Natasha's heart drops—not again, she will not lose you for the fourth time, but as she went to run at you Clint caught her., "Trust the process Natasha.," she thrashed in his hold., "Fuck the process.," she had met your gaze and her fight stopped, your features were so calm, so like Clint said—she would have to trust you.

"Are you guys ready?," your sister nodded, and you did the same before facing the furious titan. He was kneeling on the ground, panting heavily in a moment of obvious weakness.

Carol lifted the gauntlet, and as she prepared to snap Natasha sobbed at the sight of you, your smile of anticipated victory faltered, and the anguish you were experiencing as the powers surged between the three of you was obvious., "Not so inevitable, huh?," you still managed to taunt the man through gritted teeth, and just as you finished the blonde snapped her fingers, and the army of aliens slowly disintegrated.

Natasha watched you slump into Wanda who was struggling to keep the both of you upright, but the witch managed to lean the both of you into a pile of rubble for the short time being. Natasha ran at full speed, dust settling around her as she raced to be at your side, no amount of aching in her body could stop her either. Once she reached you she pulled you into her instead, holding you upright and leaning in to press her forehead against yours as her tears continued to race down her red cheeks.

"We did it Natty.," you coughed with a dopey smile, and the redhead shushed you for the sake of your strength., "You did so good detka, I'm so proud of you, so incredibly proud."

"Detka?," your eyes were now softly glistening, her heart ached at your unsureness, she gently moved to cup your dirtied face in her hand., "Tell me that you're still mine.," she sobbed., "Please Y/N/N, tell me that we'll be just fine.," You met her pleas with a tired smile, and nod., "Even when I lose my mind?," she giggled at your question., "Especially then, an unhinged Y/N is incredibly hot.," her heart fluttered wildly when you giggled too, she missed this.

The happiness quickly faded though as you softly voiced your unfiltered thoughts to her., "Tell me that it's not my fault.," she quickly shook her head., "Oh detka, you were innocent, forced to watch your family falling apart. I'm so sorry for adding to it, but I had to protect you."

"You know, we could've faced it all together Natty, I was ready to risk my freedom for you.," she frowned at the idea of all the lost time, and part of her even agrees now, had she known then what she knew now she would've let you., "I-I know detka—leaving you behind was the hardest thing I've ever done, and it will live within my heart forever as my biggest regret."

"Please, tell me that I'm all you want Nat.," there was an insecurity in your eyes she never thought she'd be faced with. How you could still be questioning her want—no, her need for you was a bit perplexing., "Of course you're all I want Y/N, a life without you is unbearable."

"I want this Natty, we can leave this all behind us, and move forward having learned better, how not to burn down it all to the ground."

"Even when I break your heart?," this time it was her with the insecurities swimming in her gorgeous green orbs., "No.," you sighed sadly., "But if you promise to never do it again then we can do this, we can be us again; be happy."

"I promise.," her hands fell to grab yours, she brought them to her lips for a smattering of soft kisses., "No more running, or breaking. This love is too precious to squander.," she softly moved your hands atop her shoulders, and you finished the move by connecting them behind her neck as hers settled on your hips.

Natasha desperately wanted to devour you after all this time, the way you were staring at her didn't exactly help either, but she settled for a few slow kisses as to not overwhelm you., "I love you Natty.," she smiled so wide that the kiss was broken apart., "Ya lyublyu tebya Y/N."

The grim battlefield was full of similar reunions, but the two of you were none the wiser as you stayed in your own bubble for as long as you could. Once the two of you parted Natasha went off to find the frantic soldiers, and you went to collect the devastated witch. Wanda clung to you as you escorted her to the undamaged car Natasha pointed out to you earlier, and by the time the redhead made it back to you she found the both of you asleep and cuddled up together in the backseat.

As quietly as she could she got the car started and set the GPS for her Ohio childhood home. It was completely furnished as she'd been in the process of readying it for you over the blip. No amount of naysaying ever stopped her from believing your sisters words all those years back. That hope for a future with you was all that kept her breathing the last seven years, and now that you're here she's breathing fine.

Natasha admired the sunset as she coasted down the Highway, once she settled in the middle lane she readjusted the rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of you. The rays of orange and pinks softly casted over your sleeping face, and oh did you look beautiful.

You were positively glowing, and Natasha was simply basking in the warmth of your love.

——

4,546 Words

This is my Endgame.

❤️Kaitlyn🥰

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff fluff #natasha romanoff angst #natasha romanoff pov #natasha romanoff fic #natasha x reader #natasha x you #natasha x y/n #natasha x fem!reader #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x female reader #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff x y/n #natasharomanoffpov #gxg

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doyourememberrocknrollradio · 4 months ago

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youtube

Stevie Wonder - Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart

#Youtube

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musicprincess1990 · 1 year ago

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I have never wished I had a large following. I'm fine with the relative obscurity, just pleased as punch with the few hundred people who consider my posts worth reading. I'm too introverted to want fame and glory, so having so few followers was OK by me.

Until now.

Y'all... I wish I had the clout to make this go viral:

And this:

I can't tell you how long now I've thought it was just me. I thought I was just a failure because I didn't finish college or learn a trade. I thought it was my fault that my barely over minimum wage job didn't pay enough to support me. I thought I'd brought it all on myself.

No. No, that's what they want us to believe. That's their goal, they want us to take on more and more and more, while they pay less and less. They want to squeeze every last penny that they can out of us, without giving any more back than is legally required. Then they go and charge significantly more for every basic necessity, while our pay stays exactly where it is.

Enough is enough. Internet, I'm begging you, please make this go viral. Let's make a plan, set a time and a place, and stand together. Let's fight back and do something, because if we don't, you can be damn well sure no one else will.

We are the spark that'll light the fire that'll burn this broken system to the ground.

We just have to do it.

Sadly, despite my impassioned TED talk and my paraphrased Star Wars quote, I very much doubt this will go anywhere. I only have a few hundred followers, after all. But I know if I didn't at least try, I would regret it. And it's not about me wanting more followers, not really. I just want these videos to spread like wildfire and ignite the spark in the heart of every overworked, underpaid citizen of this increasingly corrupt nation.

America... fix your shit.

#please share #please boost #please make this happen #come on internet #do your thing

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crumbledmountains · 1 month ago

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Analyzing "Batter my heart, three-person'd God" through an Oppenheimer-ian lens

Physicist and Manhattan Project leader J. Robert Oppenheimer named the test of the first atomic bomb "Trinity." He claimed he was inspired by John Donne's poem "Batter my heart, three-person'd God," but offered little other explanation. Below is my reading of the poem and how it can be applied to Oppenheimer's life.

You can read the poem here.

Batter my heart, three-person'd God

Oppenheimer is the first-person narrator of this poem, aka the one whose heart is being battered. The three-person'd God is composed of, well, three concepts: America, the atomic bomb, and science (which in and of itself can be three-pronged into what's oft considered the most prestigious sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics). These three "persons" were the most defining forces in Oppenheimer's life.

for you / As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;

The purpose of science is to knock on the door of discovery, breathe life and shine light into the unknown, and use this newfound knowledge to seek to mend our world—to make it a better place. True love is being understood, after all, and when we understand the world, we grow to love and appreciate it.

From an American prespective, the bomb also sought to mend. Its purpose was to end World War II, which it ultimately succeeded in doing. The first three verbs could also be used to describe the sound, movement, and appearance of the Trinity explosion.

Post-war American foreign policy could also be categorized as seeking to mend. Once again, from an American prespective, it was the country's role to shine democracy and freedom into the dark, communist-threatened corners of the world. To "fix" them. But we all know how that turned out.

That I may rise and stand,

The American government made Oppenheimer the head of the Manhattan Project, which, by several accounts, inflated his ego with a sense of leadership and control. As the fictionalized version of Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss says in Christopher Nolan's 2023 film Oppenheimer:

"Well, if he was based in Chicago, he worked under Szilard and Fermi, not the Cult of Oppie in Los Alamos. Robert built that damn place. He was founder, mayor, sheriff. All rolled into one."

Harnessing the extraordinary power of atomic energy also made Oppenheimer feel godlike, a Prometheus figure, as the biography title goes. Physicist and professor Philip Morrison put it bluntly:

"Oppenheimer think's he's God."

o'erthrow me, and bend / Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.

Ultimately, however, the power of atomic energy won the power struggle. Oppenheimer is forever its slave, the consequences of its unleashing dictating the rest of his life. He is transformed, made into a new person when the Trinity explosion breaks, blows, and burns ahead in the horizon.

(The "me" who is made new could also the be the world, which is also forever changed by the creation of the atomic bomb).

Although I have less faith in this argument, these lines could also be applied to the Atomic Energy Commission's kangaroo court purge of Oppenheimer. After the trial, he was absolutely broken, overthrown from his position on the Commission, his influence on atomic policy. He was never quite the same afterwards; made new.

I, like an usurp'd town to another due,

The most overt interpretation of this line would be that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the usurp'd towns in question, destroyed by what were arguably war crimes. However, Los Alamos could also the be usurp'd town: it was a region sacred to Native Americans that was seized by the US government for the Manhattan Project, at Oppenheimer's reccomendation. The National Park Service explains:

"In late 1942, the U.S. government appropriated US Forest Service land and private property on the Pajarito Plateau for its secret atom bomb project. The US government subsequently built fences and established checkpoints to prevent any unauthorized entries by the public and that barred American Indians and former landowners from returning."

Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;

As will be discussed later, Oppenheimer felt more distress over the nuclear proliferation and atomic culture that rapidly developed post-war, rather than the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He labored to admit the bomb into standard military arsenals and into the world overall, but both the US and the USSR were building bomb after bomb. The proliferation was to no end; it defined 45 years of the 20th century.

Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend, / But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.

As the so-called father of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer should defend its existence and the actions of the US government in its proliferation. By extension, he should defend the development of the hydrogen bomb. However, Oppenheimer cannot find a logical or moral basis for defense. His criticism and campaign against the H-bomb partially leads to the Atomic Energy Commission's takedown of him.

Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov'd fain, / But am betroth'd unto your enemy;

The most overt interpretation of this line would be that the "you" in question is America. Oppenheimer's country would love him if he wasn't a suspected Communist; instead, he faces the wrath and persecution of the Atomic Energy Commission.

From the film:

EINSTEIN: If this is the reward [your country] offers you, then... perhaps you should turn your back on her.

OPPENHEIMER: Damnit, I happen to love this country.

EINSTEIN: Then tell [the Commission] to go to hell.

However, "you" could also be science, perhaps physics specifically. The atomic bomb is the antithesis of the purpose of science outlined above. As physicist Isidor Rabi said:

"I do not wish to make the culmination of three centuries of physics a weapon of mass destruction."

And as Oppenheimer reflected:

"I find that physics and the teaching of physics, which is my life, now seems irrelevant."

How can Oppenheimer be a servant to the sciences when he has defied them? He struggles to find passion and meaning in his field; he is now devoted to lessening the effects of its corruption.

Finally, "you" could also be the bomb. Oppenheimer hated nuclear proliferation, not the bombings during World War II. He was certainly proud of his creation, but regretted its consequences. Many believed Oppenheimer loved the bomb because of the status it gained him. Another film Lewis Strauss line:

“Oppenheimer wanted to own the atomic bomb. He wanted to be the man who moved the Earth. He talks about putting the nuclear genie back in the bottle. Well I'm here to tell you that I know J. Robert Oppenheimer, and if he could do it all over, he'd do it all the same. You know he's never once said that he regrets Hiroshima? He'd do it all over. Why? Because it made him the most important man who ever lived.”

One could say the ultimate goal of the bomb is a nuclear holocaust, the destruction of the human race by a creation of the human race. Thus, in his pursuit against proliferation, Oppenheimer is the enemy of the bomb.

Divorce me, untie or break that knot again, / Take me to you, imprison me, for I, / Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,

Oppenheimer can never escape the consequences of his actions. They haunt him, define him, and destroy him, whether from internal or external forces. He never shall be free as long as the bomb enthralls him. He tries to avenge his sin by advocating against proliferation and the H-bomb, but his influence is plowed over by the Atomic Energy Commission. This strips him of his ability to work his way out of purgatory. He is a permanent prisoner to the bomb, as all humans are as long as we live under its threat.

Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Oppenheimer is ultimately destroyed by his country and the consequences of his actions. They ravish him and leave him chained to the rock, à la Prometheus.

Fin.

To reward yourself for making it this far, I recommend checking out Gerald Finley's performance of "Batter my heart" from John Adams's opera Doctor Atomic.

Thanks for reading!

#oppenheimer #j robert oppenheimer #history #american history #atomic bomb #oppenheimer movie #poetry #poem #poetry analysis #writing #john donne #cillian murphy #christopher nolan #gerald finley #john adams #united states #united states history

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songsofprotestpeacerevolution · 5 months ago

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youtube

Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart · Stevie Wonder

#Youtube

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musictherapy611 · 5 months ago

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youtube

Stevie Wonder, “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart,” 2024

Lunch time. STEVIE DROPPED THIS ONLY YESTERDAY 😍🥰❤️😍🥰❤️😍🥰❤️

#Youtube

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classy01 · 1 year ago

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Broken

KakaSaku | Rated G | Wing AU | Canon-Divergence | Angst

The bed bends under his weight; the sound of his body hitting it is sharp and slaps the room’s silence.

I watched him stumble today, the weight of the battle dragging him to the ground: torn plumage and disarray of feathers littered around his feet.

Tentatively I seek the skin on his back that looks so raw as it peeks beneath bandages; it’s parts of him I’ve never seen - always hidden by the swallow of his wings. One is gone now, the other left in tatters. He stiffens under my touch and curls into a ball, pushing away from me.

“Kakashi,” I call to him, begging him to give me his eyes.

The grip of my finger’s tugs against his skin, digging in next to his bone to make him rollover. I move quickly to drop my body over the plan of his chest; I hold him between the junction of my thighs.

“Kakashi,” I hiss at him. He glares at me with bitterness and hatred.

“Stop it. Your village still needs you.”

”There has never been a Hokage without wings,” he warns me, tilting his hips to shake me off.

“Shut up. I’ll build you a better one. You saved us today.” I press more of my weight back on him, pinning him with my unbridled strength.

“Naruto saved us.”

“Because you gave him the perfect opening.”

“And look at what it cost me.” His one wing struggles to flutter out, tattered and chopped up from a direct chakra cannon blast from Pain’s modified mouth.

“It will grow back .. the rest I can build you.”

“You don’t get it!! I lost a part of myself today to save a destroyed village!” His voice tempers up, and now it’s his hands clutching the meat of my thighs, off-balancing me as I tumble off him back onto the bed.

“You're alive, and so are the people - they are the village!” I snap back with heated bombardment, keeping his eyes locked with mine as he moves to sit up.

“You aren’t a wing one!”

And there it is. The truth that has been cultivating between us since the first time he touched me and took something no other person had before.

Those words aren’t untrue, but they are no less unkind. I’m not a winged one; I’m just a mechanic with unreal brute strength. I’m unexplainable and not remarkable in the eyes of the other nations or even most of my own village.

“I know. I just thought it never mattered to you.” The words slip softly off my tongue.

Whatever bravado I had is burned out by the strength of that statement.

“Maybe I was too in love with you to see that it does.”

His words are a double edge sword, and nothing hurts more than being cut once but twice at the same time.

“Huh…” is the only thing I can muster to say now. It’s the first time he has ever said he loved me and also that it does matter that I’m not a winged one.

The room goes silent again with sober truths lingering between us as the reality of what this is clicks in my brain, “We are over now, aren’t we?”

“Sakura... it’s not that easy”, he sighs at me, keeping his hands to himself.

With what little pride I have left, I slip out the bed and snatch some clothes while packing a bag. Before I know it, I’m at the door of our bedroom, correction, his.

I pause for a few seconds without turning around, “Kakashi, I love you too.” It’s the first time I’ve ever said it to him.

Our first omission of love and the end of our relationship. Seems silly - he’s always been broken somehow, and I’ve always fixed things, but I guess this was too complicated for me.

The heart really is a mess with no directions.

______________________________________________________________

This was inspired by a fantasy art piece I did of Kakashi - see here

#kakasaku #sakura haruno #wing au #naruto fanfic #tumblr fic #Kakashi Hatake

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popculturebuffet · 2 years ago

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Sam and Max Telltale Retrospective: Save the World: Reality 2.0 (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Cyber-Hello to all you happy cyber-people! We're almost at the end of Sam and Max Save The World! It's been a long strange journey and it's only getting stranger as we jack in and execute the penultimate chapter of this fantastic game.

As usual let's take a look at Reality 2.0+as a game first. Internet 2.0 is the best chapter yet which like Morning Mark, you can probably hear me say that a lot. It combines the writing quality of the last two chapters with the far more managable but still open overworld of "The Mob, The Mole and the Meatball". The difficulty's still harder than Mob, but more in line with the second one: you might get stuck but a quick nudge from a guide or some poking around will usually fix it. The world is also just fun to explore despite being intentionally both sparse and a reskin of the main street hub. In short it's good stuff and we'll see if it holds for the finale and the next two games.

For now let's look at the bold new future of the internet in 2006 under the cut and how our heroes have to kill it before it spreads. As you do.

So we open with Max flexing his power as president. As expected most of his policy is giant fighting robot based, sending them to all three dakota's to see who surivives, and he's being impeached every day this week except wendsday.. he's on trial for war crimes. But Max has more important things to deal with than plotting his future escape from a federal maximum security prison, for once. The Chief has a job: A new game, Reality 2.0 is sweeping the nation and brainwashing it too so our heroes and max have to stop it. Our heroes first have to save Sybil, whose beta testing the game via headset, and lost in the zone. So to get info we're going ot have to wreck Sybil's life for the second episode. Meanwhile Bosco has paranoidly moved all his money into the internet. As you can probably notice unlike a lot of the satire in these games, where there more funny knowing the time, the satire for internet 2.0 has actually aged better. While at the time it was clearly parodying the boom of things like second life and mmorpg's like world of warcraft, nowadays it comes off as parodies of laughable attempts at the future like the metaverse, vr googles, and crypto. I mean the money isn't in boscocoin but like Crypto the service he's using bancolavedero.com is just as sketchy as crypto and just as likely to give you all your money back! As such despite having all the money now to launder via the us goverment, we can't buy his real world item, a bio weapon, yet.

We can however do him a solid and get rid of the compettition: part of why Bosco's gone from small arms to full on biological warefare is because Jimmy Two Teeth has set up shop in his shop. Being the rat he is, Jimmy refuses to actually sell you the mini canon he has because he's afraid you'll just turn around and use it on him

Though in this case it's a self fufilling prophecy as while he succesfully gets a hit off on Sam, he gets shoved into the canon and used as ammo oddworld styles. I just love this solution and it provides some cathariss after multiple chapters of Jimmy either being obnoxious to our heroes or actively hindering them. I mean he fell down a manwhole but ther'es probably a whole rat city down there. He can play rat blackjack and visit some rat hookers. He'll be fine. This is more fitting.. being shot at some vr googles.

Turns out though Sybil wasn't hypnotized.. or at least thinks she wasn't so she's mad, but allows our heroes to take the broken googles and decides to move on. I've really started to feel sorry for sybil. In the first two chapters she was just running a random scheme and just having a good time… in the last few she's been targeted by the mob, had her heart broken, been swindled out of millions of dollars and now had her legit buisness ruined by our heroes.. for good reasons yes but it's still awful. I'm really hoping the next chapter works out better for her. I do applaud the team for making me care about this goofy side character though. So our team has to take the googles to the best part of this episode, the C.O.P.S. The Computer Obsolescence Prevention Society are a bunch of old machines who are hilaroius: We have their leader and mouthpiece curt, an old voice synthizer similar to steven hawkings, chippy, an old pong set, and bob, a talking phone who talks like the moviephone guy. And last and most of all we have Bluster Blaster an old arcade machine who constantly screams every sentence and wants to conquer all. Their working for the internet for the oldest reasons imaginable…

But gladly suply a lot of great comedy.. and our heroes with the chip to fix the googles. There's not much else to say other than their fantastic and I was delighted to find out they return in the next two games, and have a larger role in 3.

THe cops gladly give our heroes the chip. Problem is there's two heroes but luckily max's really big head qualities him for a special headset, so our heroes are off to the digtial world! Jack in, Sam and Max, Execute! Reality 2.0 is a fun setting being really sparse and seeming like a jab at games that come out mostly unfinished. Having played sonic 06 recently, the irony is not lost on me. While it is a BETA, so ti's a bit more forgivable, it's a very desolate place with Sybil stood in with a digtial copy of her, and no real detail. The only real features are bosco's itself, and Auntie Biotic, virus protection based on moira stump. Who was asking for her to come back I do not know, but she's passable.

We 'll deal with her later though first it's time to deal with bosco whose totally not brainwashed you guys honest. So in order to save him, we have to bop him in the head, but since for some reason we can't just.. use the boxing glove on him or reload the canon, we have to play the game his way and get 5 gold coins. Granted equipment usually isn't this cheap but sam and max isn't going to make you grind for several hours. or maybe ten minutes with 4x gil on, to do that. Point is you need to gather the coins.

This is where I got stuck entirely through every fault of my own. See I assumed since the goggles have an assigned button to take you out of reality 2.0, you coudln't use your inventory

Every item you have in the real world is avaliable to you. And neatly some transform, so the bug becomes a computer bug. It wasn't till reading the guide I realized I could do this.

As for who your glitching up that'd be the COPS who are gods, angry gods, of the new world and each control something. So you have to jack with them to get rid of width, popups, make your characters small, and with blaster because uh oh there goes gravity. The ways you use them are also clever and most you can figure out just from exploring: Jimmy is hoarding a coin in your office, so you have to get that from him by shirnking, and that itself requries you to figure out another mechanic: when you enter the digital world you enter from the location your at. So while the curb is too big for tiny sam and max to climb, you can simply jack out, go into the office, jack in and boom, Jimmy is violently mugged for a coin! Sybils is easy to miss, it's just behind her bookcase which you can get by going flat and finally we get the fun one of gravity, with sam deciding to become a feature film italian sterotype and max decides to call him a sell out. it's the best joke of a very funny chapter… the best one not involving an arcade cabinet screaming at you anyway. So with that we buy the long sord and get a decent enough send up of rpg combat as we fight a slime in boscos, handily despensed from a monster spawn point. This is where I got lost for a second. See I went back to the real world, as Bosco revealed his password is SO secure, he dosen't even know it, having it tattooed on him then having his memory erased. So naturally I grabbed the binoculars on his desk. problem is fitting the game's nonlinear nature you can get them AFTER you wake him up too, and my guide used this method. Thankfully I found another one, and found out I simply had to conk him out in the digtial world.

Since I can't just have a small monster do it, I used the sword, tricked bosco with the timeless "look over there" technique and found his tatoo which thankfully was nowhere near as low as feared. It's naturally bosco. He's smart at many things, survelince, knowing the goverment's after him, scamming our heroes, but this is a reminder he can be very, very dumb and we love him for it. So it's off to banco lavedero. To get in here you'll need some digitial paint from a digtial wizard whose TOTALLY not hugh bliss… though unlike moira I feel this seeming model IS the real thing given what we learn at the end of the chapter. This puzzle is clever as your liscene plate has the right color. Match em and you get past the banco lavedero fire wall. Inside we get a fun if somewhat long mini game: unsuprisingly this scam is laundering money from everywhere: the toy mafia, who sam rightly points out even if we knocked out one branch isn't exzactly gone, the goverment, bosco's mom. You simply have to get the arrows to point all the money to bosco. It's hilarious enough to work and even if you get stuck, it shoudln't take too long till bosco has the money and is forking over his bio weapon. This one I actually called: he just sneezes into a napkin. But hey it's enough to give yo ua computer virus.

To beat her though we need a chekovs gun.. but since tha't snot in the inventory we instead need some slime goop, gotten whenyou first get your sword as his sludgey machine is now an enemy spawn point and the results are just as dangerous. You take it out with some turn based rpg parody, though the shouting out of dexerity is just.. weird. This isn't dungeons and dragons, it's a computer rpg. It's hilarious enough though I dont' care enitirely.

WIth the goop you simply have to defy gravity again and go to a nearbye billboard and you get the unicorn sword. +2 baby! You can unstick it with the goop and then fight moira using the sword and another chekovs gun: early on you'll see a jack in the box surrounded by pop ups. Disable those, grab it, then enable them before the fights and you've got a shiled. It's a wonderful brick joke and with that you can mail the virus ot break the internet.

Problem is the interent.. plans to take everyone in it with her, so to save the world you have to brave the depths of gaming history, a TEXT ADVENTURE!

The Text Adventure bit.. is a lot of fun. You put all of boscos into your inventory, deal with a giant drippy pool of cute kittens , use their slime to dip boscos and then feed it to a shambling corprate presence, the greatest monster in all of rpg history. Yes over stabby mc mommy issues or Garnland, who will knock you all down. You feed him, get him tobarf up the internet's faith in humanity an save her from herself… and then she dies because our heroes knida gave her a virus. Yes our heroes killed the ineternet and I for one…

Sorry about that had to kick in the backup internet. Hard being a blogger these days. Anyways the internmet is dead and the most she can give our heroes is the mysterious mastermind behind all this is Roy. G. Biv… our heroes dont' take the obvious hint and go to dinner… as hugh bliss shows up as the face int he moon

Next Time: We go to the MOOONNNNN to wrap this game up and confront the true mastermind behind it all! But where is hugh? What is hugh? and why is Hugh? All to be colorfully answered next time!

#sam and max #telltale games #skunkape games #nintendo switch #adventure games #sybil pandemik #hey guys it's me bosco #the internet #bluster blaster

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aronarchy · 1 year ago

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[first image ID: of a LinkedIn post by Ashley Cairns which says,

I’ve been absent from LinkedIn for the last week or so, and I didn’t want to talk about it at first… I wanted to move on and get back to things, but if what I went through could happen to me—it can happen to anybody. And we need to talk about it.

In April I suffered a miscarriage. It was devasting. My husband and I had been trying for over a year, and our hearts broke. I had to be rushed to the emergency room. Everything happened so fast. I was scared.

I live in Texas.

Not a week later we had workers from the state health department on our doorstep. Unannounced. Inquiring about the state of my pregnancy. When I told them what had happened (which I should not have to do!) I was told I had to call the state to report a miscarriage, since my pregnancy was “on file.”

The state of women’s health care in this country is abysmal, terrifying, and just plain wrong.

The last few weeks have been spent trying to get my health back, look for work, get a company off the ground, and take care of our family. I have an amazing support system—a caring husband, my parents who flew in from Tennessee to help around the house, my mother-in-law who took me in from the hospital and didn’t let me lift a finger. An active support system is great, but what women in #Texas and America needs is a government and Healthcare system on their side.

Dealing with hormones, and sadness, and not being able to stay awake more than 2 hours without being in pain, trying to start a company, trying to go to events and network, trying to keep life going as normal for our niece—the last thing I needed was the added stress.

I believe if more women speak up about their experiences we can erase the stigma of miscarriages, and get to work fixing this broken Healthcare system.

I will be getting back to posting sarcastic and cynical posts soon. For now I’m focusing on finding work, and taking care of myself. And as a glutton for punishment I will be adding Fighting for Women’s Healthcare more actively to my plate as well. If you have a similar story comment it below or DM me. I will be collecting testimonials, and looking to meet with people working towards this goal to help anyway I can.

/end first image ID]

[second image ID: a flyer headed by a black-and-white photograph of a woman looking out of her door and being confronted by two policemen. The title of the page, superimposed in large white text as a caption on the photograph, reads, “How would you like the police to investigate your miscarriage?” The main body of text reads,

So-called “pro-lifers” think nothing of invading women’s privacy and jeopardizing their health. Their national campaign of violence and intimidation attracted plenty of media attention.

But the outrages they commit now are nothing compared to what would happen if they win.

Their Human Life Amendment to the Constitution treats the fetus as an independent human being from the very instant of fertilization. Abortion would be called murder under all circumstances. So would many effective birth control methods. And every miscarriage could be suspect.

While some anti-choice activists declare that only health professionals who assist with an abortion should be charged with murder, countless women could be caught up in police investigations and prosecutions even if they are never arraigned.

If the right to choose abortion is limited or eliminated, women who can afford to travel could probably evade the law.

Poor women and teenagers with no resources would be forced to induce their own abortions or subject themselves to an illicit, dangerous back-alley procedure.

And thousands of them would be brutalized, maimed and killed.

How do we know what will happen if the extremists win? Because that’s the way it was before abortion was made legal and safe in 1973. The choice they present isn’t whether abortion should be stopped.

Prohibition never worked.

The choice for privacy… or punishment. Safety for women… or terrible danger.

It’s really not a choice we need to make again.

Make time to save your right to choose. Before the so-called “pro-lifers” start making your choices for you.

Take action! To support Planned Parenthood’s Campaign to keep abortion Safe and Legal, please mail your contribution to PPFA, 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019-5818.

Don’t wait until women are dying again.

Planned Parenthood® Federation of America

/end second image ID]

This sounds like something from The Handmaid’s Tale, ffs.

#misogyny #sexism #pregnancy #miscarriages #abortion

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songedunmatindhiver-iii · 15 days ago

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Millenial Hymn to Lord Shiva

Earth no longer

hymns the Creator,

the seven days of wonder,

the Garden is over —

all the stories are told,

the seven seals broken

all that begins

must have its ending,

our striving, desiring,

our living and dying,

for Time, the bringer

of abundant days

is Time the destroyer —

In the Iron Age

the Kali Yuga

To whom can we pray

at the end of an era

but the Lord Shiva,

the Liberator, the purifier?

Our forests are felled,

our mountains eroded,

the wild places

where the beautiful animals

found food and sanctuary

we have desolated,

a third of our seas,

a third of our rivers

we have polluted

and the sea-creatures dying.

Our civilization’s

blind progress

in wrong courses

through wrong choices

has brought us to nightmare

where what seems,

is, to the dreamer,

the collective mind

of the twentieth century —

this world of wonders

not divine creation

but a big bang

of blind chance,

purposeless accident,

mother earth’s children,

their living and loving,

their delight in being

not joy but chemistry,

stimulus, reflex,

valueless, meaningless,

while to our machines

we impute intelligence,

in computers and robots

we store information

and call it knowledge,

we seek guidance

by dialling numbers,

pressing buttons,

throwing switches,

in place of family

our companions are shadows,

cast on a screen,

bodiless voices, fleshless faces,

where was the Garden

a Disney-land

of virtual reality,

in place of angels

the human imagination

is peopled with foot-ballers

film-stars, media-men,

experts, know-all

television personalities,

animated puppets

with cartoon faces —

To whom can we pray

for release from illusion,

from the world-cave,

but Time the destroyer,

the liberator, the purifier?

The curse of Midas

has changed at a touch,

a golden handshake

earthly paradise

to lifeless matter,

where once was seed-time,

summer and winter,

food-chain, factory farming,

monocrops for supermarkets,

pesticides, weed-killers

birdless springs,

endangered species,

battery-hens, hormone injections,

artificial insemination,

implants, transplants, sterilization,

surrogate births, contraception,

cloning, genetic engineering, abortion,

and our days shall be short

in the land we have sown

with the Dragon’s teeth

where our armies arise

fully armed on our killing-fields

with land-mines and missiles,

tanks and artillery,

gas-masks and body-bags,

our air-craft rain down

fire and destruction,

our space-craft broadcast

lies and corruption,

our elected parliaments

parrot their rhetoric

of peace and democracy

while the truth we deny

returns in our dreams

of Armageddon,

the death-wish, the arms-trade,

hatred and slaughter

profitable employment

of our thriving cities,

the arms-race

to the end of the world

of our postmodern,

post-Christian,

post-human nations,

progress to the nihil

of our spent civilization.

But cause and effect,

just and inexorable

law of the universe

no fix of science,

nor amenable god

can save from ourselves

the selves we have become —

At the end of history

to whom can we pray

but to the destroyer,

the liberator, the purifier?

In the beginning

the stars sang together

the cosmic harmony,

but Time, imperceptible

taker-away

of all that has been,

all that will be,

our heart-beat your drum,

our dance of life

your dance of death

in the crematorium,

our high-rise dreams,

Valhalla, Utopia,

Xanadu, Shangri-la, world revolution

Time has taken, and soon will be gone

Cambridge, Princeton and M.I.T.,

Nalanda, Athens and Alexandria

all for the holocaust

of civilization —

To whom shall we pray

when our vision has faded

but the world-destroyer,

the liberator, the purifier?

But great is the realm

of the world-creator,

the world-sustainer

from whom we come,

in whom we move

and have our being,

about us, within us

the wonders of wisdom,

the trees and the fountains,

the stars and the mountains,

all the children of joy,

the loved and the known,

the unknowable mystery

to whom we return

through the world-destroyer, —

Holy, holy

at the end of the world

the purging fire

of the purifier, the liberator!

Kathleen Raine

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theeverlastingshade · 1 month ago

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Stevie Wonder: Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart Tour

I was fortunately able to attend Stevie Wonder’s Detroit show during his 2024 tour, Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart. Stevie has long been a bucket list act whose work I’ve admired for most of my life, and someone who I never thought I’d get the chance to see, so it was a pretty monumental occasion to see this show. Stevie announced a brief run of dates this past fall pretty shortly before the tour began, and he wasn’t touring behind any new material save for a one off song called “Can We Heal Our Nation’s Broken Heart“ that seems like it could have been the impetus for the entire thing. Because of the quickly assembled tour, lack of new material aside from that very tellingly titled song, and general banter throughout the course of the evening, the tour seemed like something that Stevie felt compelled to throw together because he wanted to do something that would bring people joy (the way that he brings joy best) in what he suggested is a time where we’ve never been so divided culturally, politically, socially, etc. (he clearly doesn’t need the money). I never look at setlists beforehand, and aside from the several omnipresent hits that I assumed he just always plays at his shows, I didn’t really know what to expect going into this other than that I would be witnessing one of the most revered figures in the history of pop music. The show was easily among the best shows that I’ve ever seen, and transcended all the hype that I’ve heard about him as a live performer throughout the last several years with ease.

It was nothing short of remarkable to hear and see just how well Stevie could still sing and play piano at 74 years old. Outside of a few high notes just barely out of his reach, he more or less sounded exactly as agile and versatile as he does on his records, and he nailed each and every cadence. Stevie was naturally set up front and center of the stage, surrounded by a vast array of different keyboards and synths, and 2 or 3 different mics. His charisma shined through every moment of the show, whether it was his delight in introducing various songs or bandmates, or in his unrelenting optimism in spite of his concerns over our nation’s political divide, which was brought up repeatedly. At a view different moments throughout the show there were some technical difficulties that led to the occasional ripple of blistering feedback (hopefully inspiring some of the more open-minded and curious attendees to explore noise music afterwards), but Stevie was good-natured and humble throughout it all. One of the best moments of spontaneity happened right after the first instance of the feedback was resolved, shortly after telling the audience that they were “going to work it out” leading to an impromptu, but excellent performance of Stevie’s cover of The Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out”. Stevie’s energy was infectious, and it elevated a set of what could have perhaps felt a little over labored in another band of that size and caliber’s hands into the sort of joyous celebration that speaks to the magnetic immediacy of his strongest records.

The band that performed alongside Stevie Wonder had to have been the most elaborate group of musicians I’ve ever seen on a stage in any context. Between the multiple drummers/percussionists, guitarist, bassist, gospel choir, string section, brass ensemble, and additional keyboardist/synth players (some of whom left and returned to the stage for specific cuts) there were over 50 people in addition to Stevie at various points of the show. Now, with that many elements to mix at a venue like Little Caesar’s Arena it would seem like a given that the mixing was atrocious, but the sound was surprisingly crisp. Naturally, Stevie’s vocals and keys dominated, and I would’ve appreciated a little more juice in the low-end, but I was very pleasantly surprised with how clear the sound generally came through. The band itself was unsurprisingly extremely tight, and they performed with the sort of skill and chemistry that suggests that they've individually and collectively studied the Stevie Wonder songbook (in addition to the broader Motown songbook) all their lives. The aforementioned “We Can Work It Out” detour is just the tip of the iceberg that showcased how intuitively they respond to one another, and how deeply they know this stuff. There were change-ups and interstitials that emerged spontaneously throughout the course of various songs to help break up the flow and keep things fresh without ever quite going off the rails. Although there were moments that felt a little too overstuffed or were played a little too straight for my preference, the band supporting Stevie generally did a tremendous job of doing justice to his staggering body of work.

As with every other date on this tour, this show began with Stevie’s recently released “Can We Heal Our Nation’s Broken Heart”. “Can We Heal Our Nation’s Broken Heart” is his first new song in 4 years, and its fusion of swaggering hip-hop grooves, lush harpsichord, and a gorgeous harmonica solo laid under Stevie’s tender pleas sound surprisingly contemporary without coming off like a cloying bid for relevance, and they bode extremely well for any future music from him (he teased that it would be on his upcoming LP that he’s prepping for next spring, which would make it his first new LP in 20 years). Stevie’s always been one to keep his ears to the ground for inspiration, and I for one am very open to a Stevie Wonder album that’s thoroughly informed by hip-hop. Aside from that new addition to his setlist, things seemed to have progressed like business as usual, with choice cuts like “As If You Read My Mind”, “Higher Ground” and “Signed, Sealed and Delivered” flowing alongside covers from The Beatles, Four Tops, and Jimmie Davis. After the first 12 songs, Stevie left the stage, and the band jammed out a few covers and then concluded with the classic fusion jam “Contusion” before Stevie returned to the stage for the final half. It’s hard to say to what degree the sound issues influenced this choice, but with the set time being what it was and Stevie’s collection of must plays being as substantial as it is, the last leg of the set sprawled into a greatest hits medley that succinctly and seamlessly ripped through choice sections of “Sir Duke”, “I Wish”, “Isn’t She Lovely”, “As”, “Superstition” and “Another Star” with immaculate precision.

As the first and almost certainly last time that I’ll see Stevie Wonder live, his Detroit show on the Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart tour was basically everything that I could’ve hoped for and more. With any act of his caliber there’s always songs I’ll want to hear that will never make it into the setlist, and there’s always part of me that would love for him to take bolder risks and get weird, if not downright alienating, with it, but that’s not how Stevie operates, and I could never reasonably fault him for continuing to play the kinds of shows that he wants to play with the staggering degree of excellence that he performs them. It’s going to be interesting to hear how the political-climate informed impetus for the tour and “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart” end up informing any subsequent recording efforts, but regardless of whether that’s the last song he ever releases, and this is the last tour that he ever goes on, his legacy couldn’t possibly be any more secure. The overzealous sense of optimism and possibility that propel his records were in full force throughout that show, and there wasn’t a single performance that paled in comparison to its recorded version. To anyone with the means and opportunity to see Stevie perform live, I really can’t recommend it enough.

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