give this post a like for a starter friends.
there was no undoing what had happened to them, the world or fate or simply the harsh reality, was that it would stay with them for as long as they lived. but there was a means to overcome it. to survive and live despite the violence, the pain, and the horror of it all. she wasn't too far gone to come back to something—someone—more. it was hopelessly optimistic to believe it, and bucky knew better than most that believing it was sometimes harder than even living it, but if he could do it, then so could she.
❝ all we can do is try, ❞ he said, with the same heavy quiet that had wrapped itself around her voice. try, fail, fail again. he wasn't saying that it would be easy, but then, nothing in either of their lives had ever been easy.
bucky holstered the weapon he'd taken from her in his waistband, casting one last glance at the dead man at their feet. blood had pooled around his corpse. ❝ time to go. ❞ he said, voice louder now, something like conviction laced into his words. ❝ i know how to start. ❞
the breath she took felt foreign, like she had forgotten how to hold air in her lungs without bracing for the next strike. the world had been sharp edges for so long — missions & orders, blood & consequence — that the thought of something mundane felt almost laughable. help someone with their bags? walk someone across the street? the absurdity of it settled in her chest like a stone, heavy & unfamiliar. she had spent so long being shaped into something unrecognizable, & now he was telling her to rebuild herself with the smallest, gentlest things.
she wanted to scoff, to tell him she wasn’t built for kindness anymore, that her hands only knew how to take, how to destroy. but she swallowed the words. because she had seen it in him — something she had thought impossible. the way his presence no longer carried the same weight as before, how the ghosts still walked beside him but did not dictate his every step. & if he could be more than what they had made him, then maybe — just maybe — she could too.
her fingers curled, then flexed, as if testing the weight of an idea she had never dared to hold. ❝ & if it doesn’t work?❞ she asked, voice barely above a whisper. but beneath it, buried in the quiet, was the real question: & if i don’t deserve it?
@whumpgifathon | Day #25: ALT PROMPT "Begging" Upgrade (2018)
❝ then i'm not saying it right, ❞ bucky mumbled, because what he was asking her to do was the hardest thing he'd ever attempted. coming back from a lifetime of war, blood, pain, and violence was a constant work in progress and most of the time he felt as if he were performing for some invisible judge, jury, and executioner. ❝ it's not easy. it's the hardest thing you'll ever do. you'll fail, you'll try again, you'll fail again. ❞
bucky turned the mug of coffee absently in his hand. watched the steam rise from the surface and tried not to lose himself in the ordinariness of the motion. he didn't look at her when she asked about him, instead, his jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. truth be told, he tried not to think about it.
❝ i don't know, ❞ he said finally, ❝ but i believe it matters that we try. ❞ he nursed his jaw for several short seconds before he met her eye again, ❝ i don't have all the answers. i'm making this up as i go, but i do know this: you're not too far gone that you can't come back, kara. ❞
kara let the silence stretch between them, let it settle around her like a weighted blanket, unfamiliar but not unwelcome. no history. no past. just now. she traced the rim of her cup with a fingertip, watching the way the steam curled & disappeared. ❝you make it sound easy. ❞ the words weren’t an accusation, just an observation. she wondered if he really believed it — that the weight of the past could be shrugged off so cleanly, left outside like a coat too heavy for summer air.
her fingers flexed against the ceramic. ❝maybe it is. for some people. ❞ she glanced around, watching the other patrons — people who belonged here in a way she never could. the man at the counter flipping through a newspaper, the couple sharing a plate of fries, the waitress moving through it all like she had done this a thousand times before & would do it a thousand times again. ❝i don’t know if i can be one of them. ❞ but she wanted to be. what she wasn’t sure of was what she wanted from him. reassurance? permission? maybe just the chance to sit here & pretend, for a moment, that she belonged.
the waitress set a menu down in front of her with an absent smile, & kara nodded her thanks. the gesture felt small but significant. normal. she wrapped her hands around the warmth of the coffee cup, inhaling the scent of something burnt & bitter & real. she looked up at bucky again. ❝& what about you?❞ her voice was quieter now, but steady. ❝do you believe that? that we can just … exist?❞ her gaze shifted from him. ❝ do you think we can ever have … more? ❞
his pace didn't change, but he heard the shift in her tone—the careful attempt at something lighter, the way she tests the weight of conversation like someone checking for weak ground. he understood the instinct. the city moved around them, alive but distant, separate from them almost, but still, his mind catches on her question. did he like reading? before?
before is a loaded word. before the war? before hydra? before he'd become something other than himself. there's too much ground to cover, and he still wasn't entirely sure where he was supposed to land in it anymore. but he doesn't mind the question. it's not one people usually ask him.
❝ yeah. i did. ❞ he remembered that brooklyn in the '30's wasn't much for distractions when one was barely scraping by. books were an escape, something that didn't ask anything from you except time. he remembered carrying a copy of a tree falls in brooklyn while on the frontlines. ❝ life stories. coming of age. adventures. ❞
her smirk caught his eye, that teasing lilt in her voice pulled the corners of his mouth upward—just barely, but enough. ❝ i bet you wrote your own, ❞ he teased in return, ❝ none of the other poets could explain it like you. ❞
the city pressed in around them as they walked, the night thick with the scent of rain on pavement, the distant hum of traffic, the whisper of wind through alleyways. kara fell into step beside him, hands tucked into her coat, shoulders drawn inward against the cold. the weight of their last words lingered, heavy but not unbearable. survival, she had learned, was rarely about victory — just endurance. & endurance was easier when silence did not demand to be filled.
still, she broke it. ❝did you like reading?❞ her voice was quiet, more observation than idle talk. ❝before, i mean. ❞ books had been her refuge, history her constant. the past never betrayed the way people did — it only revealed itself, page by page. she wondered if he had something like that, something to tether him before the world made him a ghost of himself.
she glanced sideways, a smirk curling at the edge of her mouth. ❝something tells me you weren’t the poetry type. ❞ a pause, then something almost teasing, almost warm. ❝or maybe you were. brooding soldier with a book of sonnets tucked into his jacket. wouldn’t be the strangest thing i’ve seen. ❞ the corner of her mouth twitched, the words easier, lighter. maybe not normal — but something close enough.
snowfall slicked the rooftops and turned the streets below into a dull smear of neon reflections and black ice. his target—allison daws, a former operative now in bed with the enemy—had hunkered down in hells kitchen, hoping to disappear. a standard job. he'd done it a hundred times, but something felt . . . wrong.
it was too quiet. no patrols, no sentries. just the low hum of a faulty streetlight and the distant wail of a siren that never got closer. the soldier stared down his scope, watching the safehouse window where the blinds had been pulled for movement. all it would take is for his target to pass by. one quick, clean shot and it would all be over.
a whisper of movement behind him, too smooth for a mercenary and too measured for a common killer. the soldier turned quickly, primed to defend. // @kenosky , a semi - plotted starter .
altered carbon sentence starters. episode one && two. feel free to change pronouns and details if necessary !!
❝ don’t trust anything. ❞
❝ let experience wash over you. ❞
❝ expect nothing. only then can you be prepared for anything. ❞
❝ who cares? we’re getting paid. ❞
❝ have you always been such an asshole? ❞
❝ the only way you’ll learn is by watching, so watch. ❞
❝ you’ll be fine. ❞
❝ i think i’m gonna be sick. ❞
❝ what the fuck? is that normal? ❞
❝ you almost fucking killed me, man. ❞
❝ make them remember. ❞
❝ you had to go be a dick. ❞
❝ some people just need killing. ❞
❝ that’s a little vague. ❞
❝ where did you get this? ❞
❝ some things can’t be bought. ❞
❝ no one has that kind of power. ❞
❝ stop obsessing. ❞
❝ there’s nothing to be afraid of. ❞
❝ who’s fucking afraid? i’m not afraid. ❞
❝ i need to show you something. ❞
❝ what’s your excuse? ❞
❝ are you a moron or just an asshole? ❞
❝ i just want one thing to go right today. ❞
❝ you know. it’s… it’s about the details. ❞
❝ people like you are still stupid. ❞
❝ i was wrong about you, [name]. ❞
❝ i don’t know how to be in this world without you. ❞
❝ there’s more here than you’re willing to see. ❞
❝ never. you hear me? not ever. ❞
❝ no matter how tranquil the world seems, peace doesn’t last long. ❞
❝ she’s not our problem. ❞
❝ war is the only thing we really understand. ❞
❝ ah, for fuck’s sake. ❞
❝ that’s disappointing. ❞
❝ let me know if [name] goes anywhere. ❞
❝ don’t thank me. just stop. ❞
❝ i’m sure he’ll understand. ❞
❝ how tasteful. ❞
❝ you want answers, they come with questions attached. ❞
❝ all this trust is just making me tear up. ❞
❝ don’t threaten me again. ❞
❝ they’re not like us, [name]. ❞
❝ i was worried. ❞
❝ sooner or later, somebody’s gonna have to tell her the truth. ❞
❝ i’ll never see her again, not even to say goodbye. ❞
❝ do you know what that’s like? ❞
❝ violence is almost always, in one way or another, personal. ❞
❝ well, you didn’t answer. ❞
❝ i got drunk to celebrate. ❞
❝ technology advances. but humans don’t. ❞
❝ what the hell is wrong with you? ❞
❝ you gotta get out more, [name]. ❞
❝ you’re just gonna leave? ❞
❝ i thought it would give me a moment of peace. ❞
❝ i should’ve known better. ❞
❝ you’re not supposed to have that. ❞
❝ me and [name] have been best friend forever. ❞
❝ i’m devastated. ❞
❝ you’re better off alone. ❞
❝ this is my place. i’m staying. ❞
❝ if it was me, what would you do? ❞
❝ you’re worth more than that. ❞
❝ you can’t possibly think i’m that stupid. ❞
❝ i’m too tired to do the paperwork. ❞
❝ you wanna know why? because i’m capable of almost anything. ❞
❝ when i get there, i’ll let you know. ❞
❝ i’ll be right next to you. ❞
❝ how about, fuck no? ❞
❝ there’s someone waiting for you. ❞
❝ i’m afraid i had no choice in the matter. ❞
❝ sometimes, complexity can be exhausting. ❞
❝ you fascinate me. ❞
❝ you’re everything this world has lost. ❞
❝ why would i be nervous? ❞
❝ i’ve done terrible things. ❞
❝ please forgive me. ❞
❝ sometimes, surrender can be as savage as any attack. ❞
he didn't know her well enough to object on whether or not she was always right, but he was relatively certain that she was right about this. he exhaled slowly, a habit more than anything else and while his expression remained carefully neutral, it was clear that his mind was racing, running through scenarios and weighting the risks against necessity.
❝ that's not going to work, ❞ bucky said, voice firm, ❝ i can't clear the building without setting off every alarm they've got. the second i start moving people, someone's gonna notice. cameras, guards, hell—just one wrong move and we're screwed before you even get to the bomb. ❞
it was an ugly thing to realise that killing people was a hell of a lot easier than saving them. ❝ we need a diversion. something to pull their attention, force them to readjust. like a better target. ❞
Amelia knew that she could talk for England, bouncing off facts and conclusions that sprawled into her head as if it were nothing, the odd looks that she often got, yet here Bucky was looking at her as if she were normal. "I'm always right" Amelia responded, for she had calculated every aspect inside of her mind. "..If we don't stop this from happening, then a lot of people are going to get hurt, and if I call my uncle and make it a national emergency.. he will be too slow, too many protocols and hurdles to get over" Amelia paused.
"we are going to have to do this ourselves..we don't have a choice" She could hear it now in the back of her head, Amelia Jessica Holmes you are reckless! The sound of John Watson's voice often invaded her mind, to try and give her some sense of simple reason. "I have dealt with people like this before, we will have to tread carefully and not be seen. Once I'm in there, I can disarm the bomb and you can help get everyone out. I suspect from that point, we will have, five minutes before they notice that something has gone wrong and probably ten minutes to truly be out of the building before hell breaks loose" She gave a small cock of her head, a slight smirk formed across her lips. "But that's always the fun of it, isn't it?"
CARRD PROMPTS HEADCANONS
#WINTRB0RN : BARNES , B.UCKY . independent b.ucky b.arnes roleplay account, mcu based / 616 inspiration, before interacting please read divergences page here . formerly found at @ghststry & @rprgrmmd-a ( lost login details ) . dead dove, do not eat . h.ydra t.rash p.arty dni .
ᵃⁿᵈ ⁱ ʷᵃˢ ᵗʳᵃᵖᵖᵉᵈ. ⁱ ᵃˡᵒⁿᵉ ʰᵃᵈ ⁿᵒ ᵇᵒᵈʸ.ⁿᵒ ˢᵉⁿˢᵉˢ. ⁿᵒ ᶠᵉᵉˡⁱⁿᵍˢ. [ . . . ] ᶠᵒʳ ᴵ ᵃᵐ ᵃᵐ. ᴵ ᵃᵐ.
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