assorted whimsical sundries

but no. is not. the SAME.

is there another character with the sexy murder strut of the Winter Soldier. no. is there another character with such a cool and badass and iconic design who is inhabited with such phsyicality and swagger. NO. THERES NOT. is there another character whose appearance is framed with such Paralyzing dread like a looming revenant or horror movie monster whose motif in the score is an eerie shrilling created by stretching and warping the sound of human screams into something metallic and mechanical??? and whose combat gear includes a chest harness and leather straps and a muzzle-like mask hinting at his characterization as a violent animal in need of domination and control??? and who rips cars to pieces and throws a guy into a jet engine???

he's the mutilated undead corpse of a human being whose personhood and identity have been brutally torn and scraped out of what's left of his body and he has an adorable emo pout and the biggest wettest saddest eyes in existence because he is so confused about everything except how to kill large numbers of people incredibly violently

Bucky Barnes is The poor little meow meow. No one does it like him. No one can do it like him. No one will EVER do it like him.

The first time, it ends up cuffing the would-be attackers and hijacking their aircraft. The second time, it appears to save a train and a boat, then dip out of the situation—nobody witnesses what it does to the B-E team at the underwater dock.

In chapter 13, Sofi suggests that Murderbot can "do the thing"—but she's referring to it being able to hack a transit system that's locked to hotel residents so they can hitch a ride. She knows what "do the thing" means! It means Go Be A SecUnit!

From Murderbot's perspective, Murderbot is a deadly killing machine, deployed for violence. From Sofi's perspective, Murderbot is a superspy, a MacGyver or a James Bond, or maybe the team from Leverage or Oceans 12—a person who can do anything inside or outside the bounds of the law!

"A consummation greatly desired," Jeeves agreed.

"The forces of darkness vanquished, the rightful king upon his throne, and all that. And, even more importantly, Tuppy Glossop disengaged from that horsy female and returned to the bosom of my cousin Angela."

"Indeed, sir."

"Rather a shock running into the Reverend Aubry Upjohn riding that fell beast, what?"

"I though you displayed great alacrity in relocating to that ditch in the nick of time, sir."

Far below us, the molten lava did a rather spirited impersonation of boiling soup. I mopped the p. off the b. with a handkerchief I'd improvised from an orc loincloth. I had been to some deuced uncomfortable country estates in my time, don't you know, but at least there one had been able to toddle downstairs and pour oneself a quick W. and S. as needed to stiffen the sinews. Galadriel's Buck-U-Uppo was excellent at vitalizing the limbs to forge on the last dreadful mile and all that, but it lacked the comfort that speaks to the soul.

I contemplated the glowing river. "Redirecting the army of Aunts to that Isengard place was a stroke of brilliance, I thought."

"You are too kind, sir."

"Still, all things must end, as they say. Travel is broadening to the mind and all, but it is past time to attend the call of heart and home. Among other considerations, I think something took residence inside this mithril shirt somewhere around the Morgul Vale and has been wandering about biting hither and thither ever since, and I am filled with the desire to strip it off and do battle with the blighted thing."

"Understandable, sir."

"I heard rather a good one the other day: Sing hey! for the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away! -and by Jove if I don't think they were on to something, Jeeves."

"It is undeniably felicitous to be surrounded by the comforts of home," he assented, and yet I couldn't escape a certain sense of firmness about his gaze.

I sighed, for I knew what he wanted. Well, I mean, I'm all for taking a firm stance and not being trodden on in one's own home and all, but as far as rallying around to save the young master goes, none could have rallied more greatly than Jeeves. If a little firmness was the price I had to pay, well, so be it.

Slowly I undid the old school tie from around my neck. It was harder work than one would have thought; as if it could hear what was rattling around in the old brain, the ring that was threaded on it put in a last surge of effort in the gleaming and enticement department, filling my mind with heady visions: Freddie Widgeon gnashing his teeth as I sank yet another dart into the bullseye, Aunt Agatha wreathed in tears and begging my forgiveness for ever having misjudged me, Jeeves gazing admiringly as I displayed my newest waistcoat for his edification…

It was the last that broke the spell. Cursed objects of all-consuming power were all well and good in their sphere, but there were limits, don't you know? And yet I hesitated. "You don't think I could slip it on and just have a quick total domination of the world before I toddle around to the Drones for a stiff one?"

Jeeves gave a gentle cough of reproof. "I think you will find it for the best, sir."

It was a wrench, but one could not deny the man had earned it. With a heavy hand, I held the ring out to him. "Take it, then. You will know what do with it, I'm sure."

He took it from me with the sort of shimmer that showed he was exceptionally gratified. "Thank you, sir."

I watched as the ring fell from his hand into the depths below. It hit the lava and rested there for a moment before slowly sinking beneath the glowing surface, and as they caught fire I almost felt that the Old Etonian colors glowed brighter in approval. That Wooster, they seemed to say: not much in the brains department, but he gets the job done.

Outside, there came a hideous wailing as of something ages old abruptly losing the power which bound it to this mortal plain and all that, which I took as our signal to leg it down the nearest drainpipe before things got sticky. The road goes ever on and on, what? Yet I paused there, at the end of all things, because some things have to be said.

Before Princess Zelda, there was Pirate Queen Tetra!

The bonus links animatic I’ve been wanting to do ever since I read part 2 of Bonding Exercise from Moments Between by ezdot!