#AI learning myth

[zentarablog]

10 Common Myths About Artificial Intelligence Debunked

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the most transformative technologies of our time. It powers the recommendation engines that suggest what we should watch, helps doctors diagnose diseases, and even pilots cars. Yet, for all its growing ubiquity, AI remains widely misunderstood. The public discourse is rife with sensationalism, oscillating between utopian promises of a work-free…

[princessofghosts-posts]

Y'all what do you mean that people actually use AI to write fanfics???? I thought we were joking about it and it was like a myth or something,but it's fucking real-

I had a crash out already for the drawings and how AI just destroy those and use the ones already on the web and just plagiarizes them,and now the writings too??? Wtf-

Humans are we for real???

If you can't write/draw something that's fine,don't do that and let someone else at it. If you really want to,just learn how,but don't use a fucking computer to write emotions or draw feelings.

Artificial Intelligences have no place in Creative Fields,period.

[themanagementatheneum]

Blog No. 57 - Celebrating Republic Day: Lessons in Leadership and Governance from India’s Constitution

Welcome to The Management Atheneum, Blog No. 57!

Happy Republic Day 🇮🇳

Today, I reflect on the lessons in leadership and governance from India’s Constitution in my latest blog post, which takes a slightly different approach than my usual content.

I’d love to hear your thoughts as well, so please share your insights in the comments!

[felixwylde]

The Echo Chamber

I’ll never forget the night I fired up that hulking machine—steel panels glowing like a spaceship altar, wires snaking everywhere, humming like it was alive. The lab smelled like burnt toast and old books. I slapped my palm on the frosty screen, felt it shudder awake, and muttered, “Show me the beginning.”The room flickered. Suddenly, I was staring at the almost-people. Small, crouched figures…

[rsayoub]

🚨 Stop Believing the AI Hype, that’s the title of my latest conversation on the Localization Fireside Chat with none other than @Dr. Sidney Shapiro, Assistant Professor at the @Dillon School of Business, University of Lethbridge. We dive deep into what AI can actually do, and more importantly, what it can’t. From vibe coders and synthetic data to the real-world consequences of over-trusting black-box models, this episode is packed with insights for anyone navigating the fast-moving AI space. 🧠 Dr. Shapiro brings an academic lens and real-world practicality to an often-hyped conversation. If you're building, deploying, or just curious about AI, this is a must-read. 🎥 catch the full interview on YouTube: 👉 https://youtu.be/wsqN0964neM Would love your thoughts, are we putting too much faith in AI? #LocalizationFiresideChat #AIethics #DataScience #AIstrategy #GenerativeAI #MachineLearning #CanadianTech #HigherEd #Localization #TranslationTechnology #Podcast

[rajuradhakrishnan]

Blog No. 56 - Unlock Your Potential with Our Exciting New Services!

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new Services page, designed specifically to cater to your needs and help you achieve your goals! At The Management Atheneum, we understand that navigating the complexities of personal and professional growth can be challenging. That’s why we’ve curated a range of services tailored to empower you on your journey. Our Services page features…

[z2z-gaming-and-random-art-ai]

Back Cover to AI Art S2E1 - Eye of the Beholder III Assault on Myth Drannor

Older video games were notorious for back cover descriptions that have nothing to do with the game so let's see what a text-to-image generator makes of these descriptions. Season 2 sees an increase in art creations for each game up from 1 in the first season to 6 for the second season. 

1. Intro - 00:00 

2. Back Cover and Text Description - 00:10 

3. Creation 1 - 00:30 

4. Creation 2 - 00:50 

5. Creation 3 - 01:10 

6. Creation 4 - 01:30 

7. Creation 5 - 01:50 

8. Creation 6 - 02:10 

9. Outro - 02:30 

Eye of the Beholder III Assault on Myth Drannor is the third entry in the Eye of the Beholder series of fantasy RPG games developed by Strategic Simulations. Eye of the Beholder III Assault on Myth Drannor was released for DOS and PC-98 in 1993 and 1994 respectively. 

The game has seen re-releases over the years in various collections the most recent of these was in 2023 for Windows as a part of the Dungeons & Dragons Classics release. 

For more Back Cover to AI Art videos check out these playlists 

Season 1 of Back Cover to AI Art 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CGhd82prEQGWAVxY3wuQlx3 

Season 2 of Back Cover to AI Art 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CEdLNgql_n-7b20wZwo_yAD

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

what’s the story about the generative power model and water consumption? /gen

There's this myth going around about generative AI consuming truly ridiculous amount of power and water. You'll see people say shit like "generating one image is like just pouring a whole cup of water out into the Sahara!" and bullshit like that, and it's just... not true. The actual truth is that supercomputers, which do a lot of stuff, use a lot of power, and at one point someone released an estimate of how much power some supercomputers were using and people went "oh, that supercomputer must only do AI! All generative AI uses this much power!" and then just... made shit up re: how making an image sucks up a huge chunk of the power grid or something. Which makes no sense because I'm given to understand that many of these models can run on your home computer. (I don't use them so I don't know the details, but I'm told by users that you can download them and generate images locally.) Using these models uses far less power than, say, online gaming. Or using Tumblr. But nobody ever talks about how evil those things are because of their power generation. I wonder why.

To be clear, I don't like generative AI. I'm sure it's got uses in research and stuff but on the consumer side, every effect I've seen of it is bad. Its implementation in products that I use has always made those products worse. The books it writes and flood the market with are incoherent nonsense at best and dangerous at worst (let's not forget that mushroom foraging guide). It's turned the usability of search engines from "rapidly declining, but still usable if you can get past the ads" into "almost one hundred per cent useless now, actually not worth the effort to de-bullshittify your search results", especially if you're looking for images. It's a tool for doing bullshit that people were already doing much easier and faster, thus massively increasing the amount of bullshit. The only consumer-useful uses I've seen of it as a consumer are niche art projects, usually projects that explore the limits of the tool itself like that one poetry book or the Infinite Art Machine; overall I'd say its impact at the Casual Random Person (me) level has been overwhelmingly negative. Also, the fact that so much AI turns out to be underpaid people in a warehouse in some country with no minimum wage and terrible labour protections is... not great. And the fact that it's often used as an excuse to try to find ways to underpay professionals ("you don't have to write it, just clean up what the AI came up with!") is also not great.

But there are real labour and product quality concerns with generative AI, and there's hysterical bullshit. And the whole "AI is magically destroying the planet via climate change but my four hour twitch streaming sesh isn't" thing is hysterical bullshit. The instant I see somebody make this stupid claim I put them in the same mental bucket as somebody complaining about AI not being "real art" -- a hatemobber hopping on the hype train of a new thing to hate and feel like an enlightened activist about when they haven't bothered to learn a fucking thing about the issue. And I just count my blessings that they fell in with this group instead of becoming a flat earther or something.

[qa-programmer]

AI Myths Vs Reality : Distinguishing facts from fiction

Artificial Intelligence is the latest Buzzword. With the invention of OpenAI’s in-house tool ChatGPT-The whole world is now riding the AI hype cycle. Tech biggies like Google and Microsoft also took part in fueling the hype by introducing Bard and Bing.AI is currently the most trending topic. From software development to mobile apps to cloud and IOT based services-AI is everywhere. It has received both hype and anti-hype. Artificial Intelligence has a fan group promoting grand expectations and a hate club spreading fear-inducing myths like it’s going to destroy education, take over jobs and eventually kill the man kind. Let’s dive into AI world and debunk these myths so that these misconceptions about AI doesn’t stop world from having a realistic, practical, logical understanding of Artificial Intelligence and it’s capability.

AI is not new!!

The world might fancy AI now but it has been in the game since a long time. It has been that silent dark horse in our lives since forever. All of us heard of Alexa and Siri and we know it very well that almost every household has used these technologies. After all they are conversational AI chatbots which are built and programmed to respond to questions. Natural Language Processing has been the huge force behind these AI Assistants.

Our favorites like Netflix, Instagram and Google-Literally every application today is designed to function based on machine learning-algorithms. So, Artificial Intelligence is definitely not a new thing and it’s not here to destroy us.

With the progression in advancements and trends-We have seen Cognitive AI taking over the world and techies deploying it into their work structure to make their jobs easy. But it’s also laying road for misperceptions that AI replaces humans and so on.

Myths

Myth : AI replaces humans

Reality : Definitely not.AI should augment human intelligence, not replace it. Machine intelligence is not equal to human intelligence. The world Artificial Intelligence itself says that it is artificial which means trained/programmed. Machines can never comprehend like humans. So this sets the record straight that AI is never going to replace humans

Myth : AI is unsafe and dangerous

Reality : A lot of countries are introducing regulations and guidelines so that AI doesn’t seem unsafe. Organizations and governments are promoting ways to ensure AI safety and responsible usage of it is becoming a priority.

Myth : AI is super expensive

Reality : AI tools are becoming highly  affordable and accessible. Most of the AI platforms today have free subscriptions which small businesses or common individuals can take advantage of and make most of it.

Premium plans fall into reasonable pricing category making it easy for businesses to have access for some of the best, high-end features.

Myth : AI can think like humans and understands full spectrum of human language

Reality : Although AI imitates human behavior, it still lacks comprehension and true emotions. Thus AI cannot think exactly like humans because at the end of the day it’s a machine. The authentic intelligence that’s seen in humans cannot be imitated by Artificial Intelligence.

It fails to understand dialects and regional slangs which leads to misinterpretation

Myth : AI is here to replace human jobs

Reality : Never in a million years, AI can replace human jobs. It is great at automating tasks and making our jobs easy but it still lacks accuracy and relevancy sometimes.

Machine Intelligence compliments human work rather than replacing it. It can be a good assistant performing repetitive tasks making room for humans to concentrate more on creative and social tasks. It can take away the burden of doing data-driven or ordinary tasks by creating space for humans to level up their productivity which eventually makes their jobs easy.

Myth : AI is magic and it’s genius

Reality : AI might exhibit attributes that seem like magic but it’s just math.AI is real. People might think it’s a wonder but programmers and intellectual minds can understand that it’s just a trained model that impersonates human behavior and performs tasks based on the infused data.

AI is no genius. Even tools like ChatGPT produce results that are irrelevant and outdated. It requires continuous human involvement and constant upgrades to improve it’s performance.

Myth : AI is only for techies or deep intelligent minds

Reality : You don’t have to be a  graduate in science or an expert in technology to use AI. Generative AI can be used by anyone. Thanks to NLP and natural language interfaces which make it dead easy to access and use AI/Computational Intelligence.

ChatGPT is a perfect example. It can be used by giving simple prompts in human language.

Myth : AI is  unethical

Reality : Lets come out of this whole “AI is out to get us” angle. There is a need for companies and organizations to embrace AI. There is no lie in the statement “AI is not going anywhere”. So instead of believing that AI is unethical and considering it as a cheat code. Companies has to come up with policies and rules that makes the staff leverage AI solutions to improve employee productivity and performance. Of course there’s possibility for misuse but companies should know where to draw the line.

Myth : AI can leverage businesses alone

Reality : It is impossible for AI or any machine to improve outcomes and leverage businesses alone. This is where prompt engineering comes into picture.AI needs inputs and human involvement. Employees need to understand AI deeply so that they implement it in the workflows and applications. Generative AI can be a powerful factor in growing your business if it combines with human workforce.

And AI/automation will not be able to make decisions without human inputs. With continuous evolution in data training methods and algorithms advancements, AI’s ability to predict human needs will improve in future but it has to reach it’s maximum threshold to achieve this outcome.

Myth : AI will take over world in future

Reality : Well it might happen in a science fiction novel people love to read or in those main stream movies made in Hollywood. But the possibility for it to happen in real life is zero.AI has narrow intelligence and they will not be able to make decisions without human intervention.

So AI cannot rule the world through existing systems since it’s not trained on leading a country or hacking into security systems.

In conclusion these myths about AI might seem believable, but Its important to separate facts from myths. People need to be well aware of things AI can and cannot perform. Anyone who’s open to use AI should know it’s capabilities, limitations and not fall into the trap of misperceptions.AI is here to stay. We humans need to embrace it and use it to improve various aspects of our lives.

[airosuiren]

𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱’𝔰 𝔏𝔢𝔣𝔱 𝔚𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔖𝔢𝔢 𝔜𝔬𝔲

A/N: This part right here? This is where the story shifts from pain to power. Where [Y/N] stops chasing apologies—and starts building empires. This isn’t about them "realizing your worth." It’s about you realizing you never needed their permission in the first place. The applause is hollow. The recognition comes too late. And our girl? She doesn’t reach back. She rises. Get ready to watch them mourn the ghost they made—and realize too late that survival looks a lot like greatness.

Thank You @arislia for this Idea!

@bunniotomia, I AM SORRY FOR NOT TAGGING YOU, ILY.

𝔓𝔞𝔯𝔱 1, 𝔓𝔞𝔯𝔱 2

The moment the League put their survival in your hands, something shifted. Not in them. In you.

You felt it when Bruce didn’t interrupt you. When Diana called your analysis “brutal and brilliant.” When Clark told you he trusted your judgment more than the AI system they'd built.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to listen. Wanted your insight, your damage control, your vision.

Funny how people only see you when you become useful.

The plan worked. Your strategy went live—waves of disinformation, fake leaks, public interviews. You weaponized truth like a scalpel. You peeled back the hysteria and made it bleed your version of the story.

And it worked.

Gotham didn’t burn. The League wasn’t outed. The world stayed intact.

But nothing in you celebrated.

Because the price wasn’t paid by the League. It was paid by the kid who sat at the edge of the Batcave years ago, hoping for a word. A nod. A chance.

They gave you credit now. Applause. Praise.

Too late. It was always too late.

Tim said he was sorry. Dick offered to reconnect. Damian looked like he wanted to ask how you’d done it all—but couldn’t bring himself to.

And Bruce?

He said, “You did good.”

You wanted to laugh.

You did great. You saved their world. And it still felt hollow.

Because part of you was still in that Manor, starving for warmth. Part of you still remembered the cold shoulder, the locked door, the day Alfred stopped checking if you came down for breakfast.

The world could sing your name. The League could hand you titles, roles, endless offers.

It didn’t matter.

Because you weren’t theirs anymore.

You walked away.

From Gotham. From the Manor. From the past.

You accepted the Kents’ invitation. Helped expand the Queens’ foundation. Took over policy initiatives that reshaped cities.

People called you a visionary.

But you were still just a kid who survived being forgotten.

And that pain? It never leaves. It just sharpens you. Refines you. Burns everything soft out of you until all that’s left is brilliance and bite.

You didn’t need them to love you.

You learned how to do that yourself.

And that?

That was the scariest thing they ever saw.

EPILOGUE (DARKER VERSION): The Ghost They Built

Years passed.

You didn’t return for funerals. Or birthdays. Or anniversaries. You sent flowers once—anonymous. Bruce knew it was you. So did Alfred.

You never answered their calls.

They watched your life unfold through screens. News cycles. Feature articles. TED Talks and awards and photos of you shaking hands with world leaders.

You were a household name. A force. Gotham’s own myth—not for crime, not for tragedy. For power.

Sometimes, Bruce would sit alone in the cave and reread your strategy dossier. The one that saved them all. The one they never framed or displayed.

Sometimes, Damian would stare too long at a photo of you and quickly look away.

And sometimes, Alfred would make tea for two. Out of habit.

But you? You stopped looking back.

Because ghosts don’t haunt the places they escaped.

They haunt the people who let them die there.

𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔲𝔰 (𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓭)

(Based on this prompt link)

You stayed.

You stayed in the Manor even when it rotted you from the inside out. You stayed on patrol even when they benched you emotionally. You trained harder. Longer. Not because you were loved. Because you were angry.

Angry that no one cared. Angry that you had to prove you were worth breathing their air.

You became a ghost in your own home. A silent weapon in the background. They forgot you were there—until they needed a soldier.

And when the new threat surfaced—a dark coalition of villains—Justice League level—you fought beside them. Bleeding for them. Dying for them in slow, unnoticed ways.

And they didn’t even notice when you were missing.

It wasn’t even a complicated plan.

A misstep. A call that went unanswered. An empty alley. A chloroform cloth and no backup.

The "League of Villains" (or whatever flashy name they called themselves) didn't want you because you were powerful.

They wanted you because you were forgotten.

Because what better bait than the child no one even remembered was missing?

It played on every Justice League screen.

Static. Then—clarity.

You tied to a chair. Wrists shredded against restraints. Bombs wired around you like a grotesque necklace. Mouth taped. Muzzle strapped tight.

Blood dried at your temple. Your body slumped but alive. Barely.

The Joker stood behind you—grinning like a nightmare.

He pointed the camera down, zooming in on your eyes.

Eyes that looked too much like Martha Wayne’s.

"Look familiar, Batsy?" he crooned, fingers digging into your cheeks like a puppeteer. "Missed one of your little ducklings. Tsk, tsk. Family man, my ass."

He laughed.

Then leaned in closer to your face.

"They don't even remember you're missing, do they?"

You blinked. Once. Twice.

And in that moment? Everyone watching saw it.

The brokenness. The hollow, aching scream you couldn't make.

They tried.

Diana. Clark. Barry. Bruce.

Every satellite. Every lead.

Too late.

Always too late.

The last thing you saw was the red digital countdown reflected in Joker’s laughing eyes.

The last thing they saw was you— looking directly into the camera.

Unblinking. Silent. Waiting.

Boom.

The screen went dark.

There was no body to bury. No last words. No goodbyes.

Just ashes. And guilt that swallowed them whole.

They forgot you when you were alive.

They remembered you only when you were dust.

You didn’t haunt Gotham’s alleys.

You haunted them.

You became the silence between their victories. The guilt behind their smiles. The graveyard stitched into every mission they survived.

You were their second Jason.

But this time?

There would be no resurrection.

𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓴'𝓼 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷

The conference room smelled like panic and sweat.

The Justice League stared at the blackened monitor—the final static-flicker of the explosion still burned into the air like a brand.

The chair she had been strapped to was gone. She was gone.

And Clark Kent—the beacon of hope, the man who once believed in second chances, in forgiveness, in the good in everyone— stood like a storm barely contained.

His fists clenched. The windows trembled. The concrete under his boots spiderwebbed with cracks.

And no one spoke.

Because they knew. They knew he had warned them.

Two weeks ago.

"Where’s [Y/N]?" Clark’s voice had been calm then. Mild concern.

Bruce hadn’t even looked up from his work.

"Fine. Busy," he muttered.

Clark pressed. "I haven’t heard her on comms. Haven’t seen her in patrol rotations."

"Training elsewhere," Bruce clipped back. "Focus on the real threat."

Clark’s jaw tightened. He looked to Diana. To Oliver. To anyone.

But no one moved.

And Clark? He let it go. Because he thought—surely—they would notice if something was wrong.

Surely they loved her enough.

Now.

Clark turned, slow and deliberate, facing the Bat.

"You left her," he said, voice low and dangerous.

Bruce stood silent, fists tight at his sides.

"You forgot her," Clark growled. "You forgot your daughter."

His hands slammed the table. The entire room shook.

"Superman—" Diana started.

"No." His eyes burned. Blue ice. Wild rage. "Don’t ‘Superman’ me."

He pointed at Bruce.

"You left Jason to die. And now you've done it again."

Bruce's mouth tightened. He said nothing.

"And you," Clark spun to the others, his voice cracking with fury. "All of you—you let it happen."

No one spoke. No one could.

Because there wasn’t a single excuse in the world that could erase the truth.

Later, Clark would stand alone at the remnants of the transmission room.

The place smelled like burnt ozone. It smelled like regret.

He knelt—slowly, reverently—at the last place she had been seen alive.

And in the quiet, he whispered the only words he had left:

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have fought harder."

But the dead don't hear apologies.

And Superman— Superman would never forgive himself.

Not for this. Not for her.

Not ever.

A/N: This was never about being chosen. This was never about being welcomed back. This was about surviving what they did. About becoming something so sharp, so brilliant, so unstoppable — they could only watch from the outside. They didn’t lose you when you walked away. They lost you the day they made you feel like you had to earn your place at all. You didn’t become a ghost because you wanted to be feared. You became a ghost because they left you no other way to live. And now? Now you are the silence after the storm. The blade they forgot they forged. You are what they buried — And what will outlast them all.

—Your still-proud, still-scorched, always-rising author 🖤🔥

Taglist: @feral-childs-word, @trashlanternfish360, @astro-girly1, @suneaterscape, @thatcatladywrites, @arislia, @kittzu, @ottjhe, @tinybrie, @wpdarlingpan, @ryuushou, @simpingpandas, @lettucel0ver, @moonxmio, @kneelforloki, @sirenetheblogger, @xzmickeyzx, @ironsaladwitch, @lithiumval, @starsdotalk, @fortunatelydifferentqueen, @ocean-mochi

Let me know if I missed someone!

[flygutzz]

Are we gonna get the full info about Mickey/Oswald/Felix??

Ya! In our (me and @nortsauce) version:

Mickey is basically a character made to vent our frustrations with the animation industry today. He's a business tycoon that is struggling to keep his head up at the moment. He's working with CORP (a deity made to represent AI) to bring himself back to fame. The rest of his gang - Minnie, Goofy, Donald, etc - have left due to his desire for fame and power over the industry.

Oswald is a depressed single father due to losing his wife, Ortensia, to the blot (the ink illness). He is Mickeys brother but their relationship is very strained due to Mickey being less than sympathetic as he needs Oswald's help but his brother is still in mourning.

Felix is a famed adventurer that refuses to stay in one place for long. However due to the Blot, his job has become much more dangerous and difficult making it hard for him to make his own profit, thus he starts working for Mickey to retrieve the Ink Machine pieces.

We're (me and @nortsauce) are starting our own blog soon! So if you'd like to learn more about them, feel free to send over an ask on @myth-of-the-machine!

Drawn by @nortsauce ^^^

[themanagementatheneum]

Blog No. 70 - The Best Projects Aren’t Just About Plans - They’re About People

We have all seen meticulously crafted Gantt charts, risk registers, and milestone trackers. But the truth is, no project succeeds on process alone. The difference between a good project and a great one? People. We all know the fundamentals of project management – timelines, budgets, and deliverables. But the projects that truly stand out? They are the ones where the team feels valued,…

[twistedteatime]

Super Soldier Theater: Jaws

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader, Steve Rogers x Reader, Stucky x Reader. It's not specific. No pronouns assigned to Reader past "you".

Summary: Bucky Barnes missed out on a lot while being controlled by HYDRA. Steve Rogers missed out on even more being frozen in ice. Since Sam has made it his mission to update them on music, you decide that it's your job to update them on what they've missed out on in cinema.

Chapter Summary: The education of Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers on movies they missed out on continues. This time they bring it on themselves and learn no one is exempt and why a bigger boat is needed. They also learn about MythBusters.

Word Count: 8K

Warnings: Mild Language (Steve will deal), All the standard warnings that come with a movie about a giant shark eating people, Bucky and Steve being very upset about what people the shark does and does not eat, shark facts, shark myths, discussion of the USS Indianapolis, possibly traumatizing two PTSD suffering WWII vets more than they already are, other stuff I probably forgot.

A/N: It took me forever to find that gif. Poll for the next movie is at the end. If you notice typos along the line of he instead of the or is instead of his, like a word out of place. It's my keyboard. I do not support my work being put into AI in any fashion.

Ao3 Link: Super Soldier Theater: Jaws

Series Masterlist🍿MASTER Masterlist

Previous Movie: Jurassic Park Next Movie: The Little Mermaid (1989)

You debated for a few days over what movie to show Steve and Bucky next. The options were endless but ultimately they made the decision for you. Well, Steve did.

“Where does ‘We’re gonna need a bigger boat’ come from?” he asked as he walked into the living room with Bucky, the ex-assassin in his new black “Jurassic Park” T-shirt.

You looked at Steve. Then you realized he was serious. Well, that settled that. If he was gonna ask, you were gonna show.

“Are you afraid of water?” you asked and both he and Bucky looked at each other then looked at you.

“No.” They both answered.

“The ocean?”

“Well, I’m not…really fond of crashing into it.” Steve said and you nodded, “Why?”

“Go get the snacks. We’re watching Jaws tonight.” You answered and Bucky thought for a moment.

“Isn’t that the man-eating shark movie Spielberg directed?” he asked and you nodded.

“Yep.”

Several minutes later you were back in your accustomed spot between Bucky and Steve with Alpine sitting on the back of the couch behind you. The lights were shut off, your feet were propped up as usual, and you took a breath in before addressing them both. You knew you’d need to.

“Okay. This movie was made in 1975. It is based off of a novel from 1974. I haven’t read the book in its entirety, but I do know other things about the movie that will answer your questions. There are sequels to this movie but…we are not talking about those. Same rules as before. You can talk and ask questions, but if I tell you to watch, just watch. This is a different movie than Jurassic Park. Sharks are real animals and the author of the book actually felt regret for writing the book later in his life due to the aftermath that he felt that his book and this movie caused. It is a classic and the source of more than one movie reference you should know. Some of it may be upsetting to you both. Okay?”

They both nodded, confused and a bit concerned but watched the screen when you hit play. You kept the remote in your hand. You knew too well you’d need it…and you did.

It wasn’t when Bucky spoke, “You’re not drunk. Sure you’re not drunk.”

It was after that when the girl took her shirt off and Steve spoke.

“Is she naked?” he asked and you nodded.

“It’s the seventies and they’re going skinny dipping.” You answered and Bucky looked at you.

“In shark infested water?”

“They don’t know it’s shark infested just yet.” You answered and hit play again, both snickering when the guy fell face first down the sand dune and struggled to undress himself.

Bucky shook his head , “If you can’t walk or undress yourself how’d you expect to swim or do anything else?”

“Bucky!” Steve scolded and Bucky just looked at him, eyebrow raised as he put a piece of caramel popcorn into his mouth, “They wouldn’t show that.”

“Not in your day.” You replied and they both looked at you as you hit play again.

They both watched as the underwater shots zeroed in on the girl before jumping and staring wide eyed as the attack began. Mouths dropped open and then they gestured at the screen as it showed the guy passed out on the beach. You paused.

“Get it out of your systems.” You said.

“How’d you sleep through that?!” Steve asked looking at you.

“Lots of alcohol. It’s not over yet. You good?” You asked them both and they nodded so you hit play.

Bucky just watched in horror, “How’s she still alive?”

Steve spoke when she was dragged under the water, “Well she’s not now.”

They watched as the scene shifted to the police chief Brody and his family. They were quiet. At last until Brody’s son asked to go swimming.

“NO!” both said at the same time as Brody talked about the body washing up.

“Wait…they found her already?” Bucky asked and you rewound a few seconds and Steve nodded then angrily gestured at the screen causing Bucky to nod, “Oh…she’s just missing.”

“There he goes swimming.” He said and Bucky shook his head when Brody scoffed about staying safe in the town.

“Doesn’t matter what a town is like. Anywhere can be dangerous.” He said and Steve shook his head when they saw who it was that called the girl in as missing.

“He’s a great witness.”

You didn’t have time to respond as the deputy quickly found the body. What was left of it. Crawling with crabs.

They both just looked at the screen in horror. Horror that continued when the deputy returned to tell Brody about the boy scout merit badge swim. You knew exactly what was going to happen.

“No! No no no no no!” They both said shaking their heads.

You didn’t have the heart to tell them and knew they were going to have a new John Hammond figure very soon when the mayor made an appearance. They knew it, too, when he showed up with his cronies on the ferry and started on about shutting down the beaches.

“Rushing into something serious? A girl was eaten by a shark at your beach!” Steve said and Bucky groaned as he shook his head.

“Typical asshole.” He said and you nodded.

“You’re not wrong.” You answered while Steve scowled, “I’m surprised you’re not yelling at him.”

“He’s right.” Steve said while scowling, “Does the mayor get eaten?”

“You know I’m not telling you who or who doesn’t get eaten, Steve.”  You answered and he sighed before letting you hit play.

When the next scene zeroed in on the boy you prepared yourself. The tension was clear on their faces when the one swimmer surfaced from under the woman floating. They jumped when the couple playing in the water resulted in the girl screaming. Both were wound up tight and silent. Especially when they showed the boy on the raft again.

“They’re not…” Steve started and you remained quiet.

Then the dog disappeared.

“It’s there. It ate the dog!” Bucky whispered, eyes glued to the screen and jumped a bit when Alpine meowed, “I know you don’t care.”

“Oh no…it’s the music. NO!!” Steve started and Bucky joined him when the attack happened.

“NO!!! NOT THE KID! NOO!”

“NO! NO! IT ATE THE KID!!”

Alpine went into Bucky’s lap while you worked on calming Steve down and then Bucky. You had your work cut out for you. So did Alpine.

“It’s okay. It’s a movie. It’s a movie.” You soothed and they took a moment before nodding and zeroing in on the two beings they blamed it all on.

“That shark has to go.” Bucky scowled and Steve nodded.

“The mayor too.” He said and they both scowled at the reward offered, “It ate two people and you’re offering a 3000-dollar reward for something that ate a child?”

You pulled your phone out to calculate the difference, “That’s under 20 grand in today’s money.”

“It ate a kid! You should do it for free!” Steve said and you instantly had to pause again.

“It’s not the town offering the reward. It’s the kid’s mom.” You explained and they both calmed and nodded.

“Oh.”

They weren’t calm for long and you hit pause almost immediately after hitting play again when the motel owner started denying it was a shark.

“WHAT ELSE DOES THAT?!” Bucky asked and you just hit play again deciding to let them ride out their emotions about the town, its business owners, the mayor, and everyone else.

“A small story?!”

“You’re gonna bury it with the ads on the back?!”

“You hope they don’t close the beaches?!”

“All you people care about is money!”

“At least she doesn’t think the joke’s funny. Okay maybe she doesn’t need to get eaten.” Bucky said with a scowl while Alpine just looked up at you from your lap.

“I know, Al. Just…let them go.” You said quietly to her while they both continued grumbling and arguing with the new focus of their intense ire.

“Are you going to close the beaches?”

“Yes. We are.”

“Good!” Both Steve and Bucky said and groaned as the room began complaining.

You soothed Alpine and lowered the volume down lower when you saw the shark hunter Quint’s hand raise up to the chalkboard. They flinched and grimaced anyway being well aware of what the sound was.

They listened to Quint’s speech and then just scowled at the mayor. Yeah, they absolutely detested the mayor. You could see the gears turning in their heads.

“Who’s he work for?” Bucky asked, eyes narrowed and Steve looked at you for an answer…then Bucky did.

You knew damn well you’d have to give them one, “Okay…this isn’t in the movie. The book is different from the movie as is usually the case. In the book the mayor is in hock up to his ears to the mafia. They’re the ones pressuring him to keep the beaches open so they don’t lose money. In this he’s just a sleazy businessman.”

“He’d make good chum bait.” Bucky said and Steve shook his head in response, “He would.”

You hit play again and quickly both agreed with Brody yelling at his kids to get out of the boat.

“You have horrible maternal instincts, ma’am.” Steve said in response to Brody’s wife disagreeing with getting the kids away from the water and you paused the movie, “My mother would have moved us to a desert.”

Bucky had to think for a moment before responding, “If you’d have had more money back then I think she’d have tried anyway.”

“Well…yeah.” Steve nodded and thought wistfully for a moment before thinking, “I’m surprised she let me learn how to swim at all.”

“Well…technically she didn’t. I just taught you anyway.” Bucky said and Steve looked at him, “Yeah…I didn’t exactly tell her where we were going.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t get eaten by anything.” He replied and you just shook your head.

“Can we continue?” you asked and they both looked at you, the screen, and then nodded causing them to laugh when Brody’s wife changed her mind at seeing a picture in the book.

The laughter was soon replaced with shaking their head as the two fishermen chucked in one’s wife’s holiday roast.

“Someone is in a lot of trouble.” Bucky said and you and Steve both nodded, but for separate reasons they soon learned after grimacing at the photos of shark attack bites.

“I think I understand why the bigger boat thing is a thing.” Steve said after the shark ripped the dock off, “Swim, Charlie, swim!”

He and Bucky both relaxed after Charlie made it safely back onto the dock. Yet Bucky sat there thinking about it for a moment.

“His wife is probably going to try feeding him to the shark once she finds out what he did with her roast.”

You just chuckled and shook your head. Their next question came when Hooper arrived in the form of: “Is he gonna get eaten?” from Steve.

Bucky just nodded in agreement with Steve, “Yeah, everyone they focus on so far gets attacked or eaten ‘cept Brody and Mayor Chum Bucket.”

“BUCKY!” Steve scolded and Bucky just blinked at him.

“What?” asked and you just shushed them both.

“Just watch. They’ll explain who he is.” You said and they watched the chaos on the docks, including Hooper telling the fishermen that they were going to overload a boat before they acted like assholes to him when he asked a simple question.

Then you paused the movie due to laughing with Bucky as Steve spoke at the same time Hooper did saying almost the same exact thing.

“Well they’re all gonna get eaten.” Steve said then laughed with the two of you, Bucky pointing at the screen.

“I like him.” Bucky said and laughed again when Hooper walked into where Brody was and doubled down on how none of the men in the one boat were getting out of the harbor alive before introducing himself, “OH! He’s the shark guy they called.”

“He’s gonna get eaten.” Steve said and you just looked at him only for him to point at the screen, “Unpause it. Please.”

You just shook your head at him and hit play once more. They watched the ensuing chaos on the water with the multiple fishermen. Several comments were made about safety, stupidity, and then the use of explosives.

“Are they serious?” Bucky asked and you looked at him, “They’re chumming, one doesn’t know what that is, and the other is throwing explosives into the water. They’re just setting up a buffet. That shark pulled the dock off. It’s probably big enough to eat one of those boats whole.”

“You have no idea…” you thought to yourself and just smiled and gestured at the screen for him to keep watching as Hooper examined the remains of the first victim.

“Well he’s not happy.” Steve said as Hooper examined the remains and started scolding people about calling it a boating accident, “He’s definitely getting eaten.”

“He has sense. Of course he is.” Bucky agreed and looked at the screen in disbelief when it showed a shark that the fishermen had caught, “That’s way too small.”

“The crazy guy knows it.” Steve said and you nodded then waited for them to scowl at the mayor again, “The mafia angle would make a lot of sense but so does him just being…him..”

You nodded and waited then watched as they scowled as Brody was the one that got blamed for the boy getting eaten.

“It wasn’t him! It was your corrupted mayor and council!” Steve scowled.

“She’s grieving, Steve, and he didn’t fight it either.” Bucky countered and Steve looked at him with a scowl.

“Don’t you two start arguing.” You said and they nodded before returning to watching Hooper explain how he got into studying sharks.

“I don’t think I’d start studying them if they ate my boat out from under me.” Steve said and Bucky thought for a moment.

“I mean…I might. Just to learn how to not have that happen again.” He said and you thought about it yourself.

“I’d never set foot near the ocean again.” You said and once again hit play.

They weren’t surprised when the shark turned out to not be the right shark. They were already aware of that. They were however surprised by the license plate. Both nodded when Hooper explained why, yet they were both shaking their head at his dismissal of the mayor as being a small problem.

“Look, you’re not wrong about the shark being a problem.” Steve said and Bucky shook his head.

“No, but the mayor is a major problem because he’s the one standin’ in the way.” He said and you nodded then nodded again, “I also think you’re underestimatin’ the size of that shark’s mouth as for night feeding…did you skip the part about the daytime attack?”

It then took Steve two seconds to guess that Brody was drunk when he started rambling about the crime rate in New York. That launched him and Bucky both into a discussion on how much things had, or hadn’t, changed since their day. That then launched them into a short tennis match over how Steve getting beaten up in alleys back then was different before you put a stop to it devolving any further.

“Sorry.” Both apologized so you could hit play again, learning more about Hooper and Brody, “Why’s the chief hate water s’much?”

You paused, “I can’t remember if they explain it in the movie or the book. He almost drowned as a kid so developed a phobia of water.”

“Oh.” They both nodded and you hit play again, watching as the boat’s fish finder picked up something else being out in the water.

When it turned out to lead to an abandoned boat both of their eyes widened. It was easy to tell that they were torn between moving forward and leaning back to prepare themselves. They didn’t stay quiet, though.

“Sure I know him. He’s a fisherman.” Brody said on the screen while he and Hooper drew up on the banged up and attacked boat.

“Knew him. You knew him.” Steve said and Bucky nodded.

“Yeah and he was a fisherman. He’s fish food now.” He said and you held back the snicker that threatened to erupt from you and it got better.

“Look Martin, I’ve gotta go down there and check their hull.” Hooper said and both Steve and Bucky shook their heads.

“No.”

“Wait a minute. Why don’t we just tow it all in?” Brody asked and they both nodded.

“Listen to him, Hooper.” Steve said and Bucky nodded.

“Yeah, don’t get eaten.”

“We will. I just got to check something out.” Hooper insisted and they both sighed, shaking their heads, “Hit the lights for me.”

“He’s getting eaten.” Bucky sighed and Steve nodded.

“Yeah and Brody’s gonna be left out there alone on the boat…”

You said nothing. You just let them watch and tell Hooper he’s an idiot a few times. Alpine was curled up in your lap watching the screen with them while you stole bits of their snacks waiting.

“Don’t worry Martin. Nothing’s gonna happen.”

“You said the shark’s a night feeder. It’s night.” Steve pointed out and Bucky nodded.

“Yeah and you’re gonna get eaten so something is definitely gonna happen.”

“Don’t touch any of the equipment. I’ll be back in two minutes.”

“He’s gonna touch it.” Steve said and once again Bucky nodded.

“Yeah, and Hooper’s gonna come back in two small pieces.” He said and they watched as Hooper swam into the water, both shaking their heads.

You remained silent as he investigated the boat and dislodged the huge tooth. You watched their reactions more than the movie. So when the head of the fisherman came through the giant hole you watched them both jump in their seats enough that you bounced in your own when they both came down, disturbing Alpine enough she meowed at them.

“Sorry.” They said and shook their heads.

“Of course he dropped the tooth!” Bucky said and Steve nodded.

“And the light.” He said, “Get out of the water.”

The scene changed to daytime.

“Oh look it’s Mayor Chum Bait with his anchor suit again…” Bucky said as Hooper and Brody tried to tell him about the danger of the shark but then both Bucky and Steve looked at you when they listed off a different incident that happened in 1916.

“Wait…” Steve said, thinking, “I think I heard my mom talkin’ about that once.”

You nodded, “Yeah. The Matawan shark attacks took place in July of 1916 and was likely the inspiration for the novel itself. Five people were attacked, four fatally. There are debates about what kind of shark it was, though. At the time they said a white shark but the attacks also took place in a creek. Fresh water. Not many sharks are able to swim in both fresh and salt. White sharks are rare around Jersey and don’t swim into brackish or fresh water like bull sharks or tiger sharks do and there’s been even more debate around if it was just one single shark as well. Bite ratios from more modern studies say up to three sharks could have been responsible.”

“How do you know this?” Bucky asked and you looked at him, blinking.

“Because I watch Shark Week on Discovery. Can I unpause now?”

“Yeah.” Steve nodded and once you did they were both soon groaning when the mayor refused to believe them and refused to close the beaches, both yelling at the mayor with Brody and Hooper, “You depend on the summer months for money! You’re gonna have no summer tourists left!”

“People aren’t gonna want to come back to a place that has a man-eating shark and a tacky damn mayor that doesn’t care if they get eaten!”

“Who’d bring their kid to a beach where the mayor practically sprays them down with tuna oil?!”

“Tuna oil?”

“I dunno the shark might like it more than barbecue sauce!”

“All he cares about is the summer and the sign!”

“Hooper is the only one with sense!”

“He’s laughing now.”

“He’s frustrated and just done.”

“That’s it! I vote the mayor gets tied up to the damn pier!” Bucky said and you just shook your head as Alpine looked up at you.

“Just let them go.” You said to her and she just nudged your hand to be petted as the tourists arrived, being labeled a “buffet on legs” by Steve with Bucky adding it was “all you can eat courtesy of Mayor Dumb Ass”.

When the mayor urged someone to go into the water they just jaw-dropped and then glared at the screen. The gears turning in their heads were spinning fast enough you could practically see the smoke coming out of their ears. You debated pausing it to let them process everything.

Once the mayor came back on announcing that they had already caught a large predator and was otherwise trying to cover everything up you debated it again, but waited once the shark fin was spotted. Then you paused it.

They both just glared at the screen then looked at you.

“Movie. Breathe. Calm. Deep breaths.” You knew what was coming and didn’t need either one wanting to tackle the tv, “Calm…it’s a movie…”

“That mayor…needs his face shoved into the sand…” Bucky said slowly, “And his ass kicked so hard…it becomes his head.”

“And then he can be shark bait.” Steve added and you licked your lips before speaking.

“Boys…I’m not pressing play until you both calm down. We all know the mayor is a major jackass.” You said and Alpine meowed.

“Mao.”

They both nodded and calmed down. Once you were satisfied you hit play again watching them glare at the ensuing terror-filled chaos. They both scolded the two boys for playing the prank, seeing them relax a bit, but you knew better. You knew the pause was needed for what came next. Especially when the shark was spotted going into the pond where Brody’s son was boating. It didn’t go over their heads just how large the shark was either.

“That thing is huge.” Steve said and Bucky nodded then both started shaking their heads.

“No one’s off limits in this movie. Get your kid outta the water, Brody!”

“Why isn’t he more worried?” Steve asked while gesturing at the screen.

“I don’t think he believes the screaming after the two prank boys.” Bucky said and he nodded.

“Probly.”

“We never would have done that.”

“No. We wouldn’t have.”

You agreed, but not because you believed them to be angels as children. You just knew that Steve wouldn’t have been able to. Had he been…you’d have audibly disagreed with them. Instead you just nodded.

You nodded and you said nothing and just held the remote at the ready. Alpine shifted around on your lap; aware you were getting ready just in case she needed to move. They were on the edge of their seats again when the shark was spotted making a beeline for the boat and the guy on the rowboat.

They were shaking their heads as Brody ran. Both jumped when the rowboat was capsized, eyes wide and then wider when the shark made its first appearance. Mouths slowly opened while they watched the man get dragged under. Then they leaned back when the next shot of the shark showed it taking another bite. Heads were shaking when the severed leg dropped to the bottom.

“Get out of the water.” Steve said quietly, both watched as Brody’s son was taken out of the water and was left in shock, “Oh that poor kid…”

“He’s alive. That’s what matters. He wasn’t eaten.” Bucky said and they watched him in the hospital scene asking for cars and coffee, “Knows his priorities.”

“I agree with mom. Go home to New York.” Steve said and they both glared full fury and rage at the mayor when he was apologizing to Brody, “Only thing he needs to sign is a resignation letter.”

“Or a note saying he wants to apologize by volunteering to be bait.” Bucky said while the mayor mumbled and tried to get himself out of trouble.

Neither cared about how the mayor felt at that point. Even when he mentioned his kids. Especially then and you found you had to pause or they’d miss the next part.

“Who the hell would reproduce with you?!” Bucky asked while holding both hands out to the screen and you laughed.

“Give me a break. ‘My kids were on that beach, too’. Maybe if you cared about your kids you shouldn’t have offered them up on an all you can eat buffet for ocean predators.” Steve glared at the screen and they looked at you to unpause it, “We’re okay.”

“Yeah.” Bucky nodded.

“Good.” You said and hit the play button letting them watch as Quint was hired and started listing off everything he wanted.

You watched them all jostle and maneuver each other’s egos. Steve and Bucky were obviously not very sure what to make of Quint. Other than that they thought he was rude, crude, and had definitely been in the military in some capacity.

“Navy.” Bucky said and Steve nodded.

“Definitely.” He said, eyes glued to the screen while watching Brody chum the water and Quint go on about how much shark fishing had changed, “Do we sound like that?”

You paused and thought for a moment, “Sometimes you go on about how things were. You both do…”

You glanced at Bucky as he opened his mouth causing him to shut it and smile at you.

Then you continued, “But you don’t really do it to the same degree as he does. Mostly I think he’s just trying to annoy the piss out of them both.”

They both nodded and continued watching the movie and as you predicted Bucky made a comment when Hooper freaked out about the compressed air tanks. You weren’t even surprised. You just knew him too well.

“No they won’t. They’re scuba tanks not aerosol.” He said and you looked at him, “They wouldn’t explode.”

“It’s a movie, Buck.” You reminded him and he sighed and nodded.

“Fine.” He said and gestured that you could unpause the movie once again.

They both looked at the reel when it began clicking. Brody was busy trying to tie his knot while Quint prepared himself. You could see they were both mentally debating if strapping himself to the pole was a good idea or not.

“Y’know…” Steve started and Bucky nodded, “I recognize that’s how you’re supposed to do it…but…”

“Yeah. He’s shark food.” Bucky said and tossed a bite of his Cracker Jacks into his mouth, “That shark’s huge. I don’t think you’re gonna be able to use a rod and reel to get it.”

You just shrugged and stole some of Steve’s popcorn.

“Y’know Chief, he’s either very smart or he’s very dumb…” Quint said on the screen while considering what the shark was doing.

“Sounds like he’s describin’ Steve.” Bucky said and snickered when Steve threw a piece of popcorn at him causing you to look at him sharply.

“What’d I say about throwin’ food?” you asked and he sighed.

“Sorry.” Steve said and you looked at Bucky.

“Behave.” You said and he nodded while watching the movie as they argued about it and Hooper said it wasn’t the shark before they both jumped as the line came free.

“I agree with Quint. It was the shark. They really need to stop competin’ with each other.” Bucky said and Steve nodded.

“Yeah, but if he’d stop pickin’ on Hooper for being educated he’d stop tryin’ to prove himself to him all the time.” He said and Bucky nodded.

“Yeah…” he said and they both nodded when Quint explained how he fished for sharks, tricking them up and jabbing at them.

They continued watching as Brody chummed the water before jumping when the shark made another appearance. Then Brody said the line that started all of this.

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat…”

“I agree completely.” Steve said and so did Bucky.

“Yeah. Preferably one with torpedoes.” He said then thought for a moment with a face on that you knew very well.

“No. You cannot have Bruce as a pet.”

“Bruce? You named it. It’s a pet now.” He said and you laughed but shook your head.

“No! I didn’t name it Bruce. The movie crew did when they were making it! You can’t have a great white shark for a pet. They don’t really do captivity. It stresses them out too much and you’d have to feed them a lot.”

“Hm…true.” He said while thinking.

“Just watch the movie.” You said and hit play again.

They both watched as Quint and Hooper sized it, arguing again about the size.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s 20 or 25 it’s still going to eat you!” Steve said and Bucky nodded, watching them react, laughing a bit as Quint got rid of Brody’s wife on the radio after assembling his spear gun.

“Why are they putting Brody in charge of driving the boat?” Bucky asked and answered himself a few seconds later, “Because Hooper knows how to handle the barrels. Never mind.”

“What’s he doing?” Steve asked of Hooper and you just gestured at the screen as the barrel was pulled under, “It pulled it under.”

“That thing is gonna eat him.” Bucky said and you just gestured at the screen.

They watched as Hooper and Quint started having a competition on whoever had the bigger scar. You knew what was coming. It was expected as Bucky waved his vibranium arm at the screen.

“I win.” He said and smiled as they started laughing together, “Well at least they’re getting along now.”

“’Bout time.” Steve said and you nodded, waiting, and you watched them as Quint explained his removed tattoo was the U.S.S. Indianapolis and Hooper stopped laughing.

You watched them as Quint explained what had happened to him. You could see the shift in their eyes as they listened. It was after they both disappeared from the war. You knew they were aware of the war’s history after they both were out of it. Still, you knew they weren’t aware of everything.

They listened and watched as he continued. The horror was clear on their faces. You knew damn well you had to do it when they looked at you.

You paused and nodded, “Yes. It happened. The U.S.S. Indianapolis was charged with delivering parts of one of the bombs. I don’t remember which. The return voyage was when it was sunk. It was a secret mission, I don’t think they even had an escort because it was so secret. The number of survivors isn’t an exaggeration. Only 316 survived. It wasn’t June, though. It was…July I believe and the number on board was closer to twelve hundred not eleven hundred. Otherwise…yeah. It’s not made up for the movie. It happened.”

“That’s…” Bucky started and Steve nodded.

“Horrible.” He said and you nodded.

“It is. War didn’t end with Schmidt’s defeat. Took a few more months and a lot happened. You know won’t I lie to you about it.” You said and they nodded, “You need a minute or you want to keep going?”

“How long is left?” Steve asked.

“About another half hour…ish?” you answered and he nodded.

“Bathroom. The water’s gettin’ to me.” He said and both you and Bucky nodded.

“Yeah.” You said, “We’ll take a bathroom break.”

Bucky nodded and after a short break of relieving yourselves you got settled back in and hit play.

It picked up as Quint and Hooper started singing. It wasn’t long before the barrel returned. It also wasn’t long before one of them spoke. This time it was Steve.

“They’re singing and it’s ramming the boat and taking out the lights. What made this shark?”

“The ocean.” You retorted and they both looked at you, “Nature.”

“It’s too smart.” Bucky said and you just shook your head.

“Just watch the movie.” You replied and they returned to looking at the screen, watching Quint try to shoot the shark and asking what was wrong with the gun when it jammed.

“Top round was probably loaded on the right.” Bucky said then thought about it, “He’d have the clip fully loaded, though so he’s not down to the 7th and 8th round. Probly the bolt not working…and now he’s singing again. He’s crazy…but I like him…but he’s nuts. He’s gonna get eaten and we all know it.”

They watched Quint and Hooper in the daytime trying to fix the boat before jumping a bit when the barrel resurfaced. Once again they were leaning forward, eyes fixed on the screen as Hooper used the boat hook to get the rope. Both were tense, expecting any moment for the shark to pull the rope, and therefore Hooper, into the water. They were expecting it yet they still jumped when the shark surfaced and ripped the rope out of Quint’s hands.

They watched as Brody then went to make a phone call right afterwards. Both guessed he was after a bigger boat but jumped when Quint destroyed the radio. They also both agreed with Brody that Quint was certifiable even if they understood, in their opinion, that Quint was just out for blood and revenge against all sharks at that point.

Then Hooper announced the shark returned and Quint demanded another barrel. Neither one believed the jubilant music for a minute. They didn’t care how hopeful it sounded. They were both ready for chaos and Bucky raised his eyebrow as Brody shot at it before it took the two barrels down. Steve was shaking his head when Hooper was then later caught by the rope behind him and both questioned the logic of tying the ropes to the boat when the shark was that big.

“They’re just askin’ for it.” Bucky said and Steve nodded.

“They know how big it is…”

“They’re still just underestimatin’ it.” Bucky said and you all nodded, especially as it started to turn the boat and then pull the boat even after another barrel was shot into him.

“Not with three he can’t!” Quint said and both gestured at the screen when the shark pulled them under.

“Tell that to Bruce.” Steve said and jumped a few moments later when the boat listed as the shark returned.

They both shook their head when Quint pushed the boat to its absolute limit against Hooper’s urging him not to. Neither were surprised when the boat started spewing black smoke though they did jump when the engine blew.

Watching what they dubbed as “Plan B” come together they agreed with both Brody and Hooper. The shark would rip the cage to pieces but they didn’t really have any better plan to go with. Both said the same thing about the strychnine, though.

“Twenty ccs. I’d pour the whole damn bottle in.” Bucky said and Steve nodded.

They were both tense and threw their hands up when Hooper dropped the spear. They weren’t surprised by it but were surprised that he was putting up a fight. Then they both predicted the boom breaking as they tried raising the cage.

Yet, what took them by surprise the most was the shark rearing up and launching itself partially onto the boat. Their eyes were wide and you prepared yourself for their reaction to Quint sliding down the boat straight into the shark’s mouth.

Alpine put herself into Bucky’s lap while you checked on Steve. Both were just staring at the screen, processing it. Yet they both nodded that they were good to go so you unpaused the movie and prepared yourself.

Both of them narrowed their eyes when Brody was attacked by the shark and shoved the compressed air canister into its mouth. You could tell they were well aware of what was about to happen up to a point. So you cut them off before they questioned it.

“Movie.”

They just nodded and watched the ensuing battle between Brody and the shark. You also knew damn well Bucky was counting the shots.

“Smile you sonovabitch.” Brody said one more time before hitting the canister with the shot resulting in the infamous explosion of the man-eating shark.

They watched through the rest of the movie to its end. They were quiet. You weren’t quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing just yet.

“Well?” you asked and they looked at you.

“How different is the book?” Bucky asked and you answered.

“A bit. There’s a subplot where Brody’s wife cheats on him with Hooper because of something to do with how she feels like she missed out on a better life with Hooper’s brother or something. I’m not upset they left that out.” You answered and Steve nodded.

“Yeah that sounds confusing. I liked it, but that canister wouldn’t have blown up like that.” He said.

There it was. You knew it’d happen. You also knew what else was gonna come…and it did.

“How’d they do the shark? Was it like the T-Rex?” Bucky asked and you answered.

“There is a nearly two-hour long behind the scenes documentary about Jaws. The long and short of it is that: yes, the shark is an animatronic. However, the animatronic shark had a lot of issues. It didn’t work half the time, which is where the barrels came from. If the animatronic worked more there’d have been more scenes with the shark in it.”

“I think the barrels added tension more than seeing the shark would.” Steve said and Bucky nodded as did you.

“Yeah. As for the canister…no. There’s debate, it’s been tested several times, but it’s a movie.” You reminded them and they nodded then tilted their heads when you shut the movie off and turned on something different, “And now…we’re going to watch clips on YouTube of sharks hunting seals.”

“Why?” Bucky asked and you just smiled as they looked at the screen.

“Because I want to show you breaching great white sharks.” You answered and Steve looked at the thumbnail on the first one.

“They don’t jump that high.” He said and you just smiled and hit play, “Why are there ads on everything?”

“There wasn’t in the early days but this is life now. Just watch.” You said and gestured at the screen for them to watch.

They did then stared wide eyed when the 10-foot shark leapt out of the water to strike the seal dummy. They both just pointed at the screen. When another one breached they were both leaning forward and glued.

“They do jump that high.” Steve said and you nodded.

“They just…wham!” Bucky said and you nodded; then they both looked at you once the short video was done, “Are they all like that?”

“Mmm…sort of but there’s different sharks. Let’s find one with Colossus…” you said and scrolled down to the first one you saw, “These are off a Discovery show called Air Jaws from Shark Week. This one explains why they do this. The Sharks.”

They nodded and listened again, nodding as the narrator explained it was a learned adaptation to surprise seals, but they were still fascinated by it.

“That’s a big shark.” Bucky said and you nodded as Steve spoke.

“I suppose that’s why they call him Colossus.”

“Yep.” You nodded and watched several more clips with them, letting them pick each one.

Then you introduced them to MythBusters. The third season Jaws special to be specific after finding it on YouTube once you discovered you couldn’t find it on Discovery. You explained it briefly, knowing the opening would explain it more for you.

“It’s science based. You’ll like it. They test movie myths and other stuff like that. A lot is blown up. They’re nuts. Just watch.” You said and they nodded.

“I reject your reality and substitute my own.”

“Steve.” Bucky said and Steve side-eyed him.

“I kinda like it in here. It’s private.”

“That’s you then.” He retorted and Bucky just shrugged as you shushed them both.

“Behave.” You reminded them and they nodded while watching and listening to the line up of the myths to be tested.

They both nodded when the narrator explained the difference between continuous force and shock force. Both were fascinated and paying attention. You knew they were because they were silent and absorbed as Adam explained what they were doing. At least until he started getting seasick.

“Yeah. He’s Steve.” Bucky said and you sighed, “Sorry.”

Steve shook his head yet they watched the episode continue as the testing of great whites failed and the team went to the Bahamas to test some other things. They were largely silent as they watched the data collection and how the pair on the tv calculated what force a shark could produce.

At least until they introduced Buster. They didn’t ask who Buster was as Jaime explained who, or rather what, Buster was. Still a comment came.

“They have a crash test dummy.” Steve said, “Named Buster.”

You beat Bucky to it, “Yes. Not everyone is exactly willing to be a guinea pig for things so they have a crash test dummy instead.”

“Yeah. That.” Bucky said and Steve just nodded.

“I wouldn’t be volunteering for that.”

Both you and Bucky looked at him skeptically.

“I wouldn’t.” he said and nodded, “Unless it was important, but not just to test somethin’ like that.”

“Sure.” Bucky said and you hit play again to watch with them as the plan was drawn up on how to test the effect of deterring an attacking shark by punching it.

Both stared at the guy that just deterred great whites with his hand. You explained once again that the author of Jaws came to regret his actions for misrepresenting the animals so badly, but you agreed that the guy was still nuts. They went back to silence once the testing began again at least until the Red Man suit came back again.

“Steve needed one of those back in the 40s.” Bucky said and Steve nodded.

“I won’t argue about that.”

“Good.” You said and they returned to silence once the testing and science started again.

Bucky accepted their entire build of the punching machine despite having a vibranium arm. Then again you were pretty sure he understood the difference between what other people had access to in science versus what Wakanda and HYDRA had. That or he and Steve were just totally absorbed in the show.

Looking at them you were pretty sure they were absorbed. Watching the team build a shark ram and watching Adam build a shark cage without either Steve or Bucky saying anything while both were still very awake you knew they were just simply absorbed in the show. Even as Adam and Jaime tested the piano wire they only nodded in agreement that more movie magic had been used when it came to Quint using piano strings as a leader.

Seeing just how absorbed they were you weren’t exactly sure if it was a good thing or not. Ultimately you decided it was a good one since it gave them something else to watch that was science and entertainment.

They chuckled at times but otherwise they were absorbed. Then the tank arrived to tow the shark ram.

“They were actually given a tank?” Steve asked and you nodded.

“It’s a good idea to not let Adam drive it.” Bucky said and you chuckled then watched with them when Adam was allowed to control a crane, “But they let him operate heavy machinery.”

“He knows what he’s doing.” Steve said and you just smiled. “I still can’t believe they let him use the actual props.”

They continued watching as the testing moved back to the punching a shark test. Adam’s refusal to leave Buster behind if he got cut loose by a shark instantly had Bucky agreeing once again that he was Steve. It also had Steve’s instant agreement and admiration.

“I like him.” Steve said and you nodded.

“Buster is a part of the team no matter what they put him through.” You said and they nodded while watching, including when Buster’s arm got bit by a shark.

“Fight Buster fight!” they urged and cheered when he was raised from the water.

Then things moved onto the exploding scuba tank. It was the entire reason you put the episode on. They ultimately agreed with both Spielberg and the author Benchley about the ending of Jaws.

“I mean, yeah, we know they don’t explode like that…” Bucky said and Steve nodded.

“But it was still the ending that made it memorable and it felt fitting.” He said but then they returned to silence again while watching the shark strength test at pulling the boat backwards.

They enjoyed the test’s chaos, though they countered with a “what if the shark wasn’t a natural shark but a science lab creation”. Then they just stared when the narrator said the FBI was using it as a training session. You weren’t sure what to make of their reaction other than to be mildly impressed at how thorough they were when it came to safety and testing.

Though Bucky ultimately disagreed with Adam’s prediction about the bullet not going through the aluminum. He was right, as expected and as you knew he’d be.

They largely returned to silence yet they were fascinated by the contraption Adam was put into to watch Jaime get ready to punch at sharks. Even though they thought it was stupid they were still fascinated by the entire thing nodding at times, tilting their heads at others.

They were back on the edges of their seats deeply interested in the results of the shark ram versus the shark cage, but you knew they were mostly eager to see the end result so were disappointed when things went wrong. You knew very well that it couldn’t be a full MythBusters episode until something went wrong. Still they listened to Adam explain the ballast issue and the physics of it before everything was fixed.

Then they watched the results. Both were staring fascinated and nodded in response to what was said about there not being evidence of a shark attacking a cage like that. Then they watched the ram hit the boat. They nodded when the ram hit the boat creating a hole without sinking it.

Then came the scuba tank myth.

“We know this isn’t going to work.” Steve said and you nodded.

“Yeah, but they’re gonna show you how it can be made to work, too. There’s always an explosion every episode.” You said and they both nodded and watched.

Neither were surprised that it didn’t work on either attempt but they both shook their heads when the team rigged it so it would explode. It was still amusing to them that the FBI was involved.

“Well?” you asked afterwards and they nodded.

“What’s the sequel like?” Steve asked.

5 days later

“Mao!” Alpine meowed while dropping down from her cat tree like her Papa had a habit of doing straight onto a catnip filled shark toy as you walked in with the mail.

You tossed the package addressed to Steve at him and the one addressed to Bucky at Bucky. You knew what Steve had ordered and weren’t surprised when he pulled out a custom-made cat ball shaped like the amber piece from John Hammond’s cane he then tossed to her to bat around. Bucky pulling out T-shirts from his package didn’t surprise you either, though you had to laugh when he handed Steve one that had Buster on it proclaiming the dummy was his personal hero.

Steve smiled, “I love it.”

A/N: I had to give them a little something to untraumatize them at the end. The Matawan Man-Eater is a real event that happened and so is the sinking and aftermath of the USS Indianapolis. There's plenty I left out on both. I hope you enjoyed this episode (I'm sticking with episode. Calling them chapters or parts just doesn't fit right for me). The next poll will be up for 3 days instead of one. Mostly to give myself some time.

Ao3 Link: Super Soldier Theater: Jaws

Series Masterlist🍿MASTER Masterlist

Previous Movie: Jurassic Park Next Movie: The Little Mermaid (1989)

🍿Winner: The Little Mermaid (Animated)🍿

Taglist: @maryevm

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

Our MerMay Story - A May Mermaid Storytelling Challenge

For all those who love mermaids but don't want to participate in an event supported by Wacom comes a MerMay alternative with a twist.

You can treat this list as a normal prompt list.

Or you can become a mer storyteller.

Create a story throughout the month. Create drawings that tell stories. Create a plot connected art book. Create a comic. Write a series of short stories. Or even write chapters for a novel.

Your story (or lack thereof) is yours to swim in.

Post your creations with the hashtag #our mermay story . I'm want to see them so much.

Also, please, don't use AI. I made this fir those who look for AI-free environment.

First Swim

New Experiences

Learning

Sea Food

Coral

Love

Symbol

Pearl

Myth

New Face

Friends

As Above so Below

You've Changed

Coming Summer

In a Trench

History

Night Swimming

Ruins

Island

Tears

Secret

Light in the Depths

Under the Stars

Pool Party

Inspiration

Hair

Sea and Sky

Treasure

Connections

Look Back

Good luck, everybody!

[rajuradhakrishnan]

Blog No. 55 - Mental Health and Well-Being in Program Management: A Crucial Focus for Success

Welcome to The Management Atheneum! I’m excited to share that this is my 55th blog post, and I appreciate your continued engagement as we delve into essential topics that shape our understanding of effective management and leadership. Thank you for being a part of this journey! As someone who has been reflecting on the topic of mental health and well being in program management for several…

[literaryvein-reblogs]

hi hello! hopefully what im asking for isn't too obscure, but do you think i could i get resources/tips on how to write a being that was synthetically made/and or coded? Much thanks in advance/for the chance!

Writing Ideas: Synthetically-Made Characters

some character tropes

Artificial Human: A human being who was created artificially rather than born naturally.

Artificial Animal People: Human-like animals or animal-like humans created through science.

Artificial Intelligence: In fictional works, AI most usually refers to artificial general intelligence — a sapient, self-aware computer system capable of independent thought and reason.

Bioweapon Beast: You create your own attack animal, genetically engineering existing organisms or creating your own. Maybe this new organism would rather just be left alone, and refuses to actually fight. Maybe it goes feral and becomes a dangerous monster roaming the wilderness. Maybe it actually works perfectly, but those in charge of it are far from ethical.

Clockwork Creature: May be purely mechanical, or, if in a fantasy setting, there may be a blend of mechanical and magical elements.

Mechanical Lifeforms: A race of robots or robot-like creatures that are also considered a honest-to-goodness species of living things. They're just like your everyday living organisms, except they happen to have metal for skin, wires for nerves, and so on. They're often silicon-based as well. These may be robotic animals, plants, micro-organisms, or sapient creatures. If they are sapient, they would never wish to Become a Real Boy because, as far as they can see, they are as real as that boy. The origin of such creatures is often never elaborated on or unknown to the characters. It's not uncommon for them to have creators Shrouded in Myth and mystified or outright denied in a sort of reversed creationism that are later further explained in plot-relevant and shocking revelations, similar to precursors for organic species. Sapient mechanical lifeforms tend to react as one would expect when they learn the nature of their origin, usually in some kind of denial and anger. There has been a trend of portraying mechanical lifeforms as formerly organic races that roboticized themselves either as the next Evolutionary Level or simply to survive some world-ending catastrophe that affected them in the past. However, it's also common for such creatures to simply arise without a creator in a process comparable to evolution.

Puppet Permutation: A person changes into a living puppet. They sometimes can control themselves, but this is usually not the case. These puppets are often controlled by outside forces.

Examples

Frankenstein's Monster is one of the most classic and well known examples. While it is stressed at certain points through the original Frankenstein novel that the monster is an entirely unique species, he certainly has a human intelligence and personality. It is left ambiguous whether creating the creature was actually a bad thing or not. The creature suffers (and subsequently causes suffering to his creator), not because it was created but because the creator abandoned it afterwards.

Celtic Mythology: Blodeuedd, the woman created from flowers to be the wife of Lleu Llaw in Medieval Welsh mythology.

A Greek myth tells the story of Pygmalion, a man who shunned real-life women but craved that his beautiful sculpture of one would come to life. He loved it so much that he prayed to Venus/Aphrodite, the goddess of Love, to grant him that wish. After he kissed the ivory-carved statue's lips, Venus worked her magic and it came to life. This is seen as a literal "Breath of Life".

Pandora in Greek myth was a sculpture that the Gods made and brought to life.

Japanese Mythology: Any non-electronic item can become a Tsukumogami if it's cared for and becomes old enough, which are Animate Inanimate Objects. This can also happen to toys, giving rise to the Living Toys trope.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: An alien civilization created at least one sentient supercomputer, Deep Thought, for the purpose of answering philosophical questions regarding the meaning of life, the universe and everything.

The Hunger Games: During the rebellion which led to the creation of the titular Games, the Capitol bred a number of genetically engineered animals called muttations (commonly abbreviated to mutts) which were used as living weapons against the districts. From the Tenth Hunger Games onwards, they became a regular feature in the arena, with the Gamemakers using them either to kill the tributes directly or to drive the tributes together and force them to fight each other. Examples of mutts seen in the Games include poisonous snakes which are programmed to attack anyone whose scent is unfamiliar, carnivorous squirrels which attack in packs and werewolf-like creatures which have been created to resemble fallen tributes.

Victor Frankenstein (2015): Victor proclaims to Igor that they will create a man after their own image. The process involves stitching together dead body parts and reanimating the corpse with lightning.

Isaac Asimov often averted this trope quite harshly in his Robot Series and related works, preferring to think of robots as tools rather than people. He only imagined robots being roughly humanoid when they needed to be able to perform tasks which human tools for already existed and it wouldn't make sense to replace every piece of equipment when one robot could be made to use them. They were always built to the job, and sometimes that job made for very unusual designs instead.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Hi, here are some related tropes you can use as inspiration. More examples and information on these in the sources linked above. Hope this helps with your writing!