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illubean · 1 month

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can i request headcanons of any hxh characters your choice (preferably including illumi, chrollo, and/or feitan) with a crush on/unestablished relationship with a gender neutral reader who refuses to fully align themselves with anyone but has an incredibly OP ability that requires their blood or body (can shoot blood in like spikes, detach their limbs to chase down and drag back runners, use their blood and/or tears to heal wounds, can just regrow lost limbs including their head, ect.) that would make being on their bad side more trouble then it's worth

so every fight they kind of /have/ to get injured to use it. Plus their ability weirdly doesn't seem to use nen (chrollo can't copy it and gyo doesn't show anything, ect.)

and when they're finally asked about it they're casually like "oh yeah, I'm not human. I was actually created to be an unstoppable force that infects and destroys humanity, but that's honestly too much work. Plus you give me snacks so I'd rather just hit whoever you tell me to." and their reactions to the fact this insanely overpowered goober they've fallen for is a stray shapeshifting little abomination who could have murdered the entire human race and that they're lowkey lucky reader likes getting bribed them so much

(Sorry if that's too long btw, I thought you'd like the idea but I couldn't think of a better way to condense it 😅)

HXH With an Unaligned!OP!Reader

Characters: Illumi Zoldyck, Chrollo Lucilfer, Feitan Portor Type: Headcanons, Gn!reader

i do not like how this came out but posting anyways lol...

Warnings: mentions of blood, experimentation and violence, reader isn't human if that counts as a warning

Illumi Zoldyck

the way you met Illumi was... not ideal to say the least

he was on a job to kill some scientist guy but little did he know scientist guy had quite literally created a monster

the day he was going to do his mission happened to be the day your power was finally realized

annnndddd Illumi walked in on you killing scientist guy and literally everyone else who worked for him

you had managed to pop your arms off and launch them like missiles, turn your blood into weapons and spikes around the room and also not die????? and grow your limbs back???????????

the weird part was Illumi couldn't sense any of your aura at all

he just assumed you were a super advanced nen user and were able to still keep up hatsu really well while fighting

which led him to the conclusion that he should either A. run away or B. try and get you on his side

when you noticed him just standing there you turned to stare at him like come at me bitch

"So? Are you here to poke me with more needles like the others? It won't end very well." "Actually I was here for the guy in the lab coat, but it seems like you did the job for me."

realizing he wasn't a threat (or trying to be because you know...you cant die) you let down your guard down

you ended up just following him around after that, not really having anywhere else to go so Illumi decided on plan B

turns out it took a lot less manipulating than he thought

he brought you to the estate and you agreed to help him with whatever for a popeyes chicken sandwich

watching how you wandered around the estate aimlessly and lounged about Illumi quickly realized you only use your abilities when threatened or bribed

so you become his personal little treat fueled killing machine

he takes you on missions with him because he doesn't trust you alone at the estate...

eventually he asks you about how your hatsu is so good and you're like wtf is that

and he's like What.

you tell him you we're pretty much created in that lab and they did all these tests and stuff and you didn't even really know how or why you had the power you did but you found out you did the day you met

and you were all like "they were so annoying and they told me to do stuff for free, I'd never kill you though you feed me :3"

he is so glad you are clueless and he got to you before anyone else because you could take over the entire world if you really wanted to

he is going to marry you ASAP

but again, you being clueless did not understand what marriage entails

and you agreed for the same reasons you agreed to literally anything else this man has asked of you

you are Illumi's most prized possession and no matter how freaky you are, he really does cherish you as normal people would their spouse

Chrollo Lucilfer

running into you on a heist was definitely unexpected

especially since you looked like you just got out of captivity

mistaking him for an enemy you shot your fist off at him and barely missed

and he was like woah im not an opp dw

then your hand grows back and hes like !?

he asked why you were there you explain that you were some sort of war weapon yada yada yada the guys got annoying you killed them and yeah

and Chrollo offers you to come back w him and the troupe and you're like sure if you feed me

so after the heist is over Chrollo takes you back to Phantom Troupe hq and then talks with the gang blah blah blah dismisses everyone and then takes you to wherever the hell and buys you whatever you want to eat

and while you're stuffing your face bro is like

"Your powers are pretty impressive. Mind telling me how they work?"

and not caring you tell him, mainly focused on your meal

and he's like huh what a useful ability time to steal it

one thing leads to another and he somehow gets you to touch his weird book and when he flips to where your nen should be the page is blank and he is insanely confused

and hes like "Why didn't my nen ability work on you?"

and you're like wtf is nen

and hes like oh my god I don't think this thing is human

so he asks

and you're like "I literally told you I'm a war weapon. A weapon created for war, but that's too much work."

now he is confused but also intrigued

he offers for you to join the troupe and you're like

"But being in a gang is so much wooorrrkkkkkuuuuhhhh"

you can literally destroy man kind but you don't because you're LAZY!?

you're not officially part of the troupe but you're practically an honorary member because you follow Chrollo around after your first encounter

and he decides it 's better than nothing

Feitan Portor

I can't think of a clever way for you guys to meet LMAO

umm uhhh idk maybe you were created to take out the chimera ants and happened to get deployed in meteor city the same time the troupe was hunting down the 'queen'

so when the troupe got there you were already fighting some ants

you look human enough but your abilities make Feitan think you might not be

soooo he tries attacking you before he ended up getting to the lizzard ant crocodile lady thing i don't remember what she was

and he couldn't beat you and you're like wtf do you want from me I'm trying to do my job

and hes like ??? you're not an ant?

and youre like no

and hes like oh and leaves you alone

then he throws the entire sun at the ant lady and leaves the building

he kinda forgot about you until he felts something lift the back of his cloak

and he's like !!?!?!??!

and he looks behind him to see you crawled under his coat and took the snacks he hides under there for himself

and he's like what the fuck

how did you even know he had those???? (you could smell it because you have super enhanced everything)

ok i just remembered his cloak got destroyed in this scene but pretend it didn't

anyways he snatches the bottom of it away from you and tries taking the snacks back out of your hands but you are quick to dodge

he's irritated but he just lets you have them he's too tired to deal with this

you end up following him after this like a lost puppy and the rest of the troupe is like ??????

but they can't get rid of you

and on the way out of meteor city you were like yap yap yap weapon yap yap created in a lab yap yap yap immortal

feitan could not care less about what you had to say but he was like ??? to the immortal thing

maybe you weren't a bad thing to keep around

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weaper-reaper · 1 year

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Eventuality Pt.1

2, 3+4, 5, 6

Hey shawties its me again, back with my FIRST Konig fic. Very terrible German shenanigans will ensue so be warned. I’m here to feed the small community that is the Konig baby girls. New format, this fic is written with an MC (I know huge surprise, but just consider it a reader-insert.) MC uses She/Her pronouns, I’m sorry. Feminine anatomy and all that.

CW: Medical Inaccuracies, German translation Inaccuracies, Military Inaccuracies, you get the point, Fluff, Plot heavy, Eventual smut, Established background, Updating tags with each chapter, Konig x Reader, Konig x OFC, Maybe Johnny “Soap” Mctavish x reader, unless?, COD Franchise, MWII, Call of Duty characters, Captian Pierce, loosely mentioned

“Fucking stupid… piece of shit.. god-“ the sticker label fell through my fingers and I knocked an entire stack of papers over trying to grab it. “Damnit.” I sighed. How I ever made it as a nurse, much less working as an ICU nurse in military bases is lost on me. A chuckle at the doorway pulled me from my self loathing.

“Captain!” I quickly stood from my crouched position over the floor, and brought my arm up in a salute.

“Please no need,” he started, “I’ve just come with your next assignment.”

I could feel my face twist together with confusion. Next assignment?

“I’m stationed here until the sixteenth, sir.”

“I’m afraid we can’t send anyone else.”

I almost scoffed- and motioned my arms out. Here I am, surrounded by my own mess, and I’m the best person for the job?

He read me easily and tipped his head towards me in recognition, “Do you have any dependents waiting for you back home, soldier?”

I shook my head. No, I didn’t. And everyone knew it too.

Since I turned twenty, my entire life had been dedicated to school and military life. Even before then, as a child my dad uprooted us from place to place. Mission to mission. That’s how we always lived, so I tried my best to not get too hung up on any one particular place. Ultimately following in his footsteps and enlisting the moment I became of age. It’s like everywhere I went I had a label on my back that said ‘My dad was KIA, and I’ll serve until I am too.’

I’d made no real friends since I landed here anyway, so packing up and leaving now or in a week wouldn’t really make much of a difference in the end.

“Right sir, I’ll be packed within the hour.” I turned my back to him with a nod and scooped the rest of the spoiled papers in my arms.

“Good on you nurse,” He praised and it did little to settle the nerves that always followed being sent to a new unknown place. “Heli leaves at eighteen hundred.”

By helicopter? That’s a new one at least.

An hour later I stood at the edge of the heli pad packed to the brim- watching the black mass fade in from the far west of the sky, the sun glaring almost mockingly above it. As if the helicopter was a manifestation of my unescaped impending doom. A missile honed directly to me.

The duffle bag I shouldered grew heavier as it landed, attempting to root me to the spot. I was handed a pair of gray headphones and shoved up onto the machine. I pressed the hanging mic up to my lip and strapped in behind the pilot, facing outwards towards the doors of the tiny metal thing. A large window curved from my side directly overhead. There was only really enough room for the three of us and what little equipment I was allowed to bring. Although I was promised I could take inventory and order any additional nessecities, honestly I wouldn’t know where to really start.

“Evening boys.” I greeted, and was met with only nods in response. Great.

The blades hadn’t even been given a moment to slow down before we hauled off the ground and into the air- dust cropped up and swirled around us until we were almost level with the low hanging clouds. They were as dark and gray as the machine we flew. The metal blades thumped about as loud as my heart, and I did my best to settle into my seat, deciding to focus on the shrinking base below.

I eyed my bags tied tightly against the net on the walls, hoping I didn’t forget anything. My entire life was practically stuffed into those two bags- one being 80% emergency medical equipment said a lot I think. The photo bound tightly in the breast pocket of my vest burned hot- I itched to take it out but didn’t trust my fingers enough not to drop it right out into the air.

I sighed and threw my head back, maybe I could get some rest in at least.

____________

“T-3 Minutes until landing.” Chatter in my ears over the radio roused me from my head. I hadn’t been able to sleep- given I just spent the last two hours strapped in a fucking helicopter, but I was able to daydream and rest a bit.

The sky had turned a pretty gradient of orange and pink as we neared the new base. Light beamed through the breaks in the clouds. We were in the desert from what I could tell, dunes resided on either side of the starch brown compound below, almost letting it blend in completely with the scenery. If we weren’t directly above it, I don’t think it’d be too noticeable from anywhere on the ground.

Save the fact that I knew we were facing east, I had no clear idea where we even were. Hopefully I’ll be briefed upon landing.

I tore off the straps of my harness when the heli touched ground, and tossed the headset on the seat as I left- making sure to grab both of my bags before jumping down. My cropped hair bit against my face as the blades continued to whir above me.

Two men approached the edge of the pad, the tip of their boots not having even touched the yellow caution paint before the helicopter lifted itself up into the air again. I watched for a moment as it buzzed over us and into the darkening clouds.

“Private nurse Mack?” One of the men shouted and I turned to face them, pushing a hard look onto my face, the grip I had on my straps tightened significantly. I could see my knuckles turn white from the pressure. Okay new base, don’t fuck up, don’t fuck up. My own personal mantra replayed in my head as we took long strides towards each other.

“Evening gentlemen.” I raised my voice, as if it made me sound anymore sure. “Heard you boys needed some help.” I motioned to the large red medic badge on my shoulder.

“Aye, I’ll be the first to admit it, that we do.” The shorter one with the Scottish accent rang out, though they both stood impeding over my own frame.

“We’ve got ourselves into a bit of a predicament.” The other man began, he was slightly larger then the first, with scruffy facial hair and a worn cap that’s definitely seen better days.

“Captain Price,” He motioned to the other man beside him- the one that addressed me first. “That’s Soap.”

I nodded and fell into step between them when they turned, following as they headed into the large sandy building. We stepped through a series of doors before we ended up in what looked like a makeshift infirmary- a handful of cots lined the walls with no real space between any of them. More importantly men atop the dirty and stained beds, some even sat on the floor nearest the entrance.

“Forgive us if we skip the formalities, lass.” The scot voiced, Soap. “‘Y’have yer kit with ya?”

I swung my unessacey shit off first- the bag filled with uniform briefs and clothes mostly, lost in whatever corner of the room that was unaccompanied. Unstrapping my suture kit I approached the closest bed to me.

“What the hell happened here?” I almost shouted over the groaning and muttering that filled the room. A quick glance told me around ten or so men filled out the little space. The man sprawled across the bed in front of me clutched at his bicep. Blood seeping through the wet rag he held against the wound as dripped down his fingers.

Soap approached my side and watched as I snapped on some rubber gloves from the bag attached to my waistband belt.

“Joint mission, we were regrouping with members of KORTAC when they were ambushed.” Price stated- a practiced calm behind his words. He said it as if it were any normal Wednesday night.

I gave him a curt nod and tried not to panic much, but being thrown into a room full of wounded men within only minutes of landing at a new base I didn’t even know existed this morning- it’s safe to say my nerves were beginning to get fried. I took a deep breath, the details aren’t really that important. I was here to help, so I’d focus on doing just that.

“Thankfully there were no casualties, just a small group of bloody nobodies.” Soap pulled over a trash bin from behind him and set it near me, I gave him a quick smile as thanks. He had a kind look on his face, a small scar rested below his bottom lip and his shaved Mohawk didn’t really do him much justice, but he didn’t seem that intimidating in this light. Should fate grant me a longer stay here- I don’t think I’d mind getting to know him a bit more.

Shifting my focus from Soap, I pulled back the bloody rag from the man on the cot’s shoulder and tossed it into the bin. Then wiped his arm down with a sterile alcohol pad. A gangly gash sat red and bright against his pale skin, a bullet must have torn straight through his uniform. “Just an ugly graze soldier, you’ll be alright.”

He grunted and rolled onto his side so I could treat him better, so I pulled out a disposable suture kit from my bag and got to work. Doing my best to remember to prioritize, I glanced between Price- who moved back to the entrance of the room, seemingly not wanting to get involved, and Soap still at my side.

“Life-altering patients first,” I shouted to the room, “If you can move- help the injured onto beds, and if you’re not bleeding to death go start a line in the hall.”

It took a good minute and a hard glare from Soap for the men to start moving, but soon there were only three others in the room with us. Though he stayed longer than Price, and did his best to assist me with two particularly nasty stab wounds; he decided to call it.

“That’s all I got in me nurse, hell’s bells, I can’t imagine how you’d do this all day.” He said as he left. I thanked him for his help but ultimately was more grateful that he left me alone with my work- his general presence was intimidating enough, I didn’t want to screw up on the first day under his supervision. So with another deep breath I eventually saw everyone who was involved in the ambush, and crashed against the steel table in the back of the room. Eyes closed the moment my head hit my arms, gloves still on and everything.

It wasn’t until a good minute or so that I rose back up and took a look around the room again. A mess greeted me, as per usual. My fingers ached and my shoulders screamed at me, but I spent the next hour piling dirty linens and rags into one corner, and moping up what I could of dried blood and mud into another. What I wouldn’t give for a warm bath right about now. Though I’ve had worse days in the ICU for sure, this one definitely got close to topping the cake. I was even more thankful for Soap’s help after the fact. Maybe I could sneak him an extra MRE next time we came across each other as thanks.

If he was the only one who’d stayed to assist, I wondered if they had anyone here at base who was properly medically trained. Given I’m not a licensed doctor or anything, but who was the last person in charge of their medical needs? Or rather.. what happened to them if they did have one?

The entrance to the door creaked open behind me, and I pulled myself from my thoughts, leaning on the mop handle for extra support. My eyes were drooping from exhaustion, and it took them a moment to focus.

“You are cleaning?” A soft voice spoke, something I did not expect to hear from the man who graced the doorway. His frame was hunched over slightly, a hand under the hood that hung over his face, two piercing blue eyes stuck out starch against the torn holes that stared directly through me.

It took a second for me to realize the voice belonged to him, and not some other stranger hidden behind his large figure.

“Uh, yeah.” I sighed, “Someone’s got to, right?”

He had no response and instead stared blankly at me through his mask like a statue- unmoving.

“Uhm.” I began again, “Do you need medical assistance?” I tried to say as calmly and invitingly as I could. Though I couldn’t see his face, by his body language alone it seemed as if he would turn and leave with any wrong movement.

He stayed as he was and watched me while drained the dirty bucket and put the mop back into the closet I originally found them from.

“I thought perhaps I could do it myself, but..” he trailed off and guestured up to his face with a point from his elbow.

I put on a fresh pair of gloves and sat on the edge of an empty cot.

“Do what yourself?”

He took a step forward and glanced from me back to the door. Letting a little ‘uhh’ cross his lips. Ultimately settling on twisting the deadlock shut on the door. My heart leaped in my chest and I instinctively stood and inched my way back to the steel desk.

He caught on quickly and immediately held both of his hands up in front of him, slightly crouching as to appear less intimidating.

“Ah please, I just do not want anyone to see.” He waved a hand in front of his face and tangled his fingers at the bottom of the cloth that hung over his entire head- held up only by the helmet he wore. With another wary look towards the door- as if someone would burst in at any moment- he lifted the mask just enough for me to see a long stripe of red from the tip of his jaw down to his collarbone, disappearing under the collar of his shirt.

My mouth went dry as our eyes met again.

Okay, Mr.Mountian of a man just needs some help. That’s all. I let a wary glance of my own settle over the lock on the door before turning to grab a first aid kit and some more sanitary wipes. My back was to him, but I nodded my head over to a cot- “Have a seat.”

After grabbing what I needed onto a tray and rolling it over, I stood infront of him. Even as he sat we were practically eye to eye still. I cleared my throat, trying to calm my nerves from under the uneasiness of his stare. It felt like he noticed every twitch of my fingers and any little movement I made, any inch of exustion I had disappearing with a rush of adrenaline from being locked in a room with a six-foot-something man.

He lifted his mask again just enough so I could clearly see the wound we were working with. It wasn’t very deep- and It looked like he tried to superglue it shut himself, but there were still spots where I could see the blood bead up through. His jaw had some stubble on it, like he hadn’t shaved in a week or so.

“It’s cleaner then some of the cuts I’ve seen today.” I spoke, doing my best to ease the tension that settled thickly over the two of us. The tiny room felt somehow smaller under his gaze. His body and presence took up so much space that it was nearly suffocating.

He only hummed in response. I dabbed some alcohol on a cotton pad and wiped it against his face as gently as I could, if it hurt he did a good job of hiding the pain. Only the back of his jaw clenched when he grinded his teeth together, eyes now anywhere but mine.

I placed my other hand against the other cheek, angling his head towards me a bit more and he stiffened underneath me. His body going as rigid as the cold metal gear he wore.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled and I could see his eyes twitch over to my face.

“If it hurts I mean.”

“I- I am alright.” His lips were chapped and his teeth clacked harshly against each other when he snapped his mouth shut again, as if he regretted speaking.

There was a beat of silence before I spoke again, “What’s your name? I’m Mack, though everyone seems to just call me Nurse.” I chuckled dryly.

His eyes didn’t leave my face this time, and I began to sweat under his watch. I sounded like an idiot to even myself. He just came here to get patched up, why do I ever bother with the small talk. I’d most likely be gone or replaced within the month anyway. He hissed under a particularly sensitive spot at the base of his neck and I immediately apologized, reaching for a clean cotton swab.

“König. That is what they call me.” His accent was thicker this time he spoke, gently cursing in some German dialect when the cut started to bleed again from all my prodding.

“Well König,” I repeated, “you did a good job of cleaning this up yourself.” The grip on his mask loosened and fell below his lips as he settled on the cot a bit more comfortably, and I praised myself for my smooth patient talk. It didn’t take me very long to finish wiping him down and stop any bleeding, I made quick work of setting a bandage over the deeper parts of his cut. Only a slight bit stayed exposed on the parts where the skin moved too much for me to cover it properly.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to take another look when we change the bandages again. Just to make sure it doesn’t reopen, but I don’t think you’ll need any stitches.” He dropped the cloth and let it settle down over his face and neck fully again, eyes boring directly through mine as I spoke.

He nodded with me, “Yes. Then I will see you tomorrow morning.”

He rose up into his towering form again and made his way over to the door- snapping it unlocked once more.

“Sure.” I agreed, tossing the bloody cotton pads into the bin. “Tomorrow morning könig.” And the door clicked shut behind him before I could even turn to watch him leave.

The uneasy feeling continued to sit at the bottom of my stomach as I picked up my bags again. Their weight was ten times heavier as I left the small room and wandered back out into the main hallway. In all honesty I didn’t even know if I would be here in the morning, though it was apparent after today that this little band of soldiers needed some official medical assistance. Wether or not I was the best person for that job.. well who’s to really say.

Soap was in the hall as I left, leaning lazily against the opposite wall from the door. I turned to pull it close and met his eyes. He had more color to his face now then he did a few hours ago, maybe he was squeamish around blood? No, there’s no way.

“Hey.” He greeted.

“Hey yourself.” I joined his side, “Thanks for your help earlier, by the way.”

“‘Course newbie.” He turned to face the end of the hallway and waved for me to follow.

“Newbie? What happened to Private nurse Mack.”

“Too long. Plus everyone’s the new guy at one point.”

I hummed in response, and he lead me back out through the main entrance.

“Cafeteria’s through there- always stocked so feel free to eat whenever. Sleeping barracks are this way.” It was dark outside now, and the clouds still hung so thickly over the sky I couldn’t see any stars. Out only light from the few floodlights that were scattered randomly around the compound.

“So when do I get a cool nickname? Or will it be lame too.”

“Lame?”

“Soap?” I countered.

“Johnny.” He corrected.

“No you’re right, Soap sounds cooler.” He scoffed and I bit my lip to force the smile down. At least someone here could make good banter.

“You’ll fit in well here newbie.” He redirected us towards another sand colored building. I recognized a couple of the men I treated earlier hanging around the front entrance. It looked like there was only one door in. Their eyes watched us as we passed through, a couple whispers making their way around in groups.

“Don’t mind ‘em.” Soap had leaned over to mutter in my ear, his warm breath cascaded down my neck and I hadn’t realized how cold it’d gotten in the dark. I hummed again- not trusting my voice to speak any coherent words.

“This is you.” He pointed to a steel door sat at the very back of a long hallway. The numbers ‘21’ written in bold white letters above it. He could read the uneasiness that found it’s way over my face, and I hated how simple a read I was. Maybe I should don a balaclava like everyone else around here. “Something the matter, bonnie?”

“Oh, no.” I turned to him and hadn’t realized how close he really was in the dark and cramped hall. I could almost smell his aftershave, he probably dipped on me earlier to shower, though I couldn’t really blame him. I must’ve looked like a mess currently, so after a shower myself I was headed straight to bed.

“Honestly it’s just been a while since I’d stayed in coed housing.” The door opened with a creak, but I was relieved to see only one twin sized cot. At the least I wouldn’t be rooming with anybody.

He nodded in understanding, “Well if you run into any issues, I’m just over there.” He jutted his thumb back to a door labeled ‘19’.

“20 up are mostly empty anyway, those are the overflow rooms.” He paused and glanced around the hallway at all the doors. “Though with the men from KORTAC dirtying our plates, I’m afraid ‘tis fuller than usual.”

I let out what must’ve been my hundredth sigh for the day and nodded.

“Thanks Soap, again I appreciate it.” The bright dorky smile that adorned his face helped ease my nerves. I stepped over the threshold of the room and turned back to him, one hand on the edge of the door. He leaned against the frame casually, hands in his pockets.

“It’s nothing. Sleep well, lass.” He turned to leave.

“Oh hey,” he stopped me once more just before I shut the door. “If you’re feeling up to it a couple of the lads and I are going for a run in the morning- ‘round 0400 or so.”

He shrugged, “Could be a good bonding experience, or y’know maybe we’ll think up a cooler nickname then Nurse.”

“Cooler than Soap?”

“Extremely.”

I chuckled and let the door close as he turned again, watching him disappear down the hall.

Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad finding a reason to stay in one spot for a bit longer after all.

_________

AYOO look I know what this looks like… but It’s NOT a Soap fic I SWEAR. I just adore my babygirl so much you know I had to do it to em. Unless you guys are into a multi-ship fanfic centered around the same MC? Lemme know what you think.

Also crossposted on Ao3 under ‘WeaperReaper’

Anyway more Konig content in the next part, pinkey promise.

#könig #konig call of duty #call of duty #konig imagine #konig x reader

326 notes · View notes

adiduck · 8 months

Text

WIP Wednesday

A big thank you to @corvineheart, who very gamely picked this snip for me to post today when I whined that I couldn't decide. <3 Operation Groundhog AU. Teeny bit of Ice and Mav in the beginning and then some Bradley today!

Penny Benjamin comes out of the Hard Deck eventually--and isn’t that just the weirdest fucking thing; Maverick hasn’t talked to her yet, he doesn’t really know what to say and isn’t sure what they’ve told her about a random Maverick and Iceman from 1986 wandering around--and chats with the Captain. Then she goes back in and comes out with a cooler of beer, and the team breaks to go fight over their preferred poison.

“Shitty domestic beer?” Ice asks, and Maverick flips him off.

“I’m good. Maybe there’s a Smirnoff lemon or something in there for you.”

Ice laughs, and leaves to go wade in. Maverick watches the madness for a moment and then turns to sit just outside the tide, watching the surf. It’s a nice moment--sun and sand and the smell of the sea; a bubble of quiet in a day that’s been just jam packed with people.

Maverick doesn’t look up when he hears the crunch of approaching footsteps.

“Hey,” Bradley says, and Maverick nearly jumps out of his skin. “Mind if I sit?”

Maverick looks up at him, eyebrows definitely at his hairline. “Sure! Don’t own the beach. Pull up some sand.” He reaches over and pats the shore next to him.

Bradley snorts, and sits, letting out a huff as he stretches his legs out. The water comes up to his ankles when the tide comes in, washing away some of the sand on his heels.

“Did you just groan?” Maverick asks, grinning. “What are you, thirty-five? Your bones bothering you already, Bradshaw?”

Bradley snorts. “Thirty-seven,” he says.

“Goddamn, you’re thirteen years older than me,” Maverick says. “That is weird.”

Bradley chuckles again. “You’re telling me,” he says, and turns back to the surf again.

Maverick watches him for a moment, hesitating--not sure what to say next. Finally, he sighs and turns back to the surf himself. This is kind of nice. Bradley’s been friendly enough, but he hasn’t really wanted to hang out, and Maverick’s been doing his best to temper his disappointment. This is already pretty nice.

“Hey, Maverick, can I ask you something?” Bradley asks, a bit out of the blue.

Maverick doesn’t let himself react any way but casually. “Sure, what’s up?”

Bradley’s mouth twists. “Bit of a weird question. What makes someone not cut out to be a pilot? Or at least, not ready?”

Maverick frowns. “This about Hangman’s bullshit?” he asks. “Because you’re a great pilot, Rooster. Only one here besides me and Ice who’ve even finished the course.”

Bradley huffs a laugh, a strange smile flitting over his face. “You heard the Captain,” he says. “Too slow’s still not good enough.”

Maverick shrugs. “Too slow means you’re dogfighting fighters your plane wasn’t built to match,” he agrees. “Those’re still better odds than a missile to the fuselage. Don’t take it personally, it’s his job to scare the shit out of us until we do better. He threw my old man and--” he cuts himself off.

“And mine,” Bradley says. “It’s alright.”

Maverick shuts his eyes. “Yeah,” he says. “My old man and Goose. Threw them in my face. That’s what that little song and dance about ‘your team is dead because you didn’t make the right call, you want to watch Ice’s family wonder what happened to their son as the rest of the world decides he’s a traitor’ was about. It’s his job! It’s not personal. Well.” He gives Bradley a grimace of a smile. “With me it might be a bit. You know. Weird situation.”

Bradley snorts again and shakes his head. “So what makes someone not cut out to be a pilot?” he asks again.

“Still don’t think that’s what that was about,” Maverick mutters, but he stops and thinks about it. “...Honestly… I… not having taken the licensing exam?”

Bradley cracks up.

“Hey,” Maverick says, and shoves him a bit. “You asked! I don’t know, I think anyone could probably learn to fly, really, and there’re actually really clear guidelines set out--”

Bradley snorts again. “Sure, Mav,” he says, and gets to his feet, still snickering. He holds a hand out. “Here, you want a beer?”

Maverick looks up at him, and then down at the hand. He takes it, lets Bradley haul him to his feet. “Sure,” he says, grinning. “Lead the way. I’ll see if I can come up with a better answer.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bradley says. “I think maybe it’s the wrong question. Or the wrong person to ask.”

Maverick frowns. “If you say so,” he says slowly.

“I do,” Bradley says. “Let’s get that beer.”

#wip wednesday #adi is a writer #icemav #wip snippet #Bradley is Not Subtle #fortunately for him Mav has no context for what the fuck he is asking

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pokemon-card-of-the-day · 8 months

Text

Pokemon Card of the Day #2981: Beedrill (Neo Discovery)

Beedrill was one of the many Stage 2 Grass-types of its era, and with Feraligatr emerging as the dominant threat once the game rotated to Rocket-On, any decently strong Grass-type was going to get a close look. This one was all about coin flips, with the odds being against a clean KO of a Feraligatr, though the threat was high enough to be notable. Triple Poison, when it worked, also helped against specific match-ups. There was a lot of competition with Meganium and Erika's Victreebel originally and later the arrival of Crobat and the return of Venusaur, so standing out when the entire card involved luck was a bit tough. But, again, it was a reasonably strong Stage 2 Grass-type, and even minor differences were going to be notable here when the main job was just to mess with what was the most popular Pokemon to build a deck around at the time.

80 HP was nothing special for Stage 2 standards, being at the low end of the number and falling in 2 hits to most attackers at the time. The exceptions were Kingdra and Dark Gengar, which had other things going for them instead. The Fire Weakness made life just a bit easier for Blaine's Arcanine, Typhlosion and the later Magcargo, preventing the need to discard Energy to take a Beedrill down quickly. The Fighting Resistance was some help against Giovanni's Machamp and Tyrogue, a trait it shared with Crobat but none of the other Grass-types of note. Also shared with Crobat was being able to retreat for free, which was always a good thing.

Triple Poison guaranteed just 10 damage for a Grass Energy. The coin flip decided if the effect was there or not. Said effect was very good: Not only did it Poison the Defending Pokemon, but the opponent put 3 damage counters on that Pokemon instead of 1 between turns. This provided a way to wear Steelix down reasonably quickly, something other Grass-types didn't really have. It was, of course, all on a coin flip, and Crobat decks did have a slower version of this in Zubat that only did normal Poison but was guaranteed. This was better when it worked but was very unreliable.

Speaking of unreliable, Pin Missile was that. 2 Grass and a Colorless Energy got you 4 coin flips. Each heads was 20 damage, so the average was 40. You needed 3 flips to take out a Feraligatr, which was going to happen sometimes (5/16 odds) but couldn't be counted on. Players of Rocket-On may notice that Crobat did this but often a bit better.

Beedrill's main problem was that it wasn't Crobat. Outside of the better match-up against Psychic-types (Espeon and Dark Gengar both were notable, but Fire certainly wasn't unknown either), Beedrill was generally a worse Crobat, which had a lower form to guarantee at least some Poison and an 11/16 chance to set Confusion with an attack that had the exact same damage output as Pin Missile. Beedrill was available for a single set before Crobat was released, so it had some value in the earliest days of Rocket-On if you didn't pick the chance of a forced switch and the reliable (but just short of a healthy Feraligatr KO) damage of Erika's Victreebel instead.

#pokemon #pokemon tcg #card of the day #beedrill #neo discovery

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beardedmrbean · 8 months

Note

You know, the one element people refuse to discuss in this whole 'party shift' conversation. The one that really marks a major element in tones shifting over time.

And that is the growing influence of marxism and critical theory in civil rights movements during the period from the 50's onward.

Considering republicans were always anti-communist, and democrats outside of the KKK never had issues with communism, that shift Kiiiiinda matters.

That's a interesting point, likely not entirely correct or things like the Cuban missile crisis and space race may have gone a different way.

On a slow game front ya for sure, even today (most) politicians know better than to claim to be socialist, bernies crack about the 'literacy programs' castro did in cuba got a very negative response from actual Cubans, which it was all kinds of interesting seeing all these left wing academics trying to explain to the poor confused cuban community that, many of whom risked their lives to get here, that no they just misunderstood castro and he was actually a good guy who just liked to murder people for fun.

Republicans could have done a better job of a lot of things too, HUAC and the McCarthy hearings for one, but they needed to root out communism wherever it may be.

I hate politics and politicians, nearly every single one of them is the same in that they only care about being reelected and holding on to their power.

Paul Ryan stepping down from Congress at a young age to be able to commit more time to his family is a notable exception, man was #3 in line to the white house and walked away.

Could use more people like that honestly.

Sorry about the time this took, this is like the 4th response I've written, still not entirely happy with it but I'm posting it anyhow.

#anonymous

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yayaneedshercoffee · 2 years

Text

Chapter 3 | Going Down

*TW: Gore/Graphic detailing a bit, Mentions of PTSD*

The red dim lights was all that could give you sight of what's before you in the aircraft. You can hear through coms that the pilot has reached target drop off, and it takes a second for Ghost to grab his rifle, cocks it ready, and stands.

"Alright gentleman listen up, because I'm only saying this once." He takes a step towards the center of the aircraft, brushes his leg against your knee, and gives you a glare before turning his attention to the whole crew.

Wow, now he's really pissing me off with this whole tough guy act. 'I'll show him' you thought to yourself.

"Heli will drop off Bravo team at the first stop up in the hills, where me and Sergeant MacTavish will escort a squad downhill and infiltrate 2 buildings, sweeping them clean for any sign of Hassan." He turns his head to lock right on you on his next footnote.

"Heli will then drop off the second squad towards the backside of building 3, where it's believed Hassan could be possessing a missile inside. Lieutenant Reaper will escort Alpha team to sweep the building, and confirm if the intel is correct." He walks from the back of the aircraft, down the center, getting ready to head on out.

Soap stood up, because he too knew that wasn't the right plan of action. He grabs Ghosts shoulder with his hands, getting his attention fairly quick.

"Hey L.T, did you forget Lieutenant Reaper is meant to be on Bravo squad? Laswell made it very clear on-" Soap was abruptly cut off by Ghosts hand which was inches away from his chest, motioning for Soap to sip it shut.

"Laswell doesn't know what she was thinking putting the squads together. Reaper is better kept on Alpha squad to have some sort of authority." He turns his gaze onto me, I'm already showing how pissed off I am. Eyes narrowing again, he expresses, "She won't have that under my watch, I'm in control of this whole mission. Shepherd made it clear on the first day. I'm not letting some girl I barely heard of get the better of me." He spits out. Oh-oh hell no. His words felt like venom sinking deep into your very blood, and this had already got you riled up and already standing on your feet.

"When we get back I'll put in a good word as to how insecure you feel that a woman was sent to do the job that you clearly haven't progressed in." You sneer at him, your face just inches away from his chest, the height difference was real, because you're 5'3, and with his tall towering body, his shadow enveloped you under the red lights of the aircraft.

A few members listening in had their jaws dropped, with a few "ooouuuu" leaving their mouths. One of the men on board said "Oh shit, we got drama gentlemen." Following a few snickers and chuckles, Ghost immediately gave you one last look in the eyes, making a "tsk" sound beneath his mask, dropping his head downwards to now it just barely grazing your right ear.

"It's going to take more than just this bratty attitude to make me give a fuck about what you think of me." His husky voice barely audible and only for me to get a clear hearing without the rest of the aircraft to listen in on. He continues, "Keep this up and I'll make your time here is miserable Lieutenant, you'll practically beg to get off this case." This ended up making you form a grin, because damn, you finally met your match in someone worth picking a bone with.

"Keep dreaming L.T, because I'm not going no where. I don't need to prove myself to an arrogant bastards like you." You say back, standing your ground, now his face has moved from your ear to inches away from your face.

You notice that his eyes are covered black, like he's used makeup around them to hid away his features underneath. What was the need to be covered up? What's he hiding beneath this shell of a person Ghost presents himself to the world?

"Hell, I could let you borrow my black eyeshadow if you run out of makeup L.T, but let's focus on what's happening right now, shall we, makeup guru?" You teased off the tongue. His eyes, narrowing again, but this time staring at your lips, taking a few seconds to then redirect his attention to your eyes. His gaze, full of hatred again, penetrates you're entire well being, making you freeze a bit. What the hell am I doing? Why am I freezing? I'm hardly intimidated to anyone besides the General, so why him? What does he have that's got me frozen in my tracks.

You gulp down the saliva choking your throat, still maintaining eye contact, waiting for him to make a move, a sound, anything.

"You don't realize the death sentence you just brought yourself in." His final response to you before he continues down the middle of the aircraft, immediately shouting for Bravo squad to rise up and ready themselves to be dropped. "Both teams meet up in the middle, we want Hassan alive. But remember, this is capture or kill." Ghost affirms his serious tone out loud, now standing where the aircraft's doors are opening up, staring back at the crew. Soap ended up beside you, giving you a pat on the shoulder and sending you a "Good luck out there L.T, I know we can count on you." With a small smirk formed on his lips, we hear a "Keep up Sergeant MacTavish." coming from Ghost, making Soap and the rest of Bravo squad get off.

Watching them grow smaller from your view from above, you signal your squad to ready up and prepare for your teams drop off. In the middle of situating yourself, you hear gunfire, heavy gunfire. The aircraft shakes, cause you to stumble a bit before catching yourself on the metal bars inside of the aircraft, ordering the men inside to hang on tight. "Heavy fire! Heavy fire taken!" Shouts the pilot from his cockpit. Soap coms though and says "hang on you guys, stay with us now!" He quickly sent. As the aircraft spins a bit, you find it at the opening of the aircraft that an RPG is heading directly towards you guys, making you shout "RPG!" Seconds before it hits the front of the aircraft, making you guys seriously losing altitude.

From Bravos squad in the hills, this was a horrid sight to see. As soon as you guys crashed down, fire erupted from the front of the aircraft, making Soap intensely worried as he called out through coms "Alpha team, How Copy?" Static erupted. "Alpha team, what's the casualties?" He stated again, but static was all that went though. He turns to Ghost who's already turned where Soap was, grabbing his walkie and stating, "Reaper, How Copy?"

Coughs erupted from your coms, "Ah! Two men down, 3 injured!" You exhale sharply out into coms. "It's a war zone here, we are taking heavy fire, I only have 2 other men who can fight!" You exclaim quickly. Soap looks at Ghost and states, "Right, heading your way." Immediately Ghost interjects, "Negative, we move forward with the plan, L.T Reaper and her squad can hold off Hassan's men as a distraction while we push forward." He confirms, sending his men straight to buildings 1 and 2. You give a "Roger, just don't take your sweet ass time." comment through coms as you and the lady remaining men on your squad hold off inside the aircraft. Occasionally, Soap radios to you on updates on your guys states, you giving him quick responses, hoping they'd quicken their pace through each buildings.

No sign of Hassan in either buildings, meaning now they had to rescue your team and move towards building 3. "Took y'all long enough." You retorted, seeing them within view entering the a-blazed space. Soap and the squad immediately step in, some of the men taking immediate action towards the injured men, while Soap and Ghost meet you inside.

"They're shooting from behind the tree line. If we can eliminate them then we can progress forward towards building 3 and still carry on the mission." You sharply say. Having Ghost keep his gaze at you for a moment before turning and facing the tree-line where fire was coming from, Soap crouches with you and asked if you're alright, giving him a simple "I'll be alright" before you both turn your attention to the tree-line with Ghost and fight back firepower with firepower.

It takes a while for the enemy gunfire to cease, having Soap think that it's over, until he hears heavy machines clanking behind the tree-line, making it very obvious that tanks now entered the field. More gunfire erupted, in turn shooting the private to your left dead in the head, dropping on the floor. 'Man, this could traumatize anyone', you thought to yourself, and it didn't take much from seeing that for your brain to start flushing through old memories. Memories you thought you suppressed for quite some time now.

You crouch down, holding your head within your hands, as now you can hear ungodly screams and terror fill your head. The sounds of gunfire happening right now before you adds to the mess, causing you to hyperventilate.

'Y/n! Y/n!!! We can't all escape, you have to go now!! DID YOU HEAR ME, I SAID GO BEFORE ITS TO LATE, HE'LL CATCH YOU IF YOU DON'T GO NOW!!!'

You can't, not like this, not right now. Get ahold of yourself!

Immediately gaining conscious to your surroundings, you prop yourself back up on a window to start giving gunfire back. While you were crouching, Ghost called in air support to eliminate the tanks and a few stragglers on the field. With the last man standing outside, Soap shoots him dead in the face.

"Is everyone alright?" Soap announces loudly, immediately putting his attention to the injured men, who'm he's already asked for the rest of the men on board who weren't injured, to take them back for a helicopter to come get them.

You stand yourself up, immediately walking yourself towards the opening of the aircraft, watching Soap help escort the injured men outside, you're distracted and didn't realize you had bumped into Ghost, who was facing you entirely.

"Jesus L.T, mind letting me know you're there next time or what?!" You step back, composing yourself before he could respond back.

"What the bloody hell was that I saw you do just then?..." oh shit.

#simon riley fanfic #simon riley #simon ghost riley #ghost mw2 #ghost fanfiction #ghost cod #ghost x reader #soap cod #john soap mactavish #soap and ghost #what is our mission?#mission life

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mashounen1945 · 9 months

Text

1st time playing the Super Metroid + Zelda 3 combo randomizer

I actually did this a few months ago, but only talked about it on Discord. I'll copy-paste a sort of "liveblog" I did there.

[If anyone else wants to play it, go to https://samus.link/ to generate a randomizer seed from the ROMs of both games. If you wanna play the specific seed I played, the seed's number is 1045710512.]

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So... Here are the settings I used:

Super Metroid logic: normal.

Requirements to open Ganon's Tower in Zelda 3: all 7 crystals in the Dark World.

Requirements to open Tourian in Super Metroid: all 4 bosses.

Morphball location: randomized.

Goal: defeat both Ganon and Mother Brain.

Requirements to leave Ganon vulnerable: all 7 crystals.

1st sword location: randomized.

Keysanity: off.

Also, there are these other settings, which are merely aesthetic and don't affect gameplay or the item shuffling of this seed:

Link is replaced with Shantae.

Samus isn't replaced but her suit is replaced with the one from Metroid Dread (and her gunship gets a purple paint-job so it resembles the one from that game as well).

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Welp... Got a Power Bomb magazine (Is "magazine" the right word in this context?) where the Morphball would normally be, so I can only go to Hyrule now.

That sure was a good start. /s

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I'm not doing very well in Hyrule either. Got arrows and lots of magic, but no weapons to use them with, no sword out of Link's uncle, and no lamp. And in the path to Zelda's cell, the key for one of the doors was replaced by a Missile magazine for Samus.

I might be softlocked.

Now, I know there's a distinction between Normal Logic and Hard Logic: Hard Logic means the seed will require some advanced techniques to exploit glitches (short-charging the Shinespark, for example); Normal Logic will require, at most, basic stuff such as Mockball. But there's another setting, separated from whether to choose Normal or Hard Logic, which is whether or not to activate Keysanity: this randomizes keys as well as the normal items in Zelda 3. I thought I had turned Keysanity off...

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I started to look for stuff outside of Hyrule Castle. I already found an Energy Tank and a Reserve Tank for Samus and money for Link in that room behind Sahasralla in Eastern Palace (I was lucky one of the soldiers dropped a bomb, which I could use to break a wall meant to be broken with the Pegasus Boots provided by Sahasralla), but these ain't very useful for now.

I could enter Eastern Palace now as well. I wouldn't beat the boss there, but I could open some of the chests and see if I get something early.

Oh, fun fact: the name "Sahasrahla" is written in Japanese kana as "Sahasurāra", which is also the Japanese name for the 7th chakra, Sahasrāra.

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Also, I've just found out those signs in Hyrule hit really, really hard when you throw them at people.

I had to use them because I didn't find any of the swords yet. Someone else mentioned this:

"Zelda 3 wasn't designed with Sword-less in mind. It's not like you can skip it in the standard game, like in Zelda 1. It only has it as a consequence of the tutorial."

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I'm starting to realize what kind of Pandora's Box I've just opened.

I enter Eastern Palace...

1st chest I open?

A Big Key.

2nd chest I open?

Gravity Suit.

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Found one of the Mitts (the grey one), and the Screw Attack. Now these might actually be helpful.

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Space Jump acquired. It was inside the Swamp Ruins.

Still no Morphball, though.

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There is one place in Crateria where, in order to reach it, you need either the Speed Booster or a combination of Space Jump and Screw Attack. It's the one with all the worms and the lava going up and down. In the Chozo statue at the end, I found the Fire Rod. At least I have a weapon in Zelda 3 now, even though it depends on magic.

Also, I got a couple of Super Missile magazines in Zelda 3. IIRC, the path from Crateria to the Wrecked Ship requires one Super Missile to open a door, and then Space Jump with Gravity Suit to get easily through that area with the giant pool that is supposed to require the Grapple Beam.

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Never mind, it also requires one Power Bomb to open another door.

The same goes for the door that takes me from Crateria to Red Brinstar.

Back to Zelda 3, I guess.

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I take it back, I remembered something: there are a few blocks on the path to Green Brinstar that normally are destroyed with Morphball Bombs. But they can also be destroyed with Screw Attack. Which means I can enter Green Brinstar now.

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I've just remembered how good the music for Green Brinstar is. It also reminded me of one pretty big coincidence: it sounds like the music for Collision Chaos in Sonic CD. More precisely, Green Brinstar's music has a melody very similar to that on the North-American soundtrack's music tracks for Collision Chaos (especially the Present version), whereas the instruments sound a lot like the ones used for the Past music of that same level (not the melody, though, since the music tracks for Past versions of all Sonic CD levels are made from the Japanese soundtrack's melodies).

King Meteor Studios made their own "North-American Past" remix of Collision Chaos. Leaving the slightly slower tempo aside, it has a lot of Green Brinstar vibes indeed:

youtube

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Found Hammer and Hookshot in the "pink" part of Green Brinstar. The Hookshot in particular was very accessible, it didn't need Space Jump.

I also beat Spore Spawn.

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I decided to explore Death Mountain (albeit I had to go through the tunnel to Death Mountain without the lamp, which I had never done before) and try to get into the Tower of Hera. In one of the few chests of the tower, I finally found the Morphball, so now I could come back to planet Zebes and clear some stuff there. Especially because I had found the Ice Beam in the Chozo statue after Spore Spawn's room, but I had gotten a soft-lock due to not having Morphball and I had to reset it back then.

I also got the Book of Mudora in one of Death Mountain's caves. Although I'm still swordless and some tombstones with items require both the book and at least the Master Sword (I don't know what they'll give me here, but in the normal Zelda 3, two of those tombstones give you the Ether and Bombos medallions), entering Desert Palace only requires the book AFAIK, so I could go there once there's nothing left to do in Super Metroid.

Lastly, I beat Tower of Hera's boss with the Hammer (that boss is still just as annoying as in the original game), and I saw the Spazer Beam where the Mirror would normally be. I can only reach that place by going through the Dark World, which requires the Moon Pearl.

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Just as expected, getting Morphball alone already unlocked a lot in Super Metroid.

The Chozo statue that normally gives you the Morphball Bombs (and then reveals itself as a Torizo and tries to kill you) gave me the Magic Cape instead. I'm not sure how useful the Magic Cape will be for me here: almost half of my weapons require Magic, so I already need to be careful and use it with lots of moderation.

There's a part of Green Brinstar that everyone on YouTube uses to demonstrate the Mockball; behind that, there's a Chozo statue with an item, then another two items behind that. One of those two hidden items was the Pegasus Boots, which in turn unlocks quite some stuff in Zelda 3.

I entered Red Brinstar, but after exploring a bit, I went to the Wrecked Ship from there. If I had stood on Red Brinstar and gone further down there, I probably could have gone to Kraid and beat him only with what I already had.

I've also beat Phantoon and explored almost all of the Wrecked Ship (the only part left of this area requires the Speed Booster to go through) and its surroundings, where I found the Ether medallion. In Zelda 3, freezing enemies -either with Ether (pun not intended) or the Ice Rod- and then killing them with the Hammer makes them drop Magic refills, so getting this item partially solves my little Magic Scarcity Crisis. The one big downside of this is that I'll have to try not to waste uses of Ether in rooms with only one or two enemies.

I'm in the upper areas of Maridia now. To nobody's surprise, getting the Gravity Suit early makes this place much less of a nightmare to explore. On the other hand, my lack of the infinite supply of normal Morphball Bombs is starting to become a problem, as I have to very much manage a finite supply of 10 Power Bombs and I'm finding more and more places where I need to do a Bomb-Jump and those few Power Bombs are the only thing that lets me do that for now.

I've not even set foot in Norfair yet. I guess I could, but I'll leave that for when I get the Varia Suit and I can explore all of Norfair in one go. I know there are ways to beat Super Metroid without getting Varia, such as the Reverse Boss Order run, which explicitly requires entering Norfair and beating Ridley without Varia... but I'm still not enough of a True Gamer™ to pull it off.

And yes, I'm still sword-less. I was also shield-less for quite a long time until I got the basic shield in the Wrecked Ship.

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I'm exploring Maridia right now. I didn't notice at first, but that place is huge.

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I can't do much more in Maridia for now. About 40% of the region is still inaccessible, because either it requires Speed Booster (like that room with all those "under-developed Metroid larva" things, and another point where I saw the Silver Arrows) or the door is grey and can't be opened at all.

On the good side, I did the Gate Glitch for the first time (Yay!) and got the Blue Boomerang... which isn't a lot, especially when I already have the Hookshot.

There are items in Maridia that require some sick tricks (like jumping, going into Morphball and t h r e a d i n g t h e n e e d l e in a hole for the Morphball near the ceiling... with crumbling blocks below) and I don't have the patience to try to pull them off right now, but those items ain't even important: a red rupee and Heart Pieces (quite a lot of them).

There are also the Silver Arrows, which are locked behind a Speed Booster wall apparently, but that doesn't matter for now because I don't even have the Bow.

I'll go explore what's left of Red Brinstar and beat Kraid while I'm there.

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Something particularly frustrating regarding the beam cannon: I have the Ice Beam... and nothing else, not even Charge Beam.

So I shoot the Ice Beam, hoping that it freezes an enemy. And it does, but only after ten or more shots.

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Something related to this: I heard that, at least in the Metroid titles on the GameBoy Advance (Fusion and Zero Mission), when the beam types stack, not only do they combine their effects but they also have additive attack power; Samus's fully upgraded beam cannon can already do much more damage than the beam cannon at the beginning of each game because of the minimum damage it does per shot, even if the enemy is a major boss such as Mecha-Ridley or Mother Brain, to whom the Ice Beam doesn't freeze and the Plasma Beam doesn't repeatedly do damage multiple times with each shot.

I also heard that, in Metroid Dread, enemies have specific weaknesses to one beam type or another.

Back to Super Metroid, since each Plasma Beam shot can go through enemies while damaging them, thus inflicting several times more damage than the shot itself (unless it's a major boss such as the aforementioned Mother Brain and Mecha-Ridley in Zero Mission), it has a... unique effect on Crocomire when firing a fully charged shot at its open mouth.

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Kraid... eradicated (see you in Metroid Dread, I guess).

I think I'll go back to Hyrule now. Once I'm there, I might find a way to enter the "eastern" areas of Maridia (the ones I couldn't explore yet) from Zelda 3, perhaps even fight Draygon.

There are 4 doors in Zebes and 4 in Hyrule that work as portals between both worlds here. The locations of all these doors, along with which door in Zebes connects with which door in Hyrule, are not randomized. But I don't remember the exact location of every portal; I remember one that connects Crateria with a house in central Hyrule near Link's house (which I found at the very beginning of the playthrough), and there's another one in eastern Maridia that I only know about because I saw it in Maridia's map but I still don't know where in Hyrule it leads to.

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Also, in Kraid's Lair the eastern part of Red Brinstar after The Tube (you know which one...), there's a room that can only be entered after killing Kraid. What do I find there?

An Energy Tank.

Which was already there in the original game, IIRC.

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Okay, I decided to enter Norfair anyway, despite not being able to get very far yet without the Varia Suit.

On one hand, where the Ice Beam and the Hi-Jump Boots would normally be, there were just a Normal Missile magazine and 10 Arrows.

On the other hand, right before the Hi-Jump Boots' room (where I have to run a race against an orange Zoomer or something), I found a Power Bomb magazine. With the one I got as a "reward" after defeating Kraid (because it took the Varia Suit's place), I have a maximum of 20 Power Bombs now.

Besides, right after entering Upper Norfair from Red Brinstar, there's a Save Room and another door... that turns out to be another portal to Hyrule. More exactly, a portal to Death Mountain. So now I'll start doing stuff in Zelda 3, starting from there.

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After exploring a bit, I've beaten the boss at Desert Palace. I had already made some progress there, but I couldn't go fight the boss until now: the Big Key was behind the only door I hadn't opened, and the one key that would let me open that last door was on top of a column and required the Pegasus Boots.

I have the Mirror but not the Moon Pearl, so I can only do brief "incursions". In one of them, I got the Spazer Beam (to be precise, I found it where the Mirror would normally be).

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There's something weird I found upon watching some streamers play this randomizer:

Does anyone here see anything strange in this screencap?

It's not really important, since it doesn't affect the actual gameplay at all. But it still baffles me: this doesn't happen with the Spazer Beam in the original Super Metroid, nor does it happen with any other item (neither the ones for Samus nor the ones for Link) in the randomizer.

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I finally got the Moon Pearl. Now I can explore the Dark World as much as I want. I also got the Red Shield, which can at least reflect some attacks.

-------------------------

So... Now that I can enter the Dark World with no problem, I went to its version of Kakariko Town (I think it's called "Thieves' Town") and entered the dungeon below the statue. The first chest I open? The level 1 sword, called "the Fighter's Sword" in the randomizer.

-------------------------

I had to leave the dungeon at Thieves' Town for later. I was dying so much, I couldn't progress much there. Also, I still don't have the Bow, and I'd like to be able to shoot the 40 arrows I've hoarded so far.

So I went to the witch's hut to get a blue potion (I'd gotten one of the Bottles earlier), and when entering the Dark World again, I decided to explore outside of the dungeons.

And I'm getting some important items: Zora's Flippers, the Ocarina, and Half-Magic.

I'm not sure what exactly Half-Magic is for, though. I heard there's only one place in the entire game where it really makes a difference: in the Dark World's version of Death Mountain, there's a cave with its floor covered in spikes; I can either get enough Heart Containers and tank the damage, or use an item that grants me invicibility (either the Magic Cape or the Cane of Byrna), which will require a lot of magic.

Other than that, I guess I could just... get all four Bottles, save money to buy 4 blue potions and get by with that.

-------------------------

Two different people told me this about Half Magic:

"It's a funny moment in-game when you get it. Also, it lets you super-spam the Fire and Ice Rods."

"It's a nice quality-of-life detail but you don't really need it for anything."

-------------------------

Zora's Flippers will be very useful when I get back to the Light World: on the way to the Zoras' Waterfall, I saw the Titan's Mitt on the other side of a river.

-------------------------

Thieves' Town boss, defeated.

Is it just me, or the only way to defeat this boss is to "out-DPS" them? Both here and in the original game, I've beaten it by running into them and damaging them faster than they could hurt me. In the original Zelda 3, I tried to preserve my health so I could fire sword beams (which I don't have yet in the randomizer because... well... no Master Sword) and attack from a distance. But that pair of flying heads kept shooting and the red shield didn't stop all their attacks, so I lost the sword beams very quickly during the fight. The arrows were too slow as a long-range weapon in comparison to the sword, so I just... rammed into the boss and started slashing. The old-fashioned way of using a sword, you know?

-------------------------

Some answers I got from people on Discord:

"That boss is unique in that it takes equal damage from all sword sources. So the best method is to poke it, despite that normally making your damage lower." "Doesn't he just take a set number of hits, basically?" "Three per head, for a total of nine."

-------------------------

Let's do a recap of what I've got until now.

In Super Metroid:

5 Energy Tanks and 2 Reserve Tanks.

Ice and Spazer Beams.

Gravity Suit.

Space Jump.

Morphball and Screw Attack.

100 normal Missiles, 30 Super Missiles, and 30 Power Bombs.

Grapple Beam.

In Zelda 3:

12 Heart Containers, plus 2 Heart Pieces.

40 arrows and at least 18 bombs (I don't know what's my bomb capacity right now, I know about the arrow capacity only because I've hoarded those 40 arrows without a Bow to shoot them with).

Half Magic.

Level 1 Sword and Red Shield (which is level 2, I guess).

Blue Boomerang.

Hookshot.

Magic Powder.

Fire Rod.

Ether.

Lamp.

Hammer.

Shovel.

Ocarina.

Bug-Catching Net.

Book of Mudora.

1 Bottle.

Magic Cape.

Mirror and Moon Pearl.

Titan's Mitt, Pegasus Boots, and Zora's Flippers.

-------------------------

When generating this randomizer seed, I had chosen to shuffle what each defeated boss would represent and unlock. Here's what I've found out:

When I killed the boss at Thieves' Town, according to the game, I actually got the blue pendant, the one from Desert Palace.

Earlier, when I did the same at Desert Palace, I got one of the crystals as a reward instead of that dungeon's pendant.

When I defeated the boss at Death Mountain, I technically killed Kraid.

When I actually killed both Kraid and Phantoon, officially I defeated another two Dark World bosses, thus being rewarded with another two crystals.

The three crystals I've got so far are the 1st, 3rd and 4th ones, which correspond to Dark Palace (Dark World's Eastern Palace), Skull Woods (Dark World's Lost Woods), and Thieves' Town.

According to the maps of Zebes's regions, Ridley is in Maridia, taking Draygon's place. Meanwhile, Ridley's place in Lower Norfair is taken by a red crystal.

Two of the seven crystals are shown as red in the randomizer; to be precise, it's the 5th and 6th crystals, which correspond to Ice Palace and Misery Mire (the lake/swamp in the Dark World that replaces the desert in the Light World). Those are the two bosses I need to kill in order to get the big bomb and go grab the Golden Sword (or whatever it's been replaced with).

According to the map of Hyrule's Light World, Phantoon is still kicking in Eastern Palace. Meanwhile, the map of Hyrule's Dark World says that:

The green pendant (Eastern Palace) is in Skull Woods, and the red pendant (Tower of Hera) is in Turtle Rock.

Draygon is still waiting in Dark Palace.

The crystal in Turtle Rock was sent to Swamp Palace, the one that was originally there was sent to Ice Palace, and the red crystal in Ice Palace was sent to Misery Mire (which means Misery Mire's red crystal is the one replacing Ridley).

-------------------------

Before I continue with this, have a little PSA:

If you wanna try this randomizer out someday (or if you wanna play any randomizer, for that matter), completing the original versions of both games at least once before playing the randomizer should be enough. No need to learn all the ins and outs of each game, or overly complex speedrunning tricks or very advanced sequence-breaking techniques or glitches.

Games Done Quick has its own series dedicated to randomizer runs, "Random Number Generation". The people playing games for that section often remind viewers that randomizers are for players "of any and all skill levels", not reserved or restricted for True Gamers™, and it's okay to play them with only a minimum of knowledge and experience in their respective original games.

-------------------------

Now I've just gotten the Cane of Byrna: it was in Misery Mire, inside one of those two rooms at each side of the entrance to the dungeon. The other room is the portal to Lower Norfair; to be precise, that portal leads me right behind the Golden Torizo room.

The portal connecting Lower Norfair with Misery Mire is here. It doesn't expose me to that area's high temperature, but instead leads me to a room with an energy recharge station. I could try to go to the Golden Torizo's room (a bit further down and to the left), fight it, get whatever is hidden in that corner the Torizo drops itself from, and get the heck back to the recharge station. But with only 7 energy tanks (5 normals + 2 reserves), I don't feel confident enough.

-------------------------

Yes, there is a Chozo statue between the portal and the Golden Torizo's room. And I did go down there to see what it had.

One rupee. I almost died for one rupee.

Anyway, Master Sword... acquired.

In the northeastern corner of the desert, there's a place that can only be accessed by warping to the Dark World, walking to that corner, and warping back to the Light World in that spot. There, in the cave below a light-green rock, the item turned out to be the Master Sword.

-------------------------

I couldn't do anything else in Misery Mire, so I went to explore Ice Palace. Also, I've just got the Tempered Sword.

-------------------------

The Ice Palace boss is down. I also got the Cane on Somaria.

I'm starting to get less and less stuff from the places I explore, and I'm kind of running out of places to go as well.

-------------------------

I managed to beat the boss at Dark Woods, but I didn't get any new items. Many places in Hyrule where there should be an item only have a red rupee instead. Also, I had forgotten how much of a headache that dungeon is: those "falling hand" things that grab me and take me back to the beginning (I know they're called "Hand Masters", but I'll just call them "Za Hando" from now on), a new kind of mummy that's more resistant than the others, and the entire dungeon having a confusing design in general. And there's the boss itself, with the giant conveyor-belt floor and the spikes moving independently from that floor. I could kill that overgrown moth only by spamming the Fire Rod (I was pretty close to running out of magic, due to having only one bottle to carry blue potions), and I had only one heart at the end of the fight.

After that, I tried to get into Dark Palace and get the only pendant left. But there's an enemy that can only be killed with arrows, and the door to the boss doesn't open until that enemy dies; this is the same as in Eastern Palace, where I opened all the chests but I can't fight the boss yet.

On the other hand, while exploring Dark Palace, I got Plasma Beam. Which is... nice, I guess. For now, Plasma is useful as an alternative to Spazer and not much else. I can't fire charged shots yet, so I'm still unable to truly exploit the qualities of Plasma Beam (one-shotting Crocomire, for example), and I still don't have the Wave Beam, which I still need for a few puzzles (a door in the "pink" part of Green Brinstar, which can be opened with the beam cannon but only from one side).

-------------------------

Forget what I said earlier, now I'm making actual progress. I just wasn't looking in the right places.

Two of the bottles were in Death Mountain: one was in the mountain's caves, in the Dark World, and the other one was in the Light World but had to be acquired by using the sword and the book on that gravestone to the east of Tower of Hera (I think it's the one that would normally give me Ether).

That reminded me of the gravestone at the entrance to the desert (the one that would give me Bombos in the original game), which requires going through the Dark World. That 2nd gravestone gave me Varia Suit, so now I can either go back to Zebes or stay a bit more in Hyrule.

-------------------------

A while ago, I was like "I'm gonna stay in Hyrule. Swamp Palace should be available already, maybe I can get something there." One minute later, I found the Charge Beam.

Best. Decision. Of this entire playthrough.

Now I can use Power Bombs as ammo for those s i c c tricks with special beam attacks (though that'll not be a reasonable way to manage my still very limited supply of Power Bombs).

-------------------------

And now the boss at Swamp Palace is dead.

-------------------------

This randomizer seed kind of likes to mess with me via the rewards for defeating a Zelda 3 boss.

There are two rewards. One of them is the pendant or crystal assigned to that dungeon (or the corpse of a Super Metroid boss in this randomizer, I guess); as I said earlier, randomizing this is optional and I had turned that on when generating the seed, so I knew what I was expecting in that regard. The other reward, awarded to the player before the dungeon's pendant/crystal, is some other item; just like everything else here, this item can be almost anything other than small keys (randomizing those keys is optional, and I had turned that off).

After defeating each boss in this seed, I've often been rewarded with a "dungeon item", either the Map or the Compass. This time, after defeating the Swamp Palace's boss, I was rewarded with the 3rd "dungeon item": the Big Key.

Also, I hadn't found the Map anywhere else in Swamp Palace, so I'm pretty sure it's in the giant chest that requires the Big Key.

Now I'll go back to Zebes. I still don't have normal Morphball Bombs, but with what I've got for Samus so far, it should be enough. I might even be able to defeat Mother Brain already.

-------------------------

Before going back to Zebes, I did one last quick search through Swamp Palace. Just as I thought, the Map was in the chest locked by the Big Key.

But there was also one normal chest I hadn't opened yet. That chest had the last of the 4 Bottles.

-------------------------

I've just got out of Norfair. I had entered by "cheating", going through the portal from Misery Mire.

Many important items were in Norfair this whole time: the Speed Booster in a room at far-eastern Norfair that requires the Spring Ball, the Spring Ball in a room very close to where I needed it to get the Speed Booster, the Golden Sword hidden in a pool of lava near the entrance to Norfair, and the Blue Mail at... some point between them, I don't remember. On the other hand, I still don't have the Bow.

I also found the normal Morphball Bombs (finally...). Turns out they were behind Ridley. So yeah, I had to fight Ridley.

I won, but it seems 12 Energy Tanks (3 of them are actually Reserve Tanks, though), 40 Super Missiles and 150 normal Missiles might not be enough to beat him, not to mention that I can't avoid ramming my face into a boss as part of my "strategy" to defeat them. The only way I managed to survive was by shooting all the normal Missiles first, then shooting all the Super Missiles after them, so Ridley turned red but didn't have enough time to kill me with the stronger attacks on his "angry phase".

-------------------------

I've just finished exploring Maridia. Draygon is dead, and thanks to the Speed Booster, I've got the Silver Arrows, which I had already seen earlier. Still no Bow, though. There are a few locations in Brinstar and the Wrecked Ship that I couldn't access until now, so I'll look for items there.

Also, the portal in eastern Maridia connects to the South-East of Hyrule's Dark World; more exactly, the entrance to a cave, to the east of the lake where the Ice Palace is. In that same spot of the Light World, there's the 8th arrival point available when using the ocarina to move around Hyrule (those arrival points for the Ocarina Boy's Bird).

I'll have to go back to Hyrule eventually, anyway. Due to the "boss shuffle" thing, according to this randomizer seed, Draygon is in Dark Palace, and I couldn't fight the boss there yet.

-------------------------

I forgot to mention a few things:

In Norfair, I found the two medallions left (Bombos and Quake).

In Maridia, I found the Mirror Shield. It took the Plasma Beam's place, behind a door that remains locked until after you beat Draygon.

-------------------------

Welp... I'm pretty much done with the Super Metroid part of the randomizer for now. I found the Red Mail, but not much else, so I still don't have either the Bow or the Wave Beam. There's one item I haven't checked yet, but it's behind that one-way door in Brinstar. It'll be so cruel (but not unexpected) if it turns out the Wave Beam is behind that same door and can only be acquired by using the Gate Glitch (which is even harder here, since this door is high above the ground). Now I'm back in Hyrule, trying to defeat all the remaining bosses there.

-------------------------

I began to explore Turtle Rock, and during the boss fight, I realized something else: both the Fire Rod and the Ice Rod are needed to fight the boss.

I still don't have the Ice Rod, and I thought Ether would be a good replacement since it has the same effects.

...

Guess I'll die.

-------------------------

Okay, I've just defeated the boss at Misery Mire, so I have all 7 crystals now because of Boss Shuffle. Now I can grab the big bomb and get the item that took the Golden Sword's place, and I might be able to fight Ganon already.

-------------------------

Well, Plan "Big Bomb" didn't work: I just found an Energy Tank in the Golden Sword's place.

On the other hand, I've unlocked Ganon's Tower. I hope any important item left is in there; right now, Bow and Ice Rod are all I'd really need, since I can enter Tourian and kill Mother Brain without Wave Beam.

Also, I remember seeing someone beat Ganon without shooting arrows. They had to slash Ganon with the sword... like... 50 times or something. I could try that since I've got no Bow but at least I have the sword at max level.

-------------------------

After learning some advanced variants of the Wall Glitch (which was for nothing, because the one item left in Zebes was just a Missile pack) and also the Mimic Clipping (which isn't very useful anyway) and revisiting everything in Hyrule, I finally found out where the important items left were located this entire time:

The Bow was in the "c-shaped house" at northeast Thieves' Town, which means it was totally available ever since I was able to enter the Dark World.

The Ice Rod was in the cemetery to the east of the Sanctuary, in a room hidden below a tomb on the northeast corner of that cemetery. Until a few minutes ago, I only knew of a similar secret room below a tomb on the northwest corner of the cemetery.

The Wave Beam had to be acquired by completing a task, the one where you have to find a purple chest in the Dark World (in the Dark World's version of the twin blacksmiths' house, to be precise), warp to the Light World with it, and bring it to some moustache guy meditating in the middle of the path between the ruins and the desert. I had completed that task in my 1st playthrough of standard Zelda 3, and I still remembered there was a purple chest, something important in the Dark World's version of the blacksmiths' house, and that guy meditating, but I had completely forgotten the connection between all those things.

Anyway... Now I can beat the randomizer with no problem.

-------------------------

Every boss in both Super Metroid and Zelda 3 has been defeated.

(Also, after gathering the three pendants, I went to Lost Woods and found out the Red Boomerang was the item that replaced the Master Sword in this randomizer seed)

Now I could go beat both games' final bosses in any order I want. There's only one noteworthy difference gameplay-wise between defeating either Ganon or Mother Brain first: if I beat Mother Brain before Ganon, Super Metroid's escape sequence only has a countdown until Samus crosses the door that takes her out of New Tourian and into Old Tourian, which makes the escape less anxiety-inducing. From that point onward, Samus can either go back to her ship or keep exploring Zebes since it's not gonna explode (or the player can warp back to Hyrule to fight Ganon).

There's this tradition (at least on Games Done Quick) of leaving Mother Brain for last. But I'll go kill Mother Brain first, I'm not really in the mood to deal with the entire countdown.

-------------------------

Since I've got most items and I can go beat both final bosses, I decided to try some of those glitches with the mysterious VAR Beam (which is just Spazer and Plasma Beam activated at the same time). But then I saw that Hi-Jump Boots are required to get the VAR Beam in the first place, and I can't do any of those glitches without that.

Oh, well... I guess I'll beat the game(s) without doing any weird experiments.

-------------------------

Okay, to be precise, the VAR Beam (along with all the other glitches that are based on it, like Murder Beam and Space-Time Beam) requires the Hi-Jump Boots only for the option to appear on the "Boots" section of the pause menu.

I also saw a glitch to be able to move during the entirety of the Mother Brain boss fight, even when the controls are supposed to be temporarily turned off (the scene where "The Baby" sacrifices themself for Samus and she gets the Hyper Beam). Unlike more advanced stuff such as short-charging the Shinespark, this glitch seems to be rather easy to do.

-------------------------

And now this randomizer seed has been beaten. Finally.

I had forgotten about the funny lines Randomized Ganon can say at the beginning of the battle.

"Thanks for dropping in, the first passengers in a hot air balloon were a duck, a sheep and a rooster."

"I feel like we keep ending up here. Don't you? It's like deja vu all over again."

"JOIN ME, HERO, AND I SHALL MAKE YOUR FACE THE GREATEST IN THE DARK WORLD! OR ELSE YOU WILL DIE!"

"IMPA SAYS THAT THE MARK ON YOUR HAND MEANS THAT YOU ARE THE HERO CHOSEN TO AWAKEN ZELDA. YOUR BLOOD CAN RESURRECT ME."

"Don't stand don't stand so Don't stand so close to me Don't stand so close to me back off buddy"

And then there's the Essence of the Triforce saying nothing but "L O L".

-------------------------

The results:

(Now, I wonder what's up with that digit on the hundredths of seconds of the total time...)

#metroid #super metroid #the legend of zelda #zelda no densetsu #kamigami no triforce #a link to the past #zelda 3 #loz alttp #randomizer #super metroid + zelda 3 randomizer #super metroid + zelda alttp randomizer #combo randomizer #smz3 #Youtube

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pretty-little-martyr · 8 months

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if anyone was lookin into seeing The Creator in theatres while it's out, having seen it tonight here are my takeaways:

1- weirdly pro-AI considering the political clime. read the room, guys.

2- absolute Beautiful Nothing of a film. the cinematography is great, the music is fantastic, the lead actor is ...... certainly there, and he is quite pretty honestly, but the storyline is just. meh. spends far too much time humanizing AI in such a weird "i love licking elon musk's boots" kind of way.

3- weird amount of orientalism for 2023???? these dudes really said "sure, chinese and japanese are interchangeable languages, right? and everybody is, like, a rice farmer?"

4- every character who is Bad is just fucking cartoon-villain levels of bad. felt like a fucking dhar mann video sometimes i swear.

5- theres a single plot point that theyre like a dog with a bone about. they fucking hammer that shit IN 3 times over throughout the movie to the point it felt very fuckn predictable when it'd come up again

5/10 fine movie to watch with a friend (pirated, dont buy a ticket like i did tbqh if only for the fuckin AI bootlicker shit) and make fun of the plot holes. like the way the filmmakers seem to think that once you "lose connection" with a missile it just won't explode anymore. good job guys i can see you too took naps throughout science classes in high school.

EDIT yknow what I amend this. after having slept on it and read up more on Vietnam War movies. 2/10 if toure a cinematography nerd or studying film theres stuff to learn vis a vis shot composition but if you're the average joe you'll probably be like Meh, Okay about it. I'd give it 3-4/10 if it werent for the racism. so it gets a 2. stop doing orientalism its 2023

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nebulablakemurphy · 3 years

Text

Miss American Pie

Chapter Five: This Will Be The Day (Finale)

Warning: this series features a romantic Yelena Belova x Fem!Reader pairing.

Summary: Everyone has returned but the battle for humanity against Thanos wages on.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

You wake in a coughing fit, the rubble surrounding you sears your lungs. “Natasha.” You call into the rocks and flickering lights. Clearing your throat, you try again. “Natasha!”

“Here, I’m here.” Her voice is rough, pained.

You push yourself toward the sound, through the dust you can make out her hair. “You ok?”

“Mostly.” She’s laying face up, a few scratches visible.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I can’t move.” She nods at the piece of collapsed cement. “My leg is broken, you should go.” Nat says, staring up at the sky.

“I should’ve never let you go to Vormir. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” You try uselessly to budge the blockage over her leg.

“What is Vormir?” She asks.

“Doesn’t matter.” You swallow the lump in your throat. “How much do you remember?”

“The red room.”

“Do you remember getting out?”

“No one gets out.” She shakes her head.

“We did.” You inform her. “Yelena did.”

“Yelena?” Her gaze finds yours. “You know Yelena? Is she here?”

“Yes, I know her.” You press your lips together. “She’s not here though.”

“The rest of this building is coming down. If you were really trained in the red room you have to know that.” Natasha frowns. “You need to leave.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Don’t be a hero.” She whispers. “Let me go, it’s ok.”

“No, it’s not.” You argue. “I won’t do it again.”

“What about Yelena?” Natasha gives you a pointed look.

“She’ll understand.” This is what she would do.

“Hey,” Natasha pushes herself up on her elbows. “Would it be a good thing or a bad thing if a giant man in a metal suit carrying a smaller man and a raccoon appeared behind your head?”

You turn toward the man in question. Scott Lang. “It would be a good thing.”

———————————————————————

Natasha is taken somewhere safe. She can’t fight.

As the strange doctor and his disciples start opening portals you see that you’re not alone. Through one comes Alexei, Melina and Yelena.

Her white suit is pristine, dirty blonde hair held away from her face in ponytails.

On shaky legs you move toward her, taking your rightful place at her side. Facing what lies ahead together.

Yelena catches your hand, “this isn’t much of a welcome home.”

You can’t help but laugh, “pretty cool way to die though.”

“Very,” she agrees. “Natasha?”

“She is a little worse for wear.” You warn her, “but alive…and safe.”

Yelena gives you a watery smile, squeezing your fingers. “And you?”

“A tower fell on me.”

“Of course it did.”

Thanos’ army is nothing to scoff at. Giant airborne creatures hover over his troops. Larger monsters stand in their ranks, space ship overhead ready to destroy.

Steve is almost unrecognizable, covered in dirt, his shield battered and broken. But you know it is time when he gives the order. “Avengers, assemble.”

Fighting is easy, it’s what you know. What you were trained to do. Fight to stay alive, fight for what you believe in, fight with Yelena; for Yelena.

The two of you move together like a well oiled machine. Like riding a bike, even after all this time you could never forget.

“We’ve got company to the left.” Yelena says through gritted teeth, kicking at the alien creature beside her. Dropping an empty cartridge to the ground and reloading her gun seamlessly, firing several shots.

Despite everyone’s best efforts they just keep coming. “Do we have a plan here?”

“Getting there,” Steve replies. “Anybody have eyes on the gauntlet?”

“Yeah!” Clint rushes past you with the glove in hand. “What am I supposed to do with it?”

“Get it out of here!” Tony insists.

“What’s happening?” Alexei shouts over the chaos. “I still don’t have ear piece.”

“Just keep their army away from that guy in the tank top.” You grunt, falling backwards from the force of one of Thanos’ soldiers colliding with you.

“We have to get the stones back where they came from.” Rhodey reminds everyone.

“The time space tunnel is completely collapsed.” Tony points out.

“That isn’t our only time machine.” Lang cuts in.

“Does anyone see an ugly brown van out there?” Captain America’s voice hums through the ear bud.

“I do,” a female voice chimes in. “But you’re not going to like where it’s parked.”

After grappling for far too long, you manage to knock the creature from you. Using your knife to dismember it.

“Next time, we get the cool laser guns.” Yelena yells loud enough to be heard by everyone on the network, as she hauls you to your feet.

“Friday, please add laser guns for the ballerinas to my grocery list.” Stark gives his smart ass remark.

“What’s the word on the van?” Rhodey wonders.

“Working on it now.”

The ship at Thanos’ disposal begins raining fire, no regard for their own troops.

“We’ve got people going down!” Rocket hollers.

“Clint,” you call into the microphone. “How’s that gauntlet?”

“Moving down the field.” The archer replies, “I’m alright too, thanks for asking.”

“Good.” You bite back a smile.

Hell continues breaking loose around you. Glowing circular orbs unfold in the air above, providing coverage from the missiles. You’re not sure if this is winning or losing. It feels like a bit of both.

———————————————————————- Thanos and his army are dusted away. Leaving you surprised and still swinging as the shock wears off.

You won. You. Won.

And you lost.

You lost Tony Stark. The man you’d barely known, but offered you clarity that will stay with you forever.

You lost the Natasha you’d come to know over the five years that Yelena was gone. Some parts of the redhead stripped away for the price of the stone.

But she’s still here. Waiting in the wings to be greeted by Yelena and their little makeshift family. You share a look of understanding when your eyes meet over the blonde’s shoulder.

Others come, Banner refuses to leave her side. Despite the fact that Natasha doesn’t remember him.

Clint falls to the ground at her feet. Breaking down at the sight of his friend, his family alive and well. She doesn’t remember him either, but welcomes him into her arms somewhat awkwardly.

Her expressions flicker from happy to overwhelmed. Hesitant to open herself up to the possibility that she is wanted, needed and loved.

Too confusing for the girl who only remembers the red room. Adjusting to this life will take time.

Everyone begins clearing out, their jobs finished. Rushing home to reunite with their loved ones. Tomorrow will bring about new challenges. The world is in shambles, and so are you.

Steve decides that he should be the one to return the stones. His goodbye tells you that he has a bit more in mind. But this is his life. His choices, not yours.

“Well, I guess we should head out too.” You say after a while. Your car is gone, lost in the wreckage from the explosion.

The setting sun is eclipsed, causing all of you to turn your gaze upwards just in time to see the ship’s door open.

“Is that a raccoon?” Melina asks, pointing toward Rocket.

“Do you want a ride or not?” Rocket shoots back.

“Not the avenger’s super jet, but it will do huh?” Alexei smiles, this is his dream.

“This is better!” A man’s voice carries down from the interior.

“Well,” Yelena shrugs, “if you say so.” She leads the pack up the ramp and onto the ship.

“Fanny and the pigs will be expecting dinner soon.”

“How are they?” Melina asks, “have you been taking care of them.”

“That was me!” Alexei says proudly, bending at the waist to gather Natasha into his arms. “Aye honey,” he grunts, hoisting her up. “You are only little girl in my heart.”

Nat pushes against his chest in retaliation.

“Do you mind if I hitch a ride too?” Clint asks.

“The extra stop will cost you,” Nebula stares blankly at him from her seat.

“They always do.” He remarks, trotting up the ramp.

Bruce paces at the foot of the metal grate, watching the rest of you load up. “I gotta hang back, make sure Steve gets there in one piece.”

“After what happened with Scott the first time I’d say that’s probably the best bet.” You agree, standing near the entrance.

“Yeah,” he smiles, kindly. “Keep me posted on Nat, will ya?”

“I will,” you return the smile.

“I’ll see you around.”

You nod, “I’ll see you.”

The captain of the ship introduces himself as Star-lord, and after a moment without response, Quill.

“Any requests?” He asks, finger hovering over the control panel.

Alexei creeps over to the younger man, quietly relaying a message.

“Alright,” Quill nods. Stroking the keys until a familiar set of notes ring out.

“A long, long time ago-“ The singer croons.

You let out a chuckle.

“I can still remember how that music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance. And maybe they'd be happy for a while.”

“We’re really doing this?” Yelena puts a hand to her head, the corners of her mouth turning upward.

“But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step.” The melody carries on.

“It’s your song.” Natasha turns to her sister.

“I can't remember if I cried. When I read about his widowed bride.” Melina’s eyes are far away, carried back to their years in Ohio. Before the world had been so cruel.

“Something touched me deep inside, the day the music-“

“Died.” Yelena joins in, lulling her head to the side to gage your reaction.

You sigh, all of this beyond surreal. But you allow yourself to live in this moment, because you might not get another. “So bye, bye Miss American Pie…”

“Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.” The roaring chorus of voices fills the silence you’ve grown used to. Fills the parts of you that were empty for so long. “And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye. Singin', “this’ll be the day that I die.”

“This’ll be the day that I die.” Yelena sings, her face alight with a childlike glee.

——————————————————————-

Melina, Natasha and Alexei stay with you for a while. A few weeks as Natasha heals and becomes acclimated to her life.

She claims to hate the attention, but deep down you know she’s full of it.

The Ohio house is bursting at the seams with five adults, nine pigs and one dog.

That isn’t enough to keep visitors at bay. Namely Clint, his wife Laura and their three children.

Things feel a bit off when everyone begins moving out. Alexei, Melina, and their pigs return to the farm outside of Saint Petersburg.

Natasha finds herself drawn to New York, with Bruce and the makeshift building he’s using as a lab.

You adjust to the steady thrum that is daily life, with Fanny and Yelena.

After dinner you load the dishwasher, drying your hands on the nearby tea towel before selecting a cycle.

“So how does it feel?” Yelena asks, leaning against the doorframe.

“Hmm?” You turn to face her.

“Being a hero.” She clarifies, a smile playing at her lips.

“I’m not-“

“Oh cut the crap, Y/N. You saved the world.” Yelena narrows her eyes at you.

“I did it for you.” You say simply, because it’s true.

Yelena closes the space between you, “why?”

“You know why.” You whisper as she cups your face in her hands, gently stroking her thumb over your cheek. “It’s ok if you wouldn’t have done the same.”

“I’d do more for you, and worse.” She assures you. “But do you really want to spend the rest of your life fumbling around feelings in the dark when you could have someone who-“

“I want you. I only ever want you.” You beckon her closer. “Anyway I can have you, that will be enough for me.”

Sometimes wires get crossed and you want things you never have before. And she provides them before you have a chance to ask. You give back to her tenfold, so that neither glass is ever empty. That is love. True love, the only way you’ve ever known it.

“I am yours…in every way a person can belong to another.” Yelena breathes, “and then some.”

Series taglist: @jeyramarie @freeshavocadoooo @ilovewinter101 @3and30aresoultwins @yelenabelovv @miphas-trident @1800-fight-me

If you loved this series as much as I did, you can check out the prequel here!

#yelena belova x reader #yelena belova #marvel fanfiction #black widow fanfiction #black widow #yelena belova fanfiction #yelena belova imagine #yelena belova x y/n #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff fanfic #natasha romanoff imagine #yelena belova x you #yelena belova x female reader

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watevermelon · 3 years

Text

Same Old Love | Kaeya (Genshin) x Traveler!Reader

✧ Summary: Kaeya was mysterious in every way that made you wary. From the gleam in his eye to how easy it was for him to flirt, it made you wonder how much he was presenting was truly real. Not wanting to get sucked in, you swore not to fall for the Cavalry Captain. At least, that was the plan, right? ➳ Notes: Angst with a happy ending ➳ A/N: Thank you so much for the ask!! This was fun to write ((I feel like I write so much angsty/jealousy fics haha)) I’m just getting into genshin and so please feel free to send in requests for these cuties <3 @breathings-of-the-heart

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You had some worries about Kaeya, dubbed “The Handsome Mr. Kaeya” by Paimon.

There was no doubt that he was attractive, his ever present smirk and exposed chest was enough to signify to anyone that even Kaeya was well aware of his looks. But he tended to wield his words like a double edged sword - using his words for an express purpose.

It was admirable, in a way. He was the loyal Cavalry Captain who looked out for Mondstadt’s best interest. And while he had misled you on this pirate treasure adventure, there was no harm really done. In fact, from the way he prattled about haircuts and eyepatches inherited from his parents, you were already sure that it was simply a tale being spun for Paimon to latch onto.

At the end of the day, Kaeya still compensated you for your time and provided you with a higher-level weapon. The criminals were caught and the Knights were credited for another arrest of an infamous Treasure Hunter. It was a win-win situation that you very quickly put behind you as another job done.

The entire quest had not really bothered you - it was not like you had not withheld anything either. You ran from clue to clue without updating Kaeya on your progress, with the express intent of snagging some of this treasure yourself.

It was a really smart move on his part and, for whatever reason, it had the inverse effect on you - it made you want to get closer to Kaeya.

Paimon grumbled for all of a day before she prattled onto something new, complaining about the returning ruin guard by the temple or the way Venti sassed her. But you often found yourself hanging around Good Hunter or Angel’s Share, wondering if you would be able to run into him again.

It was no surprise that Kaeya was always busy, Jean had mentioned before that Kaeya was the one who often wrapped up every physical incident that occurred in both the city and outer plains of Mondstadt.

And so it was easy to lose track of him, the image of Kaeya still present in your mind, just pushed back in the further recess as you continued in your struggle to find clues about your brother. When whispers on the street spoke of a Dark Knight hero, you were pleasantly surprised to see Diluc patrolling the streets from the shadows.

The last thing you had expected was to team-up with the very man who ran opposite to the Knights, but you learned how oddly sweet Diluc was in that short amount of time. His double life of fighting off the abyss army single-handedly to running the largest Winery on the continent - Diluc’s workload was no easy feat.

You were just out of the clear, Huffman gone to deal with the slimes when a resounding clap started from the dining area of the bar. Kaeya stood and approached you both, you turned to Diluc and he had the flattest, most unimpressed expression on.

You stood mostly silent in that conversation, Diluc with his arms and chin held high. Kaeya had reassured him that the secret was best kept that way, eyes glinting mischievously as they went from the winery owner to you.

You only stared right back, as if Kaeya’s face would give off exactly what he was looking for. Instead, he simply smiled at the both of you and left when Diluc said he was closing the bar. Diluc thanked you for your assistance, reassuring you that in case you need help, he was a willing hand.

When you walked out the bar then, Kaeya was still right outside, chatting casually with some of the late bar-goers that sat at the picnic table. Just as he made eye-contact with you, he bid himself goodbye from the group and fell into step with you.

“Paimon doesn’t trust blue-haired, eye-patched men anymore.” She started next to you.

“That’s good I’m a blue-haired, eye-patched handsome young man.” Kaeya shot back, to which she rolled her eyes. He then turned to you with the same open smirk as usual, “And here I was thinking I could make you my assistant.”

Was he flirting with you?

It took you a second to question this internally before Paimon scoffed, “Ugh, I’m going ahead to the inn. I don’t think I can stand watching you make kissy-faces at each other after the day we had.”

You waved a hand in her direction to smack her, but she was already flying away up and out of reach.

Turning back to the Captain, you were surprised to see that Kaeya was still looking at you, not even toward Paimon as she fled into the night.

Remembering his last statement, you shot back, “Think you could handle me?”

“Confidence, it looks very good on you.” Kaeya replied as his smile widened. He took a single step closer, lowering his voice next to your ear and continuing. “But the real question is if you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?”

You stood your ground, ignoring the shiver that ran up your spine, “I always like to try new things.”

“I look forward to it.” Kaeya straightened, lightly grabbing your hand in one of his own and raising it to his lips. “Until then, traveler.”

To think that such a simple action, hardly anything scandalous, had lingered on your skin the entire night. You remembered the way his lips felt against your hand, how striking his blue eyes bore into your own. Kaeya was extremely dangerous, able to catch your attention and keep it for hours on end.

The next day you had a commission about dismantling a rising Hilichurl camp, a perfect distraction away from the eye-patched hunk that kept plaguing your thoughts. The last thing you expected was for Kaeya to see you.

“Looks like our honorary knight continues their do-good streak.”

“It’s the least I can do.” You replied back, a sassy hand on your waist.

“Why don’t I accompany you?”

You wanted to scream.

Paimon actually did groan before stating she was going to stay in the city.

And suddenly, your distraction was running exactly opposite to your intention. With Kaeya joining your party, the Cavalry Captain was making himself decidedly known you.

He led you around a cliff, showing you a higher area where you could survey the camp before bursting in guns blazing. There were six Hilichurls, some slimes scattered about and two towers already set-up in this enemy campsite.

You decided to stick together, coming in from the high ground and slamming your weapon into the ground at unsuspecting enemies. It felt nice to fight alongside someone again, oftentimes you were alone in your adventures. Paimon would yell words of encouragement, but never would she actually lift a finger to fight. But Kaeya was reliable, freezing enemies into place and shattering them where they stood.

Taking down some of the outer-rim electro Hilichurls equipped with bows, you were nearly finished with clearing the entire camp. You grabbed the pyro slimes and exploded them near the towers, taking down the camp with them. With the camp almost completely disassembled, you heard the tell-tale electronic power-up that only signified one enemy.

A ruin guard.

Hunched over, you watched as multiple missiles took aim on the nearby unsuspecting Cavalry Captain. Running the best you could, you threw decorum out the window as you all but tackled the poor man out of harm's way.

Rolling a few times, there was no surprised yelp from the man beneath you. He simply allowed you to take the wheel until you came to a stop, hovering over his body. Kaeya was undoubtedly taller than you, but you were face-to-face as he smirked beneath you.

“Wow, not that I’m against this.” Kaeya started, a quip ready. “But ask me out to dinner first.”

You flushed and stood up immediately, “I was saving you!”

“I’ll let you save me any day of the week.” Kaeya replied, earning a half-assed scowl on your behalf. He only laughed at you, calling your attempted look of intimidation only served to make a cute pout instead.

You huffed and considered leaving him with the ruin guard.

From then on there was no doubt about it - Kaeya was flirting with you.

And you were openly flirting back, if of course he decided a less obnoxious moment. In between commissions and nights at Angel’s Share, Kaeya flirtations were growing more and more brazen. It was one thing to kiss the top of your hand in greeting and another entirely for Kaeya to throw his hand across your hair, leaning in to openly bury his nose in your hair.

Diluc called you both disgusting.

Tonight, you entered Cat Tail’s semi-inconspicuously to get a drink. Paimon had long caught onto your game, saying that she surprisingly approved of Kaeya, since after all he was still a good guy in some ways.

But, she still was not exactly a fan of you too making “kissy-faces” at each other, her words. And so tonight you were flying solo, Paimon opting to annoy Amber instead tonight as they tracked down some abyss mage or other.

You tried your best to hang around the bar, looking around the tavern to see if the object of your desire was anywhere around. You meandered for a few minutes, saying greetings to other bargoers that had recognized you, before approaching the bartender if Kaeya has been around

The bartender recognized you immediately. It was hard not to place one of the few new people in Mondstadt, especially one that was crushing much of the country's enemies. Diona had mentioned before that you were a friend of Diluc’s, often more than just a customer at the rival tavern. No, you were seen running around the city with the red-head at random times.

She said the worst thing you could have ever suspected.

“I think Kaeya has a hot date tonight.”

You felt a lump in your throat form, but tried to keep your response guarded. “Oh?”

The bartender continued, “Yeah, I’m not sure if it was Paula? Or Maggie tonight? But you know the captain - always changing up his escapades.”

“Right, of course.” You replied back, words coming out before you could even register it. Instead, you kept on nursing your drink, spiteful words from the bartender marinating in your mind.

Kaeya was mysterious, yes. But was he leading you on?

… Was it right of you to trust him?

The first red flag should have been the fact that you knew nearly nothing about him personally. To think that you had spent all this time together talking and fighting alongside one another, but you could not even recall basic facts about him, let alone anything deep. You were unaware of his family history - Diluc was his brother, but it was the red-head who ended up confiding that fact to you.

Kaeya was so charming that you hadn’t even noticed he shut you out of his world.

And so there was no point in actively keeping a one-sided friendship like that. From then forth, you resolved to avoid the Cavalry Captain for the time being. You knew you had to free Dvalin together, but that did not mean you had to swoon for him in your free time.

It was almost expected of you to join him on Friday nights at Angel’s Share, but tonight you were missing. Neither Charles nor Diluc had seen you the entire day. There were probably a hundred different things you were doing - gathering resources, fighting slimes - and so Kaeya thought little of it.

But he was still disappointed not to see your face that night.

And so he thought nothing was wrong the next day when he saw you in the city square, talking to someone at the general store. He approached you and offered to join your party again, take down some enemies somewhere out in the country.

You didn’t even smile at him.

Not this time.

Just a curt no before you were leaving out the city gates.

The second time Kaeya already had enough and confronted you before you could even attempt to walk away.

He grabbed at your elbow, “Have you finally grown tired of me?”

You pulled it back, no real strength behind it as Kaeya still held you under his grip. “Kaeya, why is it that you keep reaching out to me? I have nothing of my own to offer - no money, no family - there is nothing left I can give you.”

He frowned in response but grabbed at your other hand, “I haven’t asked you for anything, have I?”

You looked away, “You don’t have to! It’s inherent, after all. Isn’t that why you asked me to team-up in the first place, to use me to find your criminals?”

Kaeya mentally recoiled, “Woah, back up. I may have guided you regarding the treasure but never have I maliciously led you on.”

You pulled at your hands to no avail, this time the captain actively trying to keep your attention on him.

“I just! I thought I meant something more to you, Kaeya.”

He smiled and tried to pull you into his chest, but you shoved off his touch this time fully.

“No! You can’t just hug me and think everything is okay. You’re supposed to be one of the good guys, one of the handful of people I can trust in Mondstadt and I know nothing about you.”

Kaeya did not reach for your hands, instead moving to stand in front of you. “I’m sorry that I hold my secrets close to my chest, but that’s what I’m used to.”

Frustrated, you replied. “Don’t you get tired? Holding the people that love you at an arm's length?”

“I’m sorry.” He repeated, this time reaching for you. “I’m sorry that I made you feel like you weren’t special. Trust me, you’re the only one I’ve had eyes on ever since you landed here in Mondstadt.”

You shook your head, “But the bartender, she said -”

“Who cares what she said?” Kaeya interrupted, “They know village gossip, but they don’t know me or you.”

“I don’t really know you.” You replied.

Kaeya caressed the side of your cheek before lightly gently grabbing your hand again, “Then let’s start.”

With a hesitant smile, you closed your eyes and nodded.

“Okay.”

You had your doubts then and it’s not like an issue of trust was fixed overnight. But, to his credit, Kaeya tried as best he could. Instead of meeting randomly at the bar, he would approach you sometime during the day and set-up a date. How he knew where you were was a mystery, but a man with that many connections surely had a way.

He had no qualms about holding your hand or openly kissing your cheek in the presence of others - proclaiming loudly to one and all in Mondstadt that you were his and he was yours.

Taking your first argument to heart, Kaeya was very keen on communication. Anything you were unsure of, he expressed that he was by no means rushing you. And when you finally shared your first kiss, for once not a single soul in front of the Lord Barbatos statue, you leaned into his touch to get many more.

Kaeya made good on his promise, slowly letting you into his world in kind. You remembered one night as the both of you sat on the edge of Mondstadt, nothing but ocean for miles in front of you. You had your head on his shoulder, describing your adventures with your brother and how you missed having family.

Kaeya had a gentle hand in your hair, rubbing soothing circles as you recalled a time long ago. Once your story finished, you two continued to stare out, wondering what the future could hold as your minds swam in an endless sea of thoughts.

He broke the silence.

“I miss my brother also.”

Diluc was not always his estranged brother, but once a friend, supporter, and sounding board. Some even mistook them as truly twins in heart and mind, defending Mondstadt and having each other’s backs for years. The Diluc you had come to know was a shell of his old self, close friends and past hidden behind years of repressed feelings.

There was no doubt wistfulness in Kaeya’s eyes as he recalled the past to you, but you continued to listen quietly.

Your relationship with the Cavalry Captain was hardly easy. Often responsibilities called you both - Kaeya was highly stationed in Mondstadt while you still had seven other countries to visit. But that did not mean the end for you both. Even when you were thousands of miles away or sat atop the highest mountain without a clue to where he was, you cherished the thought that you still shared the same sky with the love of your life.

No matter where you were in Teyvat, you had Kaeya to return to.

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magic-missle-blog · 3 years

Text

Ghost division 2 – The belly of the beast

2nd story in what will hopefully be a series. Roughly 6k words. Hope you enjoy

:readmore:

Four missiles streaked through the darkness of space from the canadation destroyer as it smashed through the human battle group.

The warship TDF Glasgow rocked as a missile impacted the hull. Point defence had taken out three others but the fourth slammed into the starboard side.

“Damage report!” the captain shouted as he swivelled his command chair to face the tactical officer.

“The hull plating is scorched and buckled, but no internal damage. We were lucky.” The tactical officer replied, shouting to be heard over the various alarms and beeps in the small bridge.

“We cant rely on luck. If we get hit again its your head!” The captain growled. His hair was cut close to his scalp and a sheen of sweat reflected in the bright yellow light on his dark skin.

Tactical officer Rotchford nodded. Her brow furrowed as she quickly typed into her console. “don’t worry I’m on it, I’ve analysed the firing pattern and I can probably take out most of the missiles, its those fucking fighters and energy weapons I cant do a thing about.”

Just as she finished speaking a swarm of small locust shaped fighters buzzed passed the ship, pelting the armour with energy weapons.

Turrets tracked the fighters, spitting hypersonic tungsten shells. One of the Canidation fighters exploded, the rest of the group took evasive action and continued on the attack run through the human fleet.

The ship rocked again and various alarms clamoured for attention. Lights on the bridge flickered.

Captain Conroy nodded and straightened his uniform. He brought up a tactical display on the console built into his chair.

Five Canidation warships had engaged the fleet of seven Terran defence force destroyers and the humans were loosing badly. The Canidations had the firepower and faster ships. Fighters swarmed over the fleet firing kinetic weapons and lasers, some with great effect.

He watched as another of the fleet exploded. That was the second ship they had lost. The battle had been raging for what felt like hours but in reality it was only 30 minutes. The Canidations had dropped out of hyperspace in this remote system to ambush a Human supply run. The freighters had escaped unharmed but the escort fleet couldn’t leave, not without leaving this Canidation battle group free reign to attack other convoys.

“Shit. That was the Newcastle!” the first officer said “Fleet captain Broadie…he was a good man”

The computer screamed out a proximity warning as another salvo of missiles streaked towards them, but true to her word the tactical officers new point defence programme took them all out. She returned fire with the main cannon as the destroyer elegantly swung around, scoring a direct hit to the Canidations engines. The insectoid ship vented atmosphere and appeared to lose power as running lights flickered out and the ship drifted

The other enemy ships moved towards the remaining fleet.

“Scan that ship, is it dead?” Conroy commanded the science officer as the warship rocked under more impacts

“yeah it appears… Fuck” the science officer said as his console went dark and the lights cut out.

A few moments later the ships emergency power kicked in and the lights came back on, but dull red colour. His console lit up. “ yeah its dead. I think. Scans are all over the place.”

Conroy nodded, as the most senior officer left in the tattered fleet he assumed command.. “signal the fleet. Lets get the fuck out of here...but slowly, I want to draw them away from that damaged ship.” He plotted a course that would take them deep into the Oort cloud of this system.

The remaining ships of the Terran defence force broke off the engagement and retreated. Caught by surprise at the sudden change in tactics, The Canidations stopped dead, recalled the fighters then followed, slowly gaining ground on the slower terran warships.

Glancing at his command console captain Conroy opened fleet wide comms. Signalling the other commanders he said “Listen up people. Once we are in that cloud drop sensor decoys try to buy me some time . I’m going to double back and capture that ship.”

The crew looked at him in astonishment

“Damn” said the first officer. “And I thought today was going to be a quiet day.”

************************************

The war against the Canidations had been raging for 3 months, and the Terran empire was losing.

The Canidations ships were more advanced, and they had the numbers. The only saving grace is that the Canidations were fighting two other larger empires. Humanity, as a relatively new race to the galactic stage, hadn’t been seen as a concern. Almost an afterthought.

No one knew why the war started. Canidations were a reclusive species. They had no trade with the wider galactic community, no embassies, no contact at all. No one really even knew if “Canidation” was their species name. They stayed in their home systems, A group of a dozen or so stars a few light years around the Canadathon, their home world.

A decade ago the Canidations has blasted out of their home system with an over powering military force and attacked a neighbouring world without warning. Everything was a viable target to them and they didn’t take prisoners…or at least they didn’t keep them alive for long.

For ten long years they attacked and destroyed any neighbouring species, expanding their empire. The first races, unused to galactic warfare on such a scale had fallen quickly. Other species had tried to build up their own military force but simply didn’t have the infrastructure in place and couldn’t come close to the Canidations speed of production. It seemed like for every Canidation ship that fell two more would take its place.

The Canidations were an insectoid race, they looked like an unholy amalgamation of a spiders body with a praying mantis torso, like an insect centaur. They didn’t seem to capture any world they won, they destroyed it. Left it a lifeless husk, took any easily accessible resources then moved on like locusts. Maybe they would be back to terraform it later, maybe not. No one knew.

The destruction on such a scale seemed senseless, and completely alien. Not even the best human generals, phycologists or philosophers could come up with a reason for this carnage.

What was known was they had a lot of ships. More than every other military in this region of space combined. They had been building up for decades and it seemed like now was the time to unleash their might.

******************************

The Glasgow had ducked behind a dwarf planet in the Oort cloud and waiting while the remaining fleet had drawn the Canidations away, then used a risky in system jump to get back quickly to the battlefield. They had scanned for survivors of the destroyed Terran ships but unfortunately found plenty of debris but no life signs.

TDF Glasgow slowly drew up alongside the crippled Canidation vessel, comms jammers at full power blocking any communication from the hulk. It had been few hours since the shot had crippled the Bug ship, but it was still drifting without any main power, its engines dark and cooling.

It looked like reserve power had kicked in and there was several Canidations on the main hull close to the breach in what looked like dark space suits, although it could have been their flesh. Conroy didn’t know enough about the species to tell. It was obvious the Canidations were trying to repair the damage.

The insectoid ship was large, at least half again as big as the Glasgow and followed an unorthodox design. It was nothing like the sleek Terran ships, whose lines were reminiscent of the war planes that fought in earth’s skies in the 20th century. Human ships were long and sleek, with swept back retractable wings protruding from the mid section to allow atmosphere flight when fully extended. Canidation was bulky, and looked like a flattened pinecone and close range scans showed it be highly modular.

The bridge appeared to be at on top of the bulky front section. Conroy guessed below this would be weapons, crew quarters and the like. Engineering and the ships drive core, and sub light engines must be located in the tapering end. Cannons clustered around the front with turrets in two rows along the top and bottom of the ship.

Conroy assumed there would be about 60 or so crew on board. Terran destroyers had a crew of 30 plus 10 marines. Not good odds Conroy thought.

“Easy to build, quick to swap different sections out if needed” Science officer McCallum said as he looked over the data.

Conroy nodded to Commander Paulson, the first office. “Pauly, get a boarding party ready. Find any intel you can get your hands on but don’t take any stupid risks. Focus on engineering, medical, ship deployments, shit we can find to kill these things.” Looking at McCallum “what do they need?”

McCallum brought up all the information he had on Canidations, which wasn’t a lot.

“Scans show gravity and life support is still active and the ship has atmosphere, although I use the term loosely. Their air is made up of 30% oxygen, 15% Co2, 10% Hydrogen sulphide, the rest is nitrogen, water vapour and trace gasses. Average temperature is roughly 30 degrees Celsius and humidity is close to 70%. Gravity is low, roughly 0.6G. So basically your walking into a hot sweaty hellhole that’ll smell like Satan’s ass. Enjoy” he finished with a laugh.

Paulson looked at the captain “Gee thanks Boss, you give me all the best jobs. Breathing units all round then.” He saluted as he left the bridge.

“Mac…what killed this ship? Did we get a lucky shot?”

McCallum looked over his reading for a few moments. “Yeah, very lucky. Looks like there is a weakness around the main engine core on this ship. Plasma exhaust has weakened the hull armour in a small area right above the main power linkage, its little better than paper. Must be a design flaw…if that shot had hit even a few meters on either side it wouldn’t have made a dent.”

Rotchford laughed. “luck had nothing to do with it. It’s pure skill.”

She grinned

Conroy rolled his eyes.

“Yeah yeah if you say so” he said grinning. Conroy didn’t mind a bit of banter with the bridge crew. He felt it build camaraderie and they all worked better as a result.

Turning to Macallum he said

“Deep scan this bitch, I see what else you can find, anything that’ll give us an edge.”

From over the other side of the bridge the tactical offer said “Captain, I think I’ve found something too. The missiles on the ship are armed.”

Conroy looked over “So?”

Rotchford brushing her brown bangs that had escaped from the severe bun on her head said “Our missiles auto arm a second after launch to prevent any accidents, these appear to pre arm before launch, Probably as soon as they find a hostile ship. Once direct hit could detonate the entire missile battery. The armour is thick but the launch tubes are vulnerable . “

“Comms” Conroy said excitedly “Tight beam the rest of the fleet and let them know what we’ve found…might give them an edge.”

Turning back to tactical

“Why would they do that?”

Rotchford shrugged. “not sure. It does mean the missiles can be fired much closer then we can shoot. Out missiles travel so fast that by the time they arm they’re a couple of hundred kilometres away, makes them useless for close engagements. By pre-arming them they get around that problem. Makes it almost impossible to shoot them down when the bugs get in close.”

Minutes passed slowly. Soon the boarding party was on board a small ship to ship shuttle and on route to dock with the crippled ship.

The shuttle did a quick fly over the damaged section and fired small arms at the Canidations working on the damaged hull, Killing the repair team. The aliens magnetic grips kept the bodies stuck to the hull like bugs splattered by a windscreen.

McCallum looked up “I’ve found something else captain, it wont help us now but I think we can take advantage of it.”

He put his display on the main screen, All eyes turned to it.

“I thought about using some kind of plasma weapon to weaken the armour of the whole ship, and that’ll probably work, we don’t use plasma tech, but I’m sure the weapons experts back home can build something.” He took a breath “Anyway, that got me thinking, Plasma is basically really hot ionized gas. Its expelled as exhausts right away as too much heat inside the ship it bad. As you know its almost impossible to loose heat in space, so we use active cooling systems to…”

Conroy interrupted before McCallum could go into a lecture on the finer points of starship heat management. “Get to the point”

Mccallum looked sheepish “Sorry sir, anyway, the Canidations seem to use radiator panels, they’re well armoured but vulnerable to excessive heat. A focussed laser beam could overload them. If they cant loose heat they’ll cook inside the ships.”

“Well done Mac, get everything we’ve found so far and bundle the data ready for transmission back to HQ”

Minutes dragged as Mccallum compiled the data.

Everyone was on eggshells, watching the boarding shuttle latch on to the Canidation hull and begin cutting through. Tactical constantly scanning for any Canidation ships that might be inbound. Conroy wondered how the rest of the fleet was fairing. The TDF ships were more manoeuvrable than the larger Canidation warships, so as long as they kept in a dense part of the Oort cloud, dodging comets and dwarf planets then the TDF ships should have an advantage.

*****************************

Inside the shuttle the atmosphere was tense. Paulson looked over the assembled combat team. All had breathing units over their lower faces. The units would filter out the harmful gasses and reduce the oxygen pressure to something breathable, but as they weren’t full space suits or fully sealed Paulson knew the stench would get through, he grinned inwardly he hadn’t told the team what the Canidation air was like, he wanted to see the reactions.

The ten member boarding team all had dark grey combat armour, and each carried a small side arm and a combat knife. Eight also carried an assault rifle with enough ammo to take on a small army, the other two combat engineers carried various tools and computer equipment. Their mission was to hack into any systems they could find and mine it for data.

The shuttle bumped into the hull and latched on. A magnetic tube made an air tight seal around the hatch. It opened to show a sold hull. The engineers immediately started cutting to gain access. It was slow going. Armour that can withstand heavy ship weapons wont easily fail to small plasma torches.

Sargent Waltham stepped up next to Paulson. “We’re ready to go” She said coolly.

Paulson nodded. “Get in and secure the area. Set up fire lines kill anything that’s got more than two legs.” He said to Waltham.

She was tall, blonde, very pretty in hard way. People, especially men, tended to underestimate her due to her looks, thinking she was just a made up barbie doll. Paulson had thought the same thing once, until she kicked his ass in hand to hand training. The first round he went easy on her and he was flat on his back in 5 seconds. The second round he went all out, and to his credit, he managed to last a full 7 seconds before she had him pined, face pressed against the floor and his left arm twisted up his back. Waltham, like all the other,s had earned her place in the combat team, but unlike the men she had to continually prove she deserved to be there. This constant striving for perfection had made her one of the best solders Paulson had ever worked with.

The thick hull armour fell inwards with a heavy thunk. The sound echoed around the shuttle. The stench of rotten eggs filler the small enclosed space and everyone wrinkled their noses.

“For fucks sake… is this ship full of farts?” Jones, the lead combat engineer said.

Paulson grinned. “Ok move out. Slow and steady, I don’t want any fuck ups.”

The team moved slowly into the alien vessel. The interior was dark, smelly and hot, lighting was a deep red that cast odd shadows. Paulson didn’t know if this was normal or if it was due to low power.

Waltham took her place first in line as the engineers cleared the hull and opened a portal to the interior of the ship. She directed one of her team , Ramerez, a young marine on his first away mission , hang back and guard the shuttle just encase they needed to make a quick exit.

Ramerez took position just inside the the shuttle door, he pulled a couple of boxes containing emergency supplies across the entrance and dug in.

The rest of the team followed her lead, with Paulson acting as rear guard, scanning the corridor behind him with a quick practiced eye.

One of the marines whispered in a low voice “damn, this is weird.”

“what is? Looks like a normal ship corridor to me” Paulson said

“sir...that’s what I mean. I expected...well dirt..or tunnels like that old movie ‘Aliens’. You know, the one where the dildo bursts out of some guys chest and all these Marines hunt it down? I mean they’re bugs for Christ’s sake..but this just looks normal.”

Paulson shook his head.“Lay off the old horror flicks. Keep it together”.

Looking at a handheld scanner Jones said “looks like there might be a room down the corridor to the right, I’m reading power spikes, it could be a place I can hack into there systems.”

The team crept inward, the low gravity giving them a bounce to their steps. They were searching for a room with a computer access, but all the could see were long featureless corridors. The came to a junction and as they passed a blast of plasma energy almost took Walthams head off. She Pulled back just in time, lightning quick reflexes saving her life. As it was the plasma shot singed her combat helmet.

Risking another blast, Waltham popped her head around then quickly pulled it back. Three Canidations waited around the corner, plasma rifles at the ready for another shot.

Pulling a flashbang from her belt she leaned out and expertly tossed he weapon into the centre of the group, a second later a loud BANG and a FLASH of bright light lit up the corridor. She could hear a smattering of legs as the Canidations fell back. Her and two of her team ran around keeping low and opened fire. The sound of the assault rifles sounded odd in the dense air. the Canidations tried to return fire but there shots went wide, scorching the metal bulkheads, obviously still blinded by the light. The skirmish was over quickly.

The team crept up slowly to the dead aliens. One in the was headless. Its body twitched, a dark yellow fluid pumping from its neck. The other two were still. Red faceted eyes that took up most of the head were dull and lifeless. Mandibles closed tighter than a vice.

Bullets had ripped the skinny top part of one in half, and the others larger thorax between the spiders-like legs was riddled and leaking the same yellow fluid.

The team looked at the corpses, they were…creepy. They unnerved the humans just looking at them. Jones knelt down and pointed something out. “Look, this one has a couple of cybernetic legs. That one has a cybernetic head…That’s so weird. Gives me the creeps.”

Paulson looked. “Why weird?”

“Think of what this means. They use medical tech to repair wounds. Replace missing limbs like we do. You don’t think of bugs caring for individuals I guess. I assumed they would be like a hive, like ants or termites just mindless soldier’s, disposable and replaceable. Maybe they’re more than that.“

One of the other marines, Patel a tall solid build man with a cold gaze said in a whisper “They’re like spiders, I fucking hate spiders. Normal spiders are bad enough but these are super sized fuckers with guns. “

He shivered as a cold chill ran down his spine. Taking one last place at the dead Canadation he walked slowly past, rifle ready for another attack.

As the team moved on one of the corpses stood up with a clatter. It swiped at a passing trooper with its upper limbs, razor sharp claws sliced across his face and chest, cutting flesh and the scoring deep cuts on his combat armour. He fell back shocked. The headless alien thrashed about, seemingly attracted to the noise the shocked humans made. It tried to reach for another one but a burst of fire from Waltham’s rifle tore through its thorax . the alien twitched again then fell back. She crept up, gun ready and kicked the corpse. No reaction. It was truly dead.

Patel looked a mess, his face had been cut to the bone, but he’d live. Two others helped bandage him up.

“fucking fuckitty fucking spiders! “ he shouted and kicked the corpse, holding his wounded face and blood soaked bandages.

“get back to the shuttle” Waltham commanded him.

He nodded, his face screwed up in pain, The bandages soaking with blood. He got to his feet and headed back the way he came.

Paulson looked at jones “What the fuck?”

Jones shrugged “I’m no medical expert, but I guess a head shot wont kill them. Maybe they keep their brains in there ass or something, I guess the head is just for eating and seeing.” Pointing to the Canidation with the cybernetic head “Maybe loosing the head for them is just like loosing an eye for us? Or maybe they’re like cockroaches. We should drag these things back to the shuttle. Medical back at HQ would have a field day.”

Paulson nodded “team, forget headshots, aim for the centre mass.” He directed a couple of team member to take the most intact body back to the shuttle “Keep it under guard…just in case”

The diminished team made there way deeper into the ship. Paulson was aware of the time he was taking, he knew The Glasgow couldn’t wait forever, but he wanted more than a few dead bugs. Soon they came across an empty room. The door was closed but a kick and a shove and it slid back into the wall. The team entered. Looking around, there was a lot of electronics that Paulson couldn’t guess the function off. Jones quickly set up his scanner. Pulling open a panel he found circuit boards. After quick scan he attached a lead from his scanner to one of the chips.

“If i can hack this, this should give me access” he worked quickly The rest of the team took up positions around the door. Paulson moved to the back of the room and signalled Waltham.

“thoughts? He said after she walked over

Waltham shrugged “they don’t seem too tough. Decent weapons though.“ she pointed to the plasma rifle she’d captured.

“hows things between you two?” he nodded to Jones

Relationships were against regulations but as long as it was discreet no one really minded. It could be lonely in deep space.

Waltham smiled. “he’s sweet, like a puppy. Always eager to please. But utterly fearless too. He could be a great soilder, but likes his gizmos too much.”

“Yeah jones is a good one.” Paulson agreed. He’s been friends with jones for years. They grew up in the same town went to the same high school, and went through training together.

Minutes ticked by. Jones had attached a large data cube to his scanner. He came over to the pair while the data downloaded “. I can copy the full ships hard drive. Shouldn’t take long. There’s not a lot of data, mainly seems to be the ships opperating system. Seems pretty basic. I did find something interesting though, I found ship schematic. We’re not far from a path to fire control. Its down the end of that corridor out there. “

Paulson thought for a second. “no, we have enough we need to get back”

Just as he said that his communicator beeped. It was the shuttle “Sir, get back here we need to go! A Canidation warship is on approach, ETA 7 minutes!”

“Ok people pack your shit up, we need to get out of here! Double time!”

The team grabbed there gear and quickly made there way back into the corridor. Several canidations ran down the steel hallway, the hack had triggered some kind of security protocol. These Canidations didn t have weapons but they moved so fast in the lower gravity that the quickly closed the distance, soon it was a melee, claw against fist.

****************

Alarms cried out for attention on the bridge of the Glasgow. A Canidation warship was closing in.

“eta?” asked Conroy. His calm voice a counterpoint to the frantic activity on the bridge.

“roughly 7 minutes until weapons range. I’ve contacted the shuttle”. maccalum replied.

Conroy nodded. Looking at the helmsman her said “keep that bug ship in between us. We’re smaller and so keep us in its shadow and hopefully they won’t get a weapons lock.”

Nodding, through helmsman fired up the thrusters.

“’ll try time get a target lock on the missile batteries.” Rotchford reported as she programmed the ships turrets.

Captain Conroy starred at the main screen, his fingers tapping a rhythm on the arm of his command seat.

Paulson tried to get a clear shot as a canidaton reared up on its four rear legs. It brought its full weight down on Waltham. Its mandibles opened and snapped closed right over her head. Only her quick thinking and combat helmet saved her from decapitation. She ducked her head and trusting the hardened carbon nanotube and ceramic construction she head-butted the bug right in its open mouth. Mandibles crunched against the helm. The force of through blow and the weight of the bug staggered her for a second, but years of hand to hand training came to her and with a twist and a flick she grabbed the alien and slammed it against the bulkhead. The lower gravity and adrenaline giving her almost superhuman strength.

Her combat knife flashed on the low light as she stabbed the mantis like torso. There was resistance then with a crunch she forced the blade through the carapace. The bug shuddered and wrenched. Flailing its limbs then it was still.

The skirmish was over as quickly as it started. Looking around Paulson shouted “sound off”

A chorus of voices said “here” or “i’m good”

A few troopers took minor injuries but no fatalities.

They sprinted down the corridor. The sound of gunfire brought them up short. The bugs were trying to capture the shuttle. Paulson knew if they lost that they were dead.

A scream echoed down the steel corridor. One of his men had fallen. Canidations pressed on.

“We need a distraction” Paulson shouted to Waltham over the blaring alarms.

“i have an idea. Hold here for a few seconds”

With that she sprinted back the way she came. Moments later an explosion rocked the ship. The lights and gravity cut out, then seconds later they came back on. The unprepared soilders hit the ground but were quickly back on there feet, the Canidations were not as lucky, they were a tangle of legs and claws further down the corridor.

Seizing his chance, Paulson shouting a battle cry and his boarding party fell in the bugs from behind. The battle was short and brutal but they pushed through just as Waltham returned. Her hair was burned and armour scorched.

“What the fuck did you do?” shouted Paulson

“I overloaded that plasma rifle and tossed it in the fire control room. I think we need to get out of here, that room is burning and it’s right next to the missiles”

Once everyone was on board the hatch slammed shut and the shuttle detached then raced back to the Glasgow, just as another explosion ripped through the Canidation warship. A series of smaller explosion’s rocked the ship them with a blast like a supernova the power core blew up. The shuttle was caught in the fireball but escaped with minor damage.

Paulson looked at his and bruised team as the shuttle pilot plotted a course back to the Glasgow.

Paulson pushed one of the Canidation corpses to the side, making down room in the small shuttle. He sat next to the body of a young man, almost a boy. Ramerez. It was his first tour, he was 18 and fresh out of boot camp. Ramerez had taken a plasma blast to the chest. His armour was burned through. Mercifully he had been killed instantly.

************

Conroy watched as the Canidation ship exploded. The shuttle streaked towards the hanger.

“well... shit” he said “get the shuttle on board and get ready to bug out”

calls of “aye” and “yessir” Echoed around the bridge..

The Canidation warship closed in, spitting fire and death at the Glasgow. Point defence destroyed the incoming missiles but the ship rocked from impacts

The Glasgow returned fire, turrets pounded the underside of the Canidation ship as it passed overhead passing through the expanding could of gas and debris.

The helmsman kept a steady course until the shuttle was back in then started evasive manoeuvres, he would have to hold the ship steady for a few moments to allow the hyperdrive to spin up, but the Canidation ship was not making it easy.

“Shuttle is on board. Prepare for Jump in 3...2...1...”

The ship lurched to the side and spun almost 90 degrees, crew members were thrown around the bridge like sticks caught in a hurricane. Alarms blared.

The main lights were down, red emergency lamps cast an eerie glow. Groans came from the crew

Rochford pulled herself back into her seat. Blood running from a head wound. She checked her console “sir..the hyperdrive core has been hit. We’re venting plasma and atmosphere...main power is down. Weapons down....the Canidations are coming around for another pass...”

Before Conroy could respond an explosion tore through the bridge as a missile impacted the armour surrounding the command center.

A ceiling panel that had been knocked loose earlier in the fight fell with a resounding crash pinning Conroy to his command chair and knocking him unconscious. Bones snapped under the force of the impact.

Rochford as the most senior officer left standing opened ship wide Comms “all hands. This is commander rochford. The captain is incapacitated abandon ship. I repeat abandon ship”

She moved as quickly as she could to try to help Conroy, Macallum was at his side trying to move the panel. “mac..leave him. We need to go...” she grabbed his arm “come on...move it soldier” macallum looked at the damaged viewscreen. The Canidation ship was baring down. Any second now it’s main cannons would finish the job. They were out of time.

White hot plasma blasts leaped from the Canidation vessel tearing across the cold black darkness. Promising death to the Glasgow.

A flash and a massive lurch pulled maccalum and Rotchford off their feet, but it wasn’t a weapon impact. It was the lurch of a gravity field forming a few miles away as a ship dropped out of hyperdrive.

A dangerous and potentially fatal move – a single miscalculation could have dropped the new ship right on top of them - but it saved the Glasgow. The rest of the fleet, the few ships that remained had jumped back to help. The TDF New York had jumped In front of the plasma blasts. Taking the hit that would have finished the Glasgow off. It opened up with its main cannons, rail guns blasting the armour above the Canidations missile batteries. Another Terran defence force ship TDF Cardiff jumped in behind and opened up on the bugs with everything it had. The Canidation vessel was powerful, but it couldn’t withstand the combined firepower of the vengeful human warships.

Explosion and explosion, hit after hit. The Canidations withered under the combined firepower and with a final flash it vanished as it’s fusion plant exploded.

The TDF Glasgows communication system beeped for attention. Maccalum moved slowly across

“This is captain Yoshimoyo on the New York. Prepare to receive medic and engineering teams. Your information won us the day Glasgow. All Canidation vessels have been destroyed. This is the first human victory in this war...”

“This is science officer McCallum. “thanks for the help. That was a risky move I owe your helmsman a beer. Captain Conroy has been injured. We don’t know how bad, the ship has taken heavy damage.

*****************

Weeks later Captain Conroy stood in front of admiral Wong.

Conroy had spent most of the time unconscious. His injuries sever, but with advanced medical skill, talented doctors and a dash of luck he had made a full recovery.

“Captain” the admiral began “I’m glad to see you’re back on your feet. I’ve out an official commendation for yourself and your entire crew. The information you fought so hard for will prove invaluable in this conflict”

Wong continued “The data contained ship specifications, technical manuals, training documents and recent fleet movements. With that information we’ve managed to push the Canidations back in a number of theatres , you and your crew have saved thousands of human lives. We all owe you a debt captain.”

“Thank you sir...i'm eager to get back to the Glasgow sir, to get back in the fight.”

The admiral shook his head

“I’m afraid not Conroy. The Glasgow was heavily damaged and will require months of repairs and refit. We can’t have a seasoned crew out of action for so long. You and your crew are being reassigned.”

Wong passed a pad to the captain

“Our newest, most powerful warship. The TDF Lucifer. You’ll be part of a task force – the ghost division. The Canidations are throwing more and more ships against us, and while we’ve slowed the advance to a crawl we are still loosing. You’ll go behind enemy lines and fight a guerrilla war. Do everything you can to bring the bugs down. Everything is a viable target, including the Canidation homeworld. Teach them to fear the wraith of Earth.”

End

#humans are weird #ghost division #ghostdivison #hfy #humans are space orcs #humanity fuck yeah

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just-dreaming-marvel · 3 years

Text

I’m From Brooklyn, Too ~ 144

OUT OF TIME MASTERLIST

I’M FROM BROOKLYN, TOO MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 1,610ish

Summary: The Team comes back from the time heist.

Notes: You must read Out Of Time in order to understand this. The chapter numbers continue from Out Of Time.

Everyone landed in their same spots on the platform, all the the quantum suits deactivating.

“Did we get them all?” Bruce asked.

“You telling me this’ll actually work?” Rhodey questioned.

There was a sudden clatter, Y/N falling to her knees when the Soul Stone and the arc reactor falling to the ground. Everyone stared with wide eyes.

“Y/N, where’s Tony?” Bruce asked.

Clutching her hands to her chest, Y/N bowed her head and continued crying. That gave them all the answer they needed to know. Bruce fell to his knees, hitting the floor in grief. Steve walked over to his sister.

“Y/N,” he called, with a deep sadness, as he reached out for her.

“No!” She pulled away. “Don’t touch me!”

A blast of energy that came from Y/N, causing everyone to stumble back. Everyone eyed each other, realizing that her powers were back. She stood up, shakily, on her own.

“Trust me now, Steve?” Y/N continued, harshly. “Do you trust me now to do what it takes to get the Stone? Cause I did! And that cost me my husbands life! The father of my child’s life!”

“I didn’t—“

“How the hell I am suppose to tell Morgan that her father is dead?! That I watched him willingly fall to his death and there was nothing I could do about it?!”

Y/N was breathing heavily as tears ran down her face. No one knew what to say or do. So they all stared, with heart broken eyes, trying to keep their own tears at bay.

“He’s gone,” Y/N whispered, voice breaking. “He’s gone.”

“No,” Thor stated. “No. We have the Stones, right? As long as we have the Stones, we can bring him back, isn’t that right?” He looked around at the group of people, who had clearing begun grieving. “So stop this shit. We’re the Avengers, get it together.”

“We can’t get him back.”

“What?”

“It’s can’t be undone, Thor.”

Thor dryly laughed. “I’m sorry. No offense, but, even with the power of the Stones, you are a very earthly being. Okay? We’re talking about space magic. And can’t seems very definitive don’t you think?”

Y/N used the Power Stone to blast Thor back into the wall, leaving a dent. She used her power to keep him there.

“Y/N!” A few of them exclaimed.

“As you said, I have the power of the Stones,” Y/N ignored everyone else. “We can’t get Tony back. I know that because I can feel the Stones. His death is permanent.” She dropped Thor, Rocket and Scott rushing to help him up. “Do not question me on this. I will not be questioned about my knowledge anymore. Get the Stones to the lab, I’ll be there to put them in the gauntlet soon.”

Y/N disappeared through a portal into her bedroom. The Team stood there, looking at the spot she had once been.

“She’ll never be the same again,” Natasha said, shaking her head. “Even if we get everyone back, Y/N will never be the same.”

“We have to make Tony’s sacrifice worth it,” Bruce added. “We have to.”

“We will,” Steve stated.

~~~

Steve sighed before he hesitantly knocked on Y/N’s bedroom door. He felt conflicted about going to comfort his sister. Especially since he was probably the last person she wanted to see. If he really listened, Steve could hear her cries, breaking his heart further.

“Y/N? Can I come in?” Steve wondered after the knock.

“Leave me alone, Steve,” Y/N responded.

“I just want to help.”

“Help?” She laughed, dryly, opening the door. Her eyes were red and the arc reactor was on her chest. “You can’t help me. Not anymore. Are the others ready in the lab?”

“Uh, yeah, Rocket and Bruce have everything set up.”

“Good.” She walked passed Steve.

“Y/N, wait. We need to talk about this.”

“No. We don’t. We need to get everyone back.”

“It can wait a few more minutes.”

“Oh? It can?” She turned to face Steve. “Tony didn’t want to do this at first. He was happy, content. We both were.”

“But you love Bucky. And I love—“ Y/N paused, inhaling sharply. “…loved… I loved Tony, too. Even if it wasn’t the same… and now, I get to go home and tell my daughter that her father will never tuck her in again. Never play outside with her or have a movie night…”

“I’m so sorry. If you want, I could come with you.”

“I don’t.” Steve was slightly taken back, but not completely surprised. “I don’t need your help. What I need you to do is stop bugging me about this so that we can bring everyone back. Got it?”

Steve sighed. “I got it.”

~~~

The Team watched intently, all geared up, as Y/N handled each Stone. They were amazed that she was able to handle each one without any repercussions. She carefully took each one and placed it into the gauntlet Tony had previously made. Picking it up, Y/N took it out of the glass room she was in and brought it out to where the others were.

“Alright. The glove’s ready,” Rocket said. “Question is, who’s gonna snap their freaking fingers?”

“Is that even a question?” Y/N retorted. “Me. I’m the one who can control them. And I know that they would do anything to protect me.”

“How do you know that for sure?” Steve questioned.

“Because I know that my job isn’t done yet.”

“We can’t take that risk,” Rhodey cut in. “Especially after…. After Tony. Morgan needs her mother.”

“And she’ll still have one. You all have to trust me.”

“We do,” Natasha said. “We just want to be sure that you won’t get seriously hurt. It’s not a risk we want to take.”

“It should be me,” Bruce said. “The Stones almost killed Thanos when he used them. None of you could survive. Even you Y/N.”

“How do we know you will?” Steve asked.

“We don’t. But the radiation’s mostly gamma. It’s like… I was made for this.” Bruce looked at Y/N. “Let me do this. You’ve sacrificed enough.”

“Let him,” the Stones whispered to her. “Your time will come.”

“Fine,” Y/N gave in, handing Bruce the gauntlet.

Bruce took a deep breath, studying the Stones. “Let’s do it.”

“You remember—everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just brining them back to now, today. Don’t change anything from the last five years.”

“Got it.”

Everyone circled around Bruce, suited up. Y/N tapped the arc reactor resting on her chest, Tony’s suit forming around her. She formed a SHIELD to protect her and Clint.

“FRIDAY, activate Barn Door Protocol,” Y/N ordered.

“Yes, Ma’am,” FRIDAY responded. The whole Avengers facility went on lockdown.

“Everybody comes home,” Bruce whispered.

Bruce put on the gauntlet, which fit to his hand thanks to the nanobots. The power surged, overwhelming him. He fell to his knees, grunting in pain.

“Take it off!” Thor panicked. “Take it off!”

“No, wait!” Steve said, holding a hand out. “Bruce, are you okay?”

“Talk to me, Banner,” Rhodey urged.

“I’m okay,” Bruce replied. “I’m okay.”

Thor gave a double thumbs up, trying to encourage his friend. Bruce screamed, fighting through the intense pain coursing through his body. He lifting up his hand and managed to snap his fingers. He faints and the gauntlet slides off his arm. Clint quickly kicked it away.

“Bruce!” Steve exclaimed.

“Don’t move him,” Y/N ordered, coming to her friends side. Using the suit, she sprayed his arm with nanobots. Her head was buzzing, but she chose to ignore it to help her friend.

Bruce reached up and gripped Steve’s arm. “Did it work?” He asked.

“Worth a shot,” he responded.

Thor was on his other side, trying to comfort Bruce. “It’s over. It’s okay.”

Letting out a breath, Y/N leaned back. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the buzzing. FRIDAY had released the Barn Door Protocol, allowing Scott to go towards the outside windows and see the plants and birds. Clint’s phone began ringing, he was shaking slightly as he reached to grab it.

“Hon—honey,” Clint answered his wife, struggling to peak from sheer happiness. “Honey.”

“Guys!” Scott shouted. “I think it worked!”

Before anyone could really celebrate, missiles hit the compound. Effectively destroying it and throwing the teammates in every direction. The suit took over protecting Y/N, making sure her helmet was on and everything. But couldn’t stop her from getting knocked out and the pile of debris that formed on top of her.

~~~

Looking around, Y/N noticed she was in the Mirror Dimension. Which was odd. What was she doing here?

“It’s time.”

Y/N spun around to see Dr. Strange hovering not too far away from her.

“It’s time,” he repeated.

“I know,” she responded.

“Are you ready to do what needs to be done?”

“I am.”

“Good.”

“So, is everyone back?”

“Yes. After this, I am going to bring them to you. To the fight.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry about Stark.”

“I’m slightly hurt that you knew that was going to happen.”

“I couldn’t tell anyone.”

Y/N scoffed. “Yeah. You and your Sorcerer Supreme type. You know things, yet don’t tell anyone everything. It’s infuriating.”

“I am sorry… He seemed like a good father to your daughter.”

“He was the best. And now I will fight so that his sacrifice will not be in vain and for my daughter.”

“I’ll be as quick as I can. Good luck, Y/N.”

next chapter >

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mi6-cafe · 3 years

Photo

WEEK 2 DRABBLES ARE HERE!

Now, let’s refresh your memory.

For the second week of LDWS, our true l- our writers were asked to write a drabble between 150 and 200 words, based on the word deck from the point of view of an outsider.

THEY DID SUCH A GREAT JOB!

(this is a purely illustrative gif of an outside observer of the goings on at Q’s flat, not a prompt)

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Title: Eulogy for the Aston Martin Author: Misha / artsytarts Warnings: Canon Typical Violence (mainly directed at vehicles) Summary: Around 007, life and death go hand in hand.

The moment I leave solid ground and fly, pointed directly at the deck of the ship, I know my life is forfeit.

I realize now why the other machines pitied me after I was assigned to the man they call 007. I see his blue eyes blazing as he concentrates, gripping my steering wheel. They say he’s careless, but judging from the few days I’ve carried him, I know different. He’s not careless. His destruction is calculated. Only once I was obsolete, once he depleted my ammunition, blew my doors off, and pushed my motor to breaking point did he make his decision: To use me as his missile.

I count the milliseconds as the deck rushes towards me. Without a word, 007 pushes the ejector button and I fling him out into the open air, out into safety and freedom.

I am to be his sacrifice.

Before I hit the ship to perish in a blaze, I decide: I have no use for resentment. Like so many machines before me, I have granted him life.

That must count for something.

Title: All In Author: sorion Warnings: none Summary: Bond is handy with cards, and Felix likes to watch.

There are few things as satisfying as watching James Bond clean a table in poker. Felix has learned that pretty much the moment he's met Bond, and the entertainment value hasn't changed in the years that have passed.

On the contrary: Felix has learned some of Bond's tells. Not the kind of tells that would let him win against the insufferably unbeatable agent, but Felix recognises the spark that lights up in Bond's eyes, only seconds before he wipes the confident smirk off an opponent's face with a winning hand.

Another thing he can see is whether Bond enjoys the game for its own sake or just really hates one of the other players. He knows it's the latter when the opponent asks for a rematch and offers the deed to a hotel in lieu of liquid funds, and Bond agrees, provided that they use a new, unopened deck of cards.

The opponent blanches near imperceptibly, and Felix smirks into his drink. Oh, yes. Very satisfying.

Title: Voyeuristic Displeasure Author: sunaddicted Warnings: none Summary: seeing everything is not so fun

Bond's hands were big and rough, stronger than they had any right to be.

He had been observing them with varying degrees of interest over the years, stuck behind his computers or out in the field - air straining in his lungs with the knowledge that the other's life depended on how fast and how smart he could be.

He watched Bond strut along the deck, hand poised low on someone's lower back, head tilted down in a way that suggested he was focusing on whatever he was being told, seemingly enraptured in them - Bond played the part well but he knew what signs to look for, to spot the seams of the almost perfect façade: he darted glances around, favoring his right side, trying to keep under the eye of the cameras that he knew to be in friendly hands.

The hand slipped lower, fingers teasingly dipping beneath the edge of the brightly colored bathing suit his companion was wearing - shameless.

Almost teasing.

He stood up with a weary sigh, empty mug held aloft: he was going to need a strongly brewed cup of tea, if he had to watch Bond flirt his way into another bed.

Title: International Man Of Mystery Author: Merc / moon_of_mercury Warnings: none Summary: Some players never make it to places like Casino Royale. Others... acquire nice cars on the way.

She has encountered many interesting characters in her career, some more remarkable than others. Poker tends to attract extraordinary people. It isn’t always easily definable: something about this man arrests her attention the moment he walks up to the table, asking to join the game even though she’s already cutting the deck.

He flashes a cocky smile at everyone, reads his opponents like a professional, and pleads with her to let the unlucky Mr. Dimitrios bet his car to win his money back. She complies, amused. Such self-sufficient arrogance would be offending if not for his friendly politeness. The way he eyes the man’s wife is not mere casual interest either. Those intense ice-blue eyes have already seen every opportunity. His body language may seem relaxed, but there’s an awareness in his movements that hints at explosive potential underneath the calm surface.

For an exhilarating moment, she revels in being a part of this man’s story. It’s as clear as day that he’s used to playing for much higher stakes. She wonders what the real prize here is.

Dimitrios has lost again even before this stranger shows his cards. Men like him bend luck to their will.

Title: Crossroads Author: Hexiva Warnings: None Summary: James Bond visits a fortune teller.

The man’s cold blue eyes look past Serenity as he steps into her fortune-telling tent, and she shivers. His aura is like ice, a vast glacier with life frozen deep down inside it. He reminds her of a mobster from some old movie, wealthy but brutal.

“What do you want to learn?” she asks.

“The future,” he says, distractedly. She follows his eyes to a bearded man standing at the high striker, speaking in Russian.

She shuffles her deck. “There are two paths before everyone,” she says. “This choice is yours.” She draws two. “First path - The Lovers, the Star. Companionship and connection bringing hope. Choose the Lovers' path, and you will find a new beginning. A second chance.”

“And the other?” he asks. His tone is flat and apathetic. He doesn't believe in hope.

She draws again. “The Emperor, the Hermit, both reversed. Rigidity and repression bringing isolation and misery. Choose the Emperor's path and you will end up alone.”

But the man is looking past her at the Russian, and he stands. “Thanks." A wry little smile. "But I think I already know what path I’m on.”

She watches him go. In his shadow, she sees the Emperor.

Title: Observation Deck Author: Anyawen Warnings: none Summary: Mallory and Tanner contemplate employee relations.

Mallory surveyed the scene before him, sipping his scotch and trying, fruitlessly, to tune out the horrid rendition of 'Deck the Halls' playing overhead.

"We should do something about that," Tanner said, coming to stand beside him.

"About what?"

"That," Tanner replied, gesturing in the direction of Bond and Q. "Them."

The Quartermaster, decked out in a horrible Christmas jumper, looked exasperated. Bond, naturally, looked smug. They appeared to have entirely forgotten the holiday party happening around them as they argued. Flirted. Whatever.

"Trying to stop that from happening would be an exercise in rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic," Mallory said with a bemused smile. "Utterly futile."

"I don't want to discourage them," Tanner protested as Q cracked an unwilling smile at something Bond said.

"What, then?"

"A little push? Mistletoe? Lock them in a closet?" Tanner suggested hopefully.

"That might be construed as stacking the deck in your favor," Mallory observed mildly.

"You know about the bet?" Tanner spluttered as Q stole Bond's champagne glass and drained it to Bond's mock outrage.

"Spy," Mallory explained succinctly.

Tanner nodded wry acknowledgement.

They continued their silent observations a few minutes more, then Tanner asked, "What day did you pick?"

"April first."

Title: Nighttime Invasion Author: SouffleGirl91 Warnings: vague references to blood, swearing Summary: Q’s cat is not impressed by 3am visitors

Thunk.

A crumpled heap hit the floor. She hissed, tail bushy, ready to pounce on the intruder.

“Oof!”

Gunpowder Man was invading her space.

Again.

“Q?” Gunpowder Man whisper-shouted. He sounded different. “Are you awake?”

Something dark dripped from his nose.

She sniffed cautiously. He stank of copper and salt. Still, it was better than the strong, sour reek of last time.

A light came on in Father’s bedroom.

Gunpowder Man lifted himself up and wobbled to the sofa. Walking on two legs seemed harder for him than usual.

“Bond?” Father came traipsing up behind him, making the room light up. “What the fuck? It’s 3 in the bloody morning. You couldn’t wait?”

“What, you’re not happy to see me?” Gunpowder Man used the false-happy tone Father used when he tricked her into The Basket.

Another dark drip.

“Don’t be stupid,” Father tsked, petting Gunpowder Man softly on the shoulder. That should help; Father gave the best pets. “Why don’t I put the - Christ, Bond! What happened to your nose?”

“It’s not broken. She hit me when I told her I was staying.”

“I thought psychologists were meant to keep their cool,” Father sighed. “Come on, let’s clean you up.”

Title: A confession of a deck Author: scarytheory Warnings: none Summary: James Bond would be lost without me.

I'd like to think that James and I are not just colleagues, but friends.

You know, we’ve been through a lot together. Cottages in forgotten lands, first-class casinos, important fights – I’d always been with him and helped him along the way.

But this game is different.

“That’s not fair, James,” the opponent says, watching his stack of cards.

“I’m not cheating, Q.”

The opponent snorts. “You may be the best player the MI6’s ever had, but even you can’t be THAT good, 007. Aces again? That’s not very subtle.”

“You were the one who said poker is just basic math and all about the art of reading people. So stop whinging and take off your shirt.”

Beg your pardon?

There is something disturbing in the air. I don’t think I want to give the good cards to James anymore. “Happy?”

The shirt falls to the floor.

“Immensely.”

The next round, Q loses his pants. I’m starting to think that this isn’t even about poker!

“I won.”

Finally, it’s over and I can relax again. Even though I’m not sure what this young lad can have that James Bond would be interested in… oh.

Title: Camouflage Author: IrishWitch58 Warnings: None Summary: A certain agent and their partner are in the field. The local perspective.

Grace's eyes were drawn to her first customers on the deck overlooking the harbor. They were as unlike as could be but Grace would have known they were together with just a glance. The subtle leaning in, the eye contact, the briefest brush of a hand. Not honeymooners but the established kind of connection that took time and patience. The younger man was dark and slender and had a tan that was honey gold. The older one was broader and blond and that one sent tingles up her spine. Her brother and his military buddies were like that, poised and watchful. She didn't see a weapon but suspected he was armed. They'd arrived three days ago in a beautifully restored vintage sailboat, walking the less traveled portions of the island.

Passing Grace, Mimi muttered “Spies posing as tourists.”

Gracie scoffed at Mimi's imagination. What were they spying on here, conch recipes? Then a new boat dropped anchor. The blond saw it first and the dark haired one checked the tablet he always seemed to have before nodding and finishing his chowder.

The pretty sailboat pulled up anchor the next dawn and the new boat was found derelict two days later.

#10

Title: Missing Him Author: Nana-chan Warnings: Summary: Austen the cat watches as her human pines for the Blond One

From her perch on the living room sofa, Austen looks disapprovingly at her bespectacled human. He is out on the deck again, smoking and no doubt pining for the Blond One. He is a relatively new addition to the household and has been gone for several days now, as is his habit. Keats—that dummy—misses him, too, as he meows and gazes forlornly at the front door.

She herself is unsure of the Blond One, but she doesn’t like it when her human is all sad and distracted, reeking of cigarette smoke and unresponsive to feline overtures of comfort. She feels powerless to help him. How did one man become so essential to her human’s happiness?

Then a key turns, the door opens, and there he is. The Blond One dumps his bag in the foyer and heads straight for the deck, pausing only to give her a brief head scritch. She watches as he folds her human into his arms and starts grooming him in that strange way humans have, with their mouths fused.

She hears her human laugh, gladness and relief evident in his tones, and finally, she makes up her mind about the Blond One.

#11

Title: Origin of a Voyeur Author: stormofsharpthings Warnings: none Summary: There was a legitimate reason to start going through all the Q Branch security footage, dammit!

After the small accidental volcano destroyed lab 7b, no one could recall who’d last checked the fire suppression system. Exasperated, R pulled up the security videos in hopes of spotting someone. The recording of Q and 007 was entirely unrelated, but she just couldn’t look away.

Q had been helping Bond dress for some formal event, tuxedo carefully tailored to conceal the equipment Q was arranging around his body. The scene resembled a squire helping his knight, except...

R bit her lip at the way Q stroked his fingertips down the front of Bond’s suit to check the drape of the fabric, evading Bond’s hungry gaze with a sly little quirk to his mouth. Then Q leaned close, reaching around to run his hands over the back of the jacket, lingering a little over Bond’s well-proportioned backside before he sank to one knee and brushed along the sides of the trousers.

“There, all decked out,” Q murmured.

Bond reached down to cradle Q’s chin in his hand and Q looked up with a provocative lick of his lips, the heat almost visibly simmering between them. Bond took a deep breath, his fingers tightening, and Q ‘s eyes widened and then slid shut as he turned to brush his lips against Bond’s thumb. When Bond made a low rough sound, both Q and Rani swallowed at the same time.

Then the outer office door slammed and she hurriedly shut her computer down, blushing. But she saved a private copy first.

#12

Title: The Bet Author: Venstar Warnings: none Summary: Bets are made, there will be blood.

Oh, yes. It was going to happen. The tension was palpable in the room, yes he said palpable in his interior monologue. Just fucking get closer. Do it already. He was going to win that bet today by fuck. He leaned forward in anticipation, eyes locked on target. Yes. Yes….Keep going...almost….

*AH-OOH-GA!! AH-OOH-GAH!! AH-OOH-GAH!!*

Fuck, goddammit. Not again! He narrowed his eyes. There was no way another attack by water was happening. Dammit. Fake or not they were going to have to clear the god damned building. He sighed heavily as he turned sad eyes back to where 007 and Q had been quietly eyeing each other. They were gone. “What the fuck?” Where? There! The orange of Q’s cardigan turned a corner. He was not about to lose the 'THEY FINALLY MADE OUT DAY' be! He ignored the rest of Q’branch’s leads as they ordered the evacuation.

“Davis?”

Fuck. It was R.

“And just where are you going? Exit is that way.”

He turned with hunched shoulders to find R smiling at him. Her eyes flitted past him to where Q and 007 had disappeared to. “THAT bet will only be won when it’s officially my day.”

#13

Title: Specs and the Lady Author: solarmorrigan Warnings: None. Summary: Louis has been a bartender for a long time, but occasionally patrons can still surprise him.

The Friday night crowd seethes around the bar in waves, laughing and calling out their orders. Louis has been a bartender a long time, which means he can keep up with the steady roll of vodka-tonic-scotch-and-soda-bottle-bottle-pint and still keep an eye on the floor for trouble.

Trouble like the man in specs and a loud jumper bumping into an over-drunk man in a worn football jersey, spilling both their drinks.

Specs’ mouth forms the word ‘sorry,’ but Jersey isn’t having it. He grabs Specs’ jumper, but before Louis can even call for Paul—their unofficial bouncer-bartender—a lady slides in between them, curly hair and cunning eyes, and pulls Jersey’s hand away.

Jersey shoves the lady, and viper-quick, she decks him. Jersey goes down.

Louis lets out a surprised laugh. The lady looks quite pleased. Specs looks exasperated, though Louis doesn’t know why; if he had someone like that in his corner, all squared shoulders and terrifying heels, he’d be delighted. Then again, from Specs’ half-laughing attempt at chastisement that carries in the surprised lull in noise (“Really, Eve?”), this isn’t the first time it’s happened.

“Just take Jersey out,” Louis bids as Paul moves in, “Specs and the lady are fine.”

#14

Title: Eyes on You Author: oldestcharm Warnings: n/a Summary: The Quartermaster is enjoying his afternoon and Bond is far too concerned about his garden.

She's good at her job. So good, in fact, that she's currently hidden from sight with her scope right on MI6's Quartermaster himself. He's sitting on the deck of his house, enjoying the sunny weather with a girly drink in one hand and a laptop resting on his thighs. He's typing furiously, paying no attention to his surroundings. All she has to do is take one shot.

Then, the sprinklers turn on.

She does her best to not make a sound even as her phone buzzes.

4:27 pm:

There are over twenty cameras on the property.

4:28 pm:

I suggest you get out of my hydrangea bush. James worked rather hard on the garden and he won't be pleased to find you there.

A click behind her — probably a gun. "You've ruined my garden."

She turns around and finds herself face to face with the legendary agent. She cringes. "I'm... very sorry?"

Bond does not look amused. "You're fixing this before you leave."

"You're not going to kill me?" she asks, heart pounding.

"Q wants you for his team." Bond sighs, looking more annoyed than anything. "Either you accept or I'll shoot you."

Well, it's not exactly a choice.

#15

Title: Over It Author: MrKsan / starrboned Warnings: Canon-Typical language Summary: Tanner is nervous.

Ferrying through the maze of the Thames tunnels was often a nerve-wracking job. More so when his passengers were nervous. More so when it was the Chief of Staff who was sitting across from him, restless, tap-tap-tapping on his cardboard box.

Tanner gave Jack an awkward smile as they docked, climbing the narrow ladder just as the Quartermaster stormed into view.

“I’m going to skin the twat alive, Bill!“ he hissed, making Tanner stumble to a stop. “Didn’t even try to cover his tracks.”

Jack grinned. Only one man could piss Q off that much.

Tanner sighed, resigned. “I’ll inform M-”

“Already did,” Q huffed.

"Oh?"

"Not risking my career for him again, Bill."

Jack dared a peek at the couple; the conversation was taking an unexpected turn.

Tanner blinked, once, twice, before seeming to come to a decision. He shoved the cardboard box at Q.

“Thought we could share breakfast, since our dinner last night was interrupted? Bad timing, of course- ”

"Bill,” Q said, and Jack saw the silver of a smirk. "I would love to."

Pulling a crumpled cigarette from under his heavy coat, Jack couldn't help but grin to himself.

MI6 and their drama.

Go vote!

#james bond #james bond fanfiction #drabbles #00Q #rare pair #ldws2021 #ldws 2021 #ldws

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thecreaturecodex · 3 years

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Warduke

[I keep getting distracted by retro villains! I wasn’t born during the 80′s D&D boom, so I missed the action figures and the cartoon growing up. I did subscribe to Dungeon Magazine, though, and issue 105 wasn’t my first, but it might have been my second or third. It certainly made an impression on me. Warduke is the Boba Fett of D&D (quiet, cool helmet, more badass in later appearances than the original canon, first appeared as a toy). And so Warduke appeared twice in my various campaigns in high school and undergrad, once in a prehistoric game (as an ophidian), and once in the Age of Worms. Both left a high body count in their wake. The Age of Worms rendition even managed to kill the same character twice in one round.

This version of Warduke is based on the Dungeon Magazine 3.5 version, with a few major tweaks. The shift from 3.5 to Pathfinder was kind to fighters in general and shield bash builds in particular, and he takes advantage of many Pathfinder-exclusive feats. I dislike the idea that Warduke’s glowing eyes are fiendish grafts, so I dropped that (it’s all about that helmet). Speaking of the helmet, I did make it a unique item, but not an artifact as it was in the Dungeon version. Understandably, Warduke is something of a cypher personality-wise, but I figured I’d give him a little backstory. Feel free to ignore it. In addition to Boba Fett, my main inspirations here were Angel Eyes (the “bad” from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) and the Dread Pirate Roberts.

And yes, I realize that my version of Warduke is stronger than my Venger, which may upset D&D cartoon purists. I like Warduke better.]

Warduke CR 18 NE Humanoid (human) This man’s face is concealed within a dark, bat-winged helmet, revealing only glowing eyes. He is powerfully muscled, revealing his physique under a set of mismatched armor and a fur belt. He carries a heavy sword in one hand, a round shield engraved with a horned, fanged skull in the other.

Warduke is the soldier’s bogeyman. He has fought a thousand wars, killed ten thousand men. He is a mercenary, bounty hunter and assassin par excellence, who slays lesser opponents with a blow and can challenge even the stoutest adventurers.This much is true, but claims that he has lived for centuries or is unkillable are greatly exaggerated, and there is as much myth as man about him. “Warduke” is a title, not a name. Anyone who wears the signature blue steel helm of Warduke, set with three gems and causing the wearer’s eyes to glow in a sinister fashion, can theoretically claim the title. It is even possible that multiple versions of this helm circulate, and there are multiple Wardukes simultaneously on different worlds.

The current Warduke is driven by selfishness and greed above all other goals. Warduke does have a claim to nobility—he was a minor lord who preferred to train in warfare than in statecraft, who was obsessed with the legend of Warduke upon learning that Warduke’s Helm was kept in his kingdom as a trophy. He stole the helm after murdering its keepers, and assumed the title of Warduke after forsaking his previous life. Those who knew of his former identity were slain to keep the secret. Warduke is a cynic and pragmatist, and he kills for the highest bidder. He calls his sword Nightwind.

Warduke favors attacking enemies while they are weak—after a long battle, when emerging from a dungeon, or while at camp. He has no sense of duty, honor or humanity. He is not so foolish as to believe he is capable of fighting all battles by himself, however, and may travel with other cutthroats to act as ranged or magical support. Warduke doesn’t have much loyalty for these associates; he knows he can always buy the services of others if he needs them. Likewise, he does not retain loyalty to a patron once his job is done—his next job may very well be to revenge his previous mission, or betray them if he has learned a valuable secret.

Warduke’s Helm (wondrous item) Price 57,390 gp; Aura moderate conjuration and transmutation; CL 11th Warduke’s Helm grants its wearer 60 foot darkvision, and makes their eyes glow bright red as a consequence. This grants the wearer a +5 competence bonus on Intimidate checks. Once per day as a full round action, the wearer of Warduke’s Helm can attune the helm to a location, as if casting the word of recall spell. From that point, the wearer of Warduke’s Helm can transport himself, allies and goods as per word of recall. Warduke’s Helm can only be attuned to one location at a time. The Helm is cursed—it does not function for any wielder of non-evil alignment

Construction Requirements Cost 28,695 gp; Craft Wondrous Item, darkvision, word of recall, creator must have 10 ranks in Intimidate

Warduke CR 18 XP 153,600 NE Medium humanoid (human) Human fighter 18 Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +4 Defense AC 36, touch 15, flat-footed 32 (+3 Dex, +12 armor, +6 shield, +2 natural, +2 deflection, +1 insight) hp 211 (18d10+108) Fort +21, Ref +13, Will +16; +5 vs. fear DR 3/- Defensive Abilities bravery +5, fortification (75%), freedom of movement Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee Nightwind +35/+30/+25/+20 (1d8+17 plus 1d6 fire/17-20), +4 bashing shield +37 (1d6+14) Ranged dagger +25 (1d4+13/19-20) Special Attacks weapon training (heavy blades 4, close 3, light blades 2, axes 1) Tactics During Combat If Warduke does not feel threatened by opponents, he begins a fight with Dazzling Display to demoralize foes and weaken their defense against him. If enemies are more prepared, he waits to intimidate instead with his Dreadful Carnage feat. Warduke prefers to close with enemies and stay close, using Shield Slam to isolate his prey and Step Up to remain in melee reach. He always uses Power Attack, unless he misses with three or more attacks per turn. Morale Warduke is not stupid, and retreats from a losing fight using his helm. Statistics Str 28, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 13 Base Atk +18; CMB +28; CMD 45 (49 vs. disarm, sunder) Feats Combat Reflexes, Dazzling Display, Dreadful Carnage, Furious Focus, Improved Critical (longsword), Improved Initiative, Improved Shield Bash, Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Missile Shield, Power Attack, Shatter Defenses, Shield Focus, Shield Master, Shield Slam, Step Up, Stunning Assault, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword) Skills Acrobatics +13, Climb +19, Intimidate +30, Knowledge (local) +12, Ride +10, Survival +16, Swim +19 Gear belt of physical might +6 (Str, Con), headband of Wis +6, Warduke’s Helm (see above), Nightwind (+3 flaming human-bane longsword), +4 bashing light steel shield, +3 glamered adamantine full plate of moderate fortification, ring of freedom of movement, ring of protection +2, cloak of resistance +4, amulet of natural armor +2, boots of speed, gloves of dueling, dusty rose prism ioun stone, bag of holding type I, flying ointment (x2), silversheen (x3), dust of appearance, potion of cure serious wounds (x3), 4 daggers, 900 gp SQ armor training 4, exceptional resources, inherent bonuses Special Abilities Exceptional Resources (Ex) Warduke has ability scores built with 25 points of point buy, and has treasure equivalent to an 18th level player character. This increases Warduke’s CR by 1. Inherent Bonuses (Ex) Warduke has accepted wish spells as payment for his dark deeds, gaining a +2 inherent bonus to his Strength and Constitution scores.

#warduke #D&D #npc #pathfinder 1e #nostalgia

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seventeenlovesthree · 2 years

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“Shall we go together?” (2/24) | A Taishirou Christmas drabble countdown

Just a little Taishirou-centric Christmas fic I’ve been meaning to write all year long, so here we are. The plan was to post 12-24 drabbles to complete telling the story and the Christmas spirit succeeded in the end. (Disclaimer: I’m actually glad my football teams aren’t always as stupid to play between holidays, but let’s pretend it happened like this.)

🧡💜

Chapters: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

Characters: Koushirou Izumi, Tentomon (mentions of other Chosen Children)

Main POV: Koushirou Izumi

Genre: Friendship (& romance)

Rating: K

Wordcount: 1166

December 23rd, 08:40 PM

Koushirou was pacing up and down in his room and had been doing so for good ten minutes already, glance frequently flicking over to the neatly folded envelope on his desk.

He had planned the entirety of Christmas Eve carefully and, initially, everything appeared to have been bulletproof.

He would get prepared to pick up Taichi and Hikari in the early afternoon, after they had finished their annual baking marathon.

Then they would escort Hikari on her way to the Motomiya residence and meet up with Sora to watch Yamato’s concert together.

Afterwards, he would give Taichi his Christmas present, they would eventually part ways and he would end the day with a fancy Christmas dinner with his parents.

Simple as that.

And yet…

“I miscalculated”, he eventually concluded, one hand resting on his chin, sounding as if he had just launched a missile to blow up all of Odaiba.

Tentomon tilted his head at that. He had watched his partner behaving weirdly ever since he had returned home from accompanying Mimi’s last-minute present shopping. Originally, they had planned to join the rest of the group for their Pre-Christmas-party. Koushirou, however, didn’t seem nearly relaxed enough for any social gathering in this very moment.

“What exactly did you miscalculate?”, Tentomon asked. “Isn’t it normal for friends to give each other little presents for Christmas?”

“Exactly – little presents.” Koushirou pressed his lips together. “This one isn’t particularly little…”

He hadn’t even thought twice about it when he had ordered football tickets for the end-of-the-year friendly between FC Bayern Munich and Real Madrid CF that would take place in Japan this December when he had seen them online. It seemed to have been the perfect present for Taichi, who was more obsessed with football than ever before after having entered his second year of university. Plus, Koushirou wasn’t getting himself into any financial trouble by buying such pricey tickets, as he had saved up as much as he could ever since he had taken on little IT jobs since he had been 16 years old. Now, with him being in his first year of university and gathering resources to launch his tech start up next year, he was comfortable with making a little out-of-range purchase.

Or so Koushirou had thought.

“Judging by my research, I probably wouldn’t even have been able to afford these tickets if I had saved up for several months, if my job didn’t ensure me some financial stability…”, he explained bitterly – but Tentomon was still confused.

“So what’s the big deal? I haven’t seen you this frantic since… That time, a few years ago.”

Koushirou frowned. He knew what Tentomon was referring to – and it made his stomach drop even further. He really wasn’t good at dealing with crushes…

“Speaking of which, what exactly did Mimi-han tell you to get like this?”

Hearing that question made Koushirou sigh heavily. He still heard Mimi’s enthusiastic voice loud and clear in his mind; they had talked about the meaning of Christmas in different countries – and Mimi had gone all out:

“Aaaaaaaah, I love how Christmas Eve is celebrated as a holiday of lovers in Japan. You know, in America, it’s perfectly normal to give presents to your friends and be all loving and casual about it, but here… There’s so much romance in the air, all secret admirations getting revealed through presents and confessions, heart beating included! I envy those who ask the people they like out on a date on Christmas Eve… If it’s meant to be, there literally isn’t any better chance than this to score, ha! … Why are you looking so pale, Koushirou-kun?”

He hadn’t done his research properly. He had played himself. And now it had hit him twice as hard as punishment.

“Well… To keep it short: Christmas Eve is the ‘holiday of lovers’ in Japan and thus, it’s the day to confess to the person you like. By giving them very expensive presents. Or: By asking them to go to quite prestigious football matches together at the end of the year… Taichi-san might take this as an invitation.”

“Which it is, isn’t it?”

“Yes, of course. But…” Koushirou paused. He hadn’t even intended to directly ask Taichi if he wanted to go together, because, in the end, it was up to Taichi and Taichi alone whom he wanted to give the second ticket to. He may as well have asked Sora to join him, as she was also still very much invested in the sport herself. Despite that… A part of him had obviously hoped that it would naturally come to a situation in which they could spend the event together – and the worst part was, he couldn’t even remember anymore whether that part had acted consciously or not while clicking the “order” button back then. In fact, he was almost certain that he hadn’t thought rationally at all at that time. And now he felt as if he would come across as more than just a little desperate. “It can definitely be interpreted as being a romantically inclined invitation. A date, so to speak.”

“Aaaand?”, Tentomon asked further, waving his claws suggestively. “Don’t you want it to be interpreted as that?”

“… I don’t know. I really don’t and it’s frightening”, Koushirou replied genuinely. Defeated, even. He hated not being able to give an answer. Not knowing what to do, how to fix a situation made him nervous. “I’m not prepared.”

“Koushirou-han, when will you be prepared then?!” The Digimon tried his best to cheer his partner up, making him realize that he was, once again, thinking way too much. “When you both have finished university and ended up with those weird and boring adult human responsibilities?”

“Tentomon!”

“I’m just saying… If you wait even longer, you might miss your chance and it’ll be too late one day. Mimi-han said it, ya know, if it is the ‘holiday of lovers’, you shouldn’t hesitate and I’m sure she would agree with me here.”

Koushirou smiled at that. She would have. So would Sora have – he had been this close to confiding in her, but had decided against it in the end. He assumed she already knew what was up, but for some reason, the thought of her encouraging him further had made him even more anxious. Instead, he had decided that he needed to deal with it on his own – like so many times before. But Tentomon wasn’t wrong – sometimes, it wasn’t a bad idea to ask for further support and now he almost felt guilty for not talking to her, them. Another thing he had to fix in the very near future...

“Besides, it would be a waste if you let those tickets get expired… If Taichi-han ever found out about that, he would probably be very angry with you, don’tcha think?”

“Yeah, probably”, Koushirou chuckled, a lot more lightly than before, deciding that he would sleep over a final decision tonight. Or not sleep at all, actually.

#taishirou #taishiro #my drabbles #fanfiction #shall we go together?#anime #digimon #koushirou izumi #tentomon

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