#anyway skybridger rights!!

[gibbearish]

man i keep getting distracted i was in the middle of playing terraria

#ive started a not the bees playthrough #its. going #i have literally no accessories beyond the ones ive gotten from the travelling merchant yet #however i do have approximately ten thousand tombstones so. thats good #i will say though it is very nice knowing the whole world is mud and therefore corruption spread will be negligent #NEGLIGIBLE #i fucking thought that was the right word but my keyboard was convinced it wasnt a word and kept suggesting negligent #anyways. oh despite not having any accessories yet i do have a HELLA base already going and a good chunk of a skybridge #not much of a hellavator yet due to the 8000 bees in the way of all mining and the 3 defense my wooden armor gives me but #we'll get there eventually #oh one thing i am real bummed abt is i thought id found a skyland and wasted a fuckload of platforms and ropes searching #only to find out my map had lied to me #it's fun tho due to the honey everywhere im navigating the world very differently than i usually do #would kill for a double jump though. or a single cave opening of any sort. just one chest maybe #alas. we trudge onwards

[barissoffee]

#mine #the special connection is that they’re married send tweet #anyway skybridger rights!! #skybridger

[darthskys]

su’cuy! my name is dre (they/he/she) i’m 18+, & i obviously love star wars

PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW IF YOU ARE PARTICULAR ABOUT THE SW CONTENT YOU EXPOSE YOURSELF TO; I AM HERE TO LIVE IN MY LITTLE BUBBLE AND I RESPECT YOURS AS WELL, SO PLEASE DO NOT COME FOR ME, THANK YOU <3<3

(please be mindful if you are a minor or uncomfortable with sexual content; i include tws for sexual content & gore posts, however these are a rare occasion!)

here are some incentives either to follow or unfollow:

i follow/post content of:

- all trilogies, live action series, stand alone films, & animated series & films

- canon & legends novels & comics (i’m just a simple reader making my way through the legendsverse)

- canon & legends videogames

- other people’s sw ocs & fic recs; keep up the good work!

ships i absolutely cannot tolerate are:

- obikin

- obiqui

- anisoka

- maulsoka

- lukeleia or hanleialuke

- any clonecest

things i (even just lowkey and rarely) ship that i am obligated to warn you about, as i’ve seen them claimed to be controversial are:

- anidala

- obimaul

- reylo

- caltrilla

- dinluke

- codywan

- kylux

- benpoe

- vostress

- ahsokatan

the rest of the the ships i post about are relatively unchallenged in every way (i also ship some poly ships, so be aware of that and do not spread hate, ty!)

opinions of mine you might want to consider (AKA don’t @ me) are:

- anakin will always be the chosen one and no one else; he restored balance in his own way, and here’s my monologue about it

- the jedi didn’t deserve what they got and the empire is never right. sometimes they’re sexy, yeah, but not right

- the clones have a right to turn to the way of the mandalore

- din’s creed is not inherently cultist and your attempts to compare it to existing religions aren’t okay

- maul is redeemable. read legends. ben solo is also redeemable, but i’m hardly invested in his character anyway. galen’s redemption was too easy. barriss offee redemption when??

- i don’t think anakin actually caused padmé’s death, but hey, i’m a delusional romantic

- talk shit about rey and i block you — the sequel trilogy failed in the way it treated its characters, not because of rey skywalker; and here’s my monologue about that

- if you blame qui-gon or obi-wan for what happened, i legitimately hate you <3 also, the jedi were shit in several aspects but they also were not, and i have another monologue here on why some of you need to ease up

- she was a terror in the mandalorian, but i still like bo-katan. on the other hand, rose tico did nothing wrong and if i see you diss her i will block you. same goes for mace windu! we love a king (but that whole jango thing was mean, sir)

- i believe ben had a bad childhood and that therefore means han and leia were not compatible, but the unrealistic hopeless romantic in me refuses to accept that, so this is why i prefer to forget ben exists sometimes :’)

- reimagining characters (such as padmé) as poc will always always always be okay and encouraged

- cara dune is separate from her horrid actress, so can we please include cara? :’(

- luke is not a twink bottom. excuse you, he is a twunk switch...smh. also no shit talking about mara! like yeah we all know there is no way luke is straight, but we don’t put down queens

rarer pairs you might like to know that i ship (that i have not previously mentioned) are:

- lukelando

- hanlando

- barrissoka

- hanboba

- bobannec

- cobbbobafennec

- dincobb

- cararmorer

- mandomera

- lukewedge

- lukebiggs

- skybridger

- finnreypoe

- reyrose

- finnrey

- finnrose

- kenobane

- obianidala

- quinobi

- rexwalker

- kalluzeb

- revastila

- thrawnto

- droid husbands

- spiritassassin

- vaderdala

- zaynejarael

- ventrobi

- obivostress

[lessattitudemorealtitude]

2326 words of Cinder AU

Today I’m back to doing math (or at least confirming I do not understand what I think I don’t understand). I also stumbled upon cutscenes from Fire Emblem Fates and now I’m really tempted to play Conquest again lol

Anyway have some skybridger angst (this is a dream sequence in case it’s not obvious, but tw for homophobia, referenced torture, imagined character death)

Ezra moaned as he gently bit Luke’s bottom lip. Luke couldn’t help but moan in response, wrapping an arm around Ezra’s middle to hold him tightly. He had no idea what he was doing, but Ezra’s lips tasted impossibly sweet. Luke held onto him for dear life as he tasted and suckled on Ezra’s lips. He wasn’t sure if he was doing this kissing thing right, but it felt so good.

Then Luke was suddenly yanked backward, ripped from Ezra’s arms and yanked off the bunk. 

The building melted away and Luke was standing in the throne room, his father behind him with a tight grip on the back of his neck. Luke’s breathing began to quicken as he realized that Ezra was kneeling before them, his arms tied behind his back and a dark metal collar locked around his neck. The thick chain trailing from the collar was being held by the Inquisitor. But even more horrifying was the darkened and swollen bruises covering Ezra’s face, his back crisscrossed with the evidence of a brutal whipping. 

Luke couldn’t breathe. “N-No…”

The hand on Luke’s neck tightened, his grandfather’s voice in his ear. “Next time you’ll think twice before laying with another man.”

A blade fell, and Ezra’s head rolled.

#writing #adventures in self accountability #skybridger #tw: homophobia #tw: torture #tw: character death

[annakie]

An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Twelve

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Last Time: we helped a criminal and chased some monkeys.

This Time: we Main Quest again!

Feros!

I love Feros!  It’s such a cool place with crazy, brutalist atmosphere.  From a scappy little colony filled with brainwashed people to a scary tower filled with Geth and then down to creepy eldritch horror monster basement... it definitely feels like something new and different.

So let’s start out with that colony.

Tali comes with us to Feros, because of the large amounts of geth on the planet.  It seems like the best of the four main planets to have her along with, until the end.

This poor guy.  It’d be great if there was some way to save him.  Why was he out here on his own!?  Someone should be here to help him!  and he shouldn’t be standing out where there’s no cover!  Hide, man!  Hide!

I’m kind of sad we never see muscle-white geth in subsequent games.  What are you hiding from us, Harbinger? What did you do with the white-and-blue wall-clinging geth?  Do their loyalties lie only with Sovereign?  

Also, great job making them seem really freaky here.

One thing I love early on is that the game does a pretty good job not immediately giving up the brainwashing plot, while still making you not feel like a dummy for not figuring it out earlier, yet there are still hints its there.

Alicia here at first seems like she could be a problem. turns out she’s just like, really good at her job and mad about being abandoned here.  And the colony is really struggling and on its last lets and they ARE glad you’re there.

And before you can get into too much discussion, geth attack!

It’s a crazy intense fight up the stairs and into the tunnel, until...

Whew, a reprieve.  Also, what a cool and terrifying shot. They’re really amping up the tension and complete shittyness of the situation here.

Things are seriously fucked at this colony.  

YES I’ll help you!

And you!

Hang on real quick and let me grab this sidequest.

Talking to Hollis Blake is like, the first really big hint that something is very, very wrong here.  Always wondered if he’s any relation to Helena.

Hey, is it just me who always, always, always misses one of these water valve fuckers and has to backtrack to find it?  This time I was specifically like “I am not going to miss any of the water valves.  I will NOT.”  And then I did.  Does one just.. not show up til you get to the end of the Feros tunnels or am I just that stupid?!?!

Anyway, another reason to bring Tali, she’s pretty much an expert at fixing stuff like this!  Kaidan does fine if needed, but the tunnels quests in particular I feel like are right up Tali’s alley.

PUPPIES.  That are apparently full of tasty meat for hungry colonists.  

This screenshot reminds me that I haven’t driven my car for a week and a half due to quarantine and should do so before the battery dies.  Sounds like a job for tomorrow!

Also, I want to know like, how did those vehicles get down here?  Is this really underground?  What level is the colony on?  How do the prothean towers the colonists live in even WORK?  How many other levels have people living on them (or did?)  Does everyone live in this tower and skybridge over to the other tower for office work?  I have QUESTIONS about pre-geth life in this colony that will never be answered.

Poor Ian Newstead.  The strongest of the colonists, but not quite strong enough.

Somehow, I managed to not take video or good screenshots of this terrifying fight.  Oh ok we got drones up top, and several charging Krogan and geth in a tunnel with zero cover?  Sounds SUPER FUN.  Also feels impossible on insanity.  It’s not easy to lure things out to the cross-hallway here.  I die on this fight a lot, even on normal.  

But not this time!!

Hey raise your hand if in the past you’ve forgotten to blow this thing to bits and had to trudge back down here a second time?  

I managed to only get halfway down the hall before remembering and turning around this time.

Oh yeah, yeah Fai Dan, everyone here is SUPER NORMAL.  Poor Ian, indeed.

But hey, turning in all the tunnels quests is great, feels like you’re making a noticeable difference in these people’s lives and survivability, at least.

Anyway, now that the colony is stable, time to head over to that other building!  Just a short, pleasant, easy drive across a skybridge.

HOW. DID. THE.MAKO. GET. HERE?  

Is it just like, Exo Geni’s Mako?  It can’t be ours!  But how would they get a mako!?

Sigh.  Let’s not think about it too hard, and enjoy this boring drive across...

DAMNIT.

But hey, those visuals!

Once again, we deal with these geth in our usual way.  And I didn’t even drive off the skybridge!  So Pro.

Tunnel!  OK we have time to stop for a tunnel.

Peekaboo!  Time to pick up some sweet easy loot!

Hey, thanks ExoGeni for placing large chunks of debris in the middle of the road.  I know it was you because it clearly didn’t fall from anything around here.

Oh no, this asshole.

It feels extra prescient right now that hypercapatalist Ethan Jeong is super willing to sacrifice real people’s lives in order to protect profits, right?  Fuck you even more than normal, Jeong.  Seriously.  I’m now sorta regretting cheating in extra paragon points so you can live later.

I do love Juliana Baynham, though?  Of course I always love a good mother/daughter story.

Hey, don’t forget to talk to Gavin... if you want Conrad Verner to live!

But seriously you guys, this level design.

Sorry not sorry for the flycam pic spam.  I just really love the skybridge of Feros.  

I also really want to know like, what’s down there under the clouds?

Also, great job to the Protheans to have built shit still standing after their reaper invasion +20,000 years!  I’ll have to tell Javik in a couple of years.

Okay, that’s it for this update!  Next time... we’ll make it to the tower, and probably just have an extra-long finishing up Feros post!  Can you believe this post only has twelve of the fifty two Feros gifs I made?  So THAT’S coming up!

#mass effect #bioware #tali'zorah #kaidan alenko #video games #gaming #annakie's mass effect stuff

[skruffie]

Last night I dreamt about my sister for probably the first time in YEARS. I get kind of envious of my mom because she dreams about Nicole all the time, but as I’ve gotten older I rarely see her in my dreams even though I think about her every single day. Last night though was a new one, because in this dream she was appearing as if she had never died (rather than a circumstance of her coming back to life or whatever), and we were trying to work together to save our mom. The character of “mom” had an appearance change later in the dream as it continued so by the end she looked nothing like my mom, but she had been injured or shot? or something, and we were trying to help her.

Which... considering circumstances of our world right now, I know exactly where this dream is coming from. My mom has asthma and a poor immune system and I’ve been worried about this pandemic infecting her and killing her. She went into quarantine and was at home for the past like two or three weeks with my dad because information at work has been changing literally day to day. She finally got telework equipment yesterday and I got to see her.

So, here’s the thing. We both work for the same state department but we have different jobs and different permanent places of work. I used to be in the same office as her before transferring to a different one, but I get to the different one on public transportation bc it’s too much of a hassle to drive. Since the pandemic was getting worse, I requested to work from this first office since it’s closer to where I live. It’s kind of split across two buildings with a small skybridge linking the two, and my old cubicle faces a window that faces another window to a conference room.

From that window, I was able to see my mom--all dressed up in a mask and gloves--and we waved and kind of danced around a bit as if to say “hey!! I see you!! hello!” and we emailed a bit where I told her that the pandemic has been bringing up a lot of grief over Nicole’s death for some reason. That, and also it’s coming up on the anniversary of this month and when I do my scant grocery shopping I see Easter shit everywhere which makes me feel terrible... anyway, mom and I were emailing and she’s been getting triggered by all this too. She was the one that stayed in the hospital for over 60 days while my sister underwent a total stem cell transplant. During that time I lived with my grandparents and my dad would come over after work in the evenings and we’d chat and work on jigsaw puzzles together. This was really the nice last taste of feasible interaction I had with my parents before her death pretty much nearly destroyed my family. 

Of course after she died I had dreams about her. It’s a natural thing with the grieving process and especially for kids. Over time they just kind of stopped for me... but first time in years and I clearly remember seeing her in my dream and we’re talking and I’m thinking “she is so beautiful in her 30s”. She would have been 37 this year. 

There is this tiny 11 year old part of me that is stirring and it feels like this long, raw scream of pain where I just want my big sister back. 

#death tw #sibling grief #covid19

[danieyells]

. . .Do we have a list of shit Lucien's Evol does anywhere? Anyone keeping track??

Off the top of my head

Forcefields. Used to protect MC from sniper(/Gavin?), used to prevent skybridge from collapsing, used to protect MC from falling billboard, used to protect MC from upset, drunk Evolver

Hypnotism. Used to force MC into sleep. Seemingly until he wanted her to wake up or lost control of the ability?? Used for the next power, but also in Aquarium Date to prevent her from hearing his conversation.

Induced/shared thoughts/dreams/memories. Used to show MC when she first met Lucien when they were children, used to show MC the car accident that killed his parents and nearly killed him, preventing him from meeting up with her as promised the following day. May just be a sort of mental access point in general, as MC was able to speak to her childhood self, said childhood self was also able to acknowledge Lucien. Cannot force MC to remember anything, as MC doesn't recognize herself, him, or the location they met(which they were also ohysically at in real life.) Nearly uses it on MC while she was in the hospital? Needs to touch the person's head to use it on them???

Teleportation??? Used to leave hospital after speaking to Victor. Can also warp others away--doing so envelops them in a bright white light and sends them wherever he chooses? He touches MC when he does this, but forces the Black Swan agents reporting to him to disappear without contact with them. Also used to eliminate Josie, however this was without light and he simply made her fade away--implicitly to another dimension. Based on her fear of returning to that place, it's not great. He also used it to remove Josie from a dimension she was in(that he wasn't in??? MC and Gavin were with Josie there, and when she was removed much of the effects of the dimension stopped, leaving an empty room that floated through several dimensions) and bring her to him.

Light Manipulation? Transforms light into some sort of physical material and causes it to shatter into sharp, suspended shards that he can move at will. Used to impale his own eye to prove his "ruthlessness" to a Black Swan superior. Didn't blink or respond to it with any sort of pained reaction, but did bleed. Instead, he smiled "unnatural"ly. Is seen using it in at least one Karma as well. Can also use it in the shared-dream-memory space, though it seemed to be accidental due to his losing control upon watching his own near-death as a child. The shard slashed MC on the wrist and hurt her despite it being a dream--according to Lucien this is because it wasn't her dream. The wound inflicted in the dream space didn't cross over to real life. Also he threw those papers in the air in Crisis Date and they tore up without it mentioning the shards, so even then there's maybe more to it

Shadowmancy. Seems to be able to move through them and/or blend into them, create darkness at will. The "thick blackness" seems to be impenetrable by light??? He surrounded himself in it when revealing himself to MC as Ares, then merged into it when leaving. He was merged in the shadows when he brought Josie to him.

And then there's. . .whatever the fuck he did back at the orphanage, when she got upset at him for I think holding her hand, then she went off to find out when the bus back was coming? I remember it said that suddenly sounds stopped, leaves started falling from trees, and MC felt a sense of despair though she was a ways away from him by then.

Like did he just kill a certain amount of living things around him?? Birds suddenly quiet and leaves falling from trees in the middle of summer and just dead silence because he was upset. . . . . . Like I'd think he stopped time but then why did the leaves fall???? Anyway look at his sad puppy face. Which is a hilarious contrast from his recent expressions.

And then MC, for once in her life, realized 'oh my god danger exists'

Oh and the implied lack of need to sleep. He can sleep, he's able, he doesn't have insomnia, but he doesn't like to 'waste time on something so unimportant'(in Ares's words "I have never engaged in idle pursuits.") When questioned on what he means by that he's "all right", he simply said 'it is what it is. I can't say more about it' which is on par with his usual mysteriousness but still a little weird.

. . .am i missing any? Ofc I'm just going through things that've happened in the international release--and I've only finished up to the last chapter and I still need to level up to reach it so if we see more then then i'm missing out on it, but i don't mind spoilers! (Whether from that chapter, from dates, or from the other releases that're further ahead)

Idk some people have been saying he can copy evols of other people, so it could just be safe to say 'he can do whatever he wants, he just choses not to because it's more fun to work for things and play with his food before he kills it' but. I'm just trying to think of what exactly we've seen so far.

#long post #mlqc spoilers #danie yells at mr love queen's choice #mlqc lucien #i'd include screenshots of each power being used but that'd take more time i feel like putting into anything right now

[ourworldlytravelsstuff]

Monday 3rd December 2018

So by now I’m sure you’ve all heard, WE ARE ENGAGED!!!!

It’s been a truly amazing day! We started at the Seven Wells Waterfall. It was a long old walk up to the path in the blazing heat, but totally worth it! It was really pretty, and we went for a swim in the pool at the bottom which was awesome.

As we got out, it suddenly started to rain. We got changed and chilled out for half an hour whilst it calmed off, and then we headed back to where we came in.

The maps app told us it was an easy 15min walk to the cable cars, so we followed the map... straight into a jungle, with a mud track barely carved out... but in we went anyway, with a “Conor are you sure this is the right way?” And a responding “Yeah!”

I did not.

We walked in circles for a bit, through spiders webs and past weird and sizable beetles, monkeys and wild dogs before realising we were well and truly lost.

Thankfully, seasoned navigator that I am, I got us back to the road! (Thank gods for iPhone compass and offline mapping).

We finally made it to the cable car, and up we went! This set up was truly enormous, apparently the steepest cable car in the world, and we can believe that! Higher and higher we climbed, ears popping and eyes watering, the vast jungle stretching out bellow us, climbing the side of the mountain with ease.

Finally we reached the top. Part of the attraction of this place is “Skybridge”, an enormous 85m single point suspension bridge. We were all ready to head down when we found out it was temporarily closed for bad weather - well okay then. We instead wandered higher and higher to the highest observation deck. The wind was howling and the rain was pelting - putting your face by the outer rail made you feel like you were sky diving.

The view was incredible mind you. This place is beautiful.

So beautiful in fact that up there in the rain and the wind, with nobody else around and after dancing in the rain, I got down on one knee and asked a rather pressing question.

She said yes.

Everyone who’s reading this has likely already heard directly from us... but I’m the happiest man in the world right now.

After much talking and “ohmygod-ing” and laughing and phones home, we headed down to the newly reopened skybridge (but not before signing a lock and attaching it to the rails. They have this all over Asia but here it really felt important!)

The skybridge was straight up terrifying. Rickety planks, wobbling in the wind, glass patches you can walk across. Second scariest thing I did today.

We headed home and ordered a huge Indian to celebrate. Amazingly, the owner messaged to offer us a free meal on them to congratulate us. People over here are awesome!

It’s been a whirlwind of phone calls and updating people and a little Pinterest wedding planning from some of us. Now we are lying in bed, absolutely ecstatic and letting it all wash over us.

I love you all, and I love this girl more than anything.

That’s all for now folks,

Conor

[narkinafive]

skywalkerscalamity replied to your post “Skybridger headcanon: luke travels the galaxy learning all about the…”

OR Luke found out bc someone in the Rebellion was like “oh you’re the guy learning how to be a jedi right? Too bad you joined after the founding of this. Two of our founding members were Jedi. They helped liberate a whole planet just before Rogue One infiltrated Scarif. Anyways, nice to meet you.” And Luke’s like ??? Why did no one tell him there were Jedi that had helped found this rebellion?? Did Leia know about them? What happened to them?? - and thus begins his hunt

On the real tho, Rebels did a mistake including Leia in the show bc it just messes up continuity and makes everything confusing

legit the only reason i’m reading the current ot marvel comic run is i am GASPING for a mention of ezra and kanan.......we had a hera and zeb cameo like COME ON. COME ON!!!! LET LUKE KNOW THERE WERE OTHER JEDI. I NEED TO SEE THIS. PLEASE. @ STORY GROUP PLEASE

yeah, if leia and ezra have the same birthday  (or almost) but leia supposedly just turned 16 right BEFORE she got involved with the rebellion then..........??? although i guess bail and breha could have lied to her about her birthday (if anyone has a twitter @ pablo hidalgo for me pls)

counterpoint: leia sassing imperials is her god given right and i need more of it always

#skywalkerscalamity #rep

[parttimeslave]

Red on Travelling

He hates it.

Not the sights themselves, no no, he adores all that - the Goldengate, the Space Needle, the foreign city streets littered with nice food and strange locals, the whole shebang - that's pretty neat.

No. It's getting to those places that irks him. The cars, the busses, and especially the plane rides. God.

He was in the underground all his life, and then he's sprung up to the surface and he sees the beautiful sky - scattered with clouds and sun rays and beautiful colors and twilight and stars and - wait. Is that star moving?

Yes, sweetie, that's a plane.

What?

A huge hunk of metal that fuckin flies through the air, moving passengers to and from the massive continents on the surface.

Red blinks. Well, he can't fault the humans for making use of the atmosphere that they have access to, right? He shrugs it off as another odd human thing.

Until you suggest going on one.

You've already enticed him with the clam chowder of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, the Space Needle in Seattle, the Griffith's Observatory in LA (appealing to his nerd side, you sly dog, you), and, oh hoo hoo, the roaring night life that Las Vegas has to offer.

The glint in his eyelights is unmistakable, so you start planning a trip for two up the West Coast of the US.

You run up to him one day with a whole folder of ideas and travel guides and coupons for the most popular tourist attractions in a number of cities. He makes playful mockery of your organisation, and pulls you into his lap to look through the folder with you. He's already outlining his favorites (there's a whole section just on Las Vegas Strip clubs), when you get to the end of the folder and there are flight details and quotes where you've highlighted the cheapest options.

His permagrin falters a bit. He completely forgot he had to get on a plane to do this. He remembers his first time seeing one, streaking ungracefully across the night sky, and his socket twitches. But he looks down at your smiling face, no worry or fear whatsoever, only excitement. He knew you'd done this before, you flew a lot and nothing had happened, ever. And, like a scared child gaining reassurance from a parent, he shoves his doubt aside and tells you to go ahead and book it.

The day comes and you've taken it upon yourself to drag both of you out of bed at 3am to be ready for the airport shuttle to pick you up at 4am sharp. He groans like he's been woken from death, whereas in reality he's hardly slept at all. One part insomnia, one part excitement, and one hundred parts suppressed anxiety.

The nag sits with him where his stomach would be as he watches his bags go along the conveyor belt behind the lady in the nice uniform, as he listens to you explain that they go into the plane well before anyone boards. He goes through security and the anxiety grows when he has to separate from you to go through a special security check for monsters. He growls low at the guard who jokes about his teeth being dangerous weapons, not in the mood for humour for once. But, he heeds your advice to just comply with these guys and avoid trouble. He meets you after the check and slides an arm around you, reluctant to let you go again.

You lead him to the gate, nice and early, and sit him down while you go and get you two some food. He calms down somewhat as he bathes his sub-par airport fries in mustard and laughs when you shush his jokes about bombs and hijacking.

At your cue, because he's been tuning out the annoying voice over the intercom, you both line up to board. He's fine as he goes through the gate, over the skybridge and into the plane, distracted by analysing the engineering of everything. You almost think you'll have to stop him from touching the control panel for the skybridge, but he just lingers over it curiously as he waits for the passengers in front of him to board.

His huge frame only just fits through the rows of seats, and you would find it comical if you couldn't feel the annoyance radiating from him, the poor soul.

He pushes his way into a window seat, and you take the middle seat next to the stranger in the aisle. He complains to you at full volume, and your only response is that this is how it is unless you wanna pay for first class. He tries to just pull you into his lap again, but you have to tell him no because the flight attendant will tell you off, and that he needs to put his seat belt on. Rattling bones seem to scare the stranger in the row you share, so you try to calm him by taking his hand and intertwining your fingers with his. You point out the window at the wing of the plane, and, in an effort to distract him again, you tell him to watch it as you take off. You even ask him about how he thinks the plane flies, hoping to get him talking about physics (even though you usually don't understand a word of it), but he only mutters something about pressure and the fuck-off huge engines.

His breathing is short and strained. If anything, he can't stand the waiting - he just wants to go. Why are we standing at the gate for thirty minutes? Come on, glowy wand guy, wave the fuckin things so we can go. He scoffs at the shitty rave down on the tarmac.

He sits, rigid in his seat as the plane taxis to the runway. The flight attendants are doing their rehearsed safety demonstration, and because you've flown a lot before you're only half paying attention, but you notice Red is watching intently. His eyelights dart to the exits, and you have to grip his hand to try and ground him again. You're guessing that he wants out, and you're very right.

Red has never been more desperate to teleport in his life.

Really the only thing stopping him is you, that grip of your hand on his phalanges is what's keeping him here, attached to this godforsaken machine. He closes his sockets as the plane lines itself up, but they snap back open when he feels himself start rocketing forward. He's desperate not to lose face and scream, so he clenches his jaw and almost breaks the armrest with a death grip instead.  He looks over at you, expecting you to be as shocked as he was, but you're not. All you've done is plant your feet more firmly to the ground and leaned back in your seat. You lean over to him to hug his arm and take a look out the window. He follows your gaze just as the plane plane rises from the runway and he gasps unwittingly, feeling his bones resist the sudden lift. He watches the ground fly swiftly away, and his vision is filled with the sudden aerial view of the city. He falls silent, and his fear is replaced with a strange mix of awe and adrenaline(or the monster equivalent.) he'd never been 50 feet above sea level before, let alone soaring through the fuckin air. He watched as things became smaller and smaller, until he could no longer pick out specific streets or cars, and it just became landscape under him.

The plane speeds through the air, and you point to the wings again to remind him to watch them. As the pilot makes slight adjustments to the aircraft’s trajectory, the parts of the wings are shifting and whirring, moving the plane up or down. His eyelights gaze over the mechanisms curiously, trying to glimpse the machinery beyond the metal plates. He listens to you explain that the tail of the plane probably does the same thing, moving the plane side to side instead. You aren't exactly fluent in flight mechanics, in fact you find yourself wondering just how planes actually fly, so you only offer the basics. Which you realise are probably also wrong.

The rest of the flight is easy. He inhales his tiny plane meal and asks for seconds, downs the free booze, and, surprisingly, there's only minimal grumbling about not being able to smoke anywhere on the plane. He doesn't mind the long hours of being sedimentary, he does that at home every chance he gets anyway. You do notice, however, that he hardly ever takes his eyes off the plane window. Not even to watch his movie, or when you cuddle into his side for a nap.

When you ask him why, he responds semi-jokingly that he's checking the fuckin thing’s still flying. You chuckle and pat him reassuringly, but his eyelights go straight back to the carpet of clouds beyond.

You explain to him the landing procedure beforehand so he has some idea of it before it happens. There's gonna be a big thunk, maybe two, but it's okay it just the wheels hitting the tarmac. Then the guy's gonna pull the break so we can slow down as we come into the airport.

He nods, but he still grips the armrest like it owes him money as the plane glides back down to Earth. He shoves his way off the plane as soon as he's able, basically dragging you at his heels. You give the affronted passengers a few apologetic looks, but you know it's better for everyone as soon as he's in the terminal.

You feel his breathing even out as he exits the skybridge and finds solidarity again, nothing holding him up except the earth itself. He glances down at you when you give him a reassuring kiss, telling him that the hard part’s over and now the fun begins. He chuckles, and though you don't know it yet, but he's completely serious when he says he's upgrading all your future tickets to First Class.

#dswriting #? #i do some writing occasionally #i think he did pretty well considering flying is the scariest concept in the fuckin world #reader insert #uf!sans/reader #ufsansxreader #underfell #selfship #redsanitizer #headcannons #hc

[ashlynncoy-blog]

Misfire: Critical Condition: Part II

If you haven’t been following along with the Misfire-verse, you can read the PROLOGUE which sets up the entire universe or just understand that the Death Star misfired at Alderaan and pretty much everything else is Star Wars with a heaping helping of surviving Organa parents.

The first installment of CRITICAL CONDITION is HERE.

And the second is below the cut:

The ride from the spaceport to the stop outside the hospital had been brief, and yet interminable. Leia felt a measure of relief as she stepped from the train onto the platform at her destination. Two others departed the vehicle as well, a fact for which Leia was grateful—the more she could blend in today the better. The human woman who’d stepped off behind Leia had turned to head in the direction of a connecting train platform, and the broad-shouldered Gungan man who’d been just beside her bounded past has and disappeared through the hospital door ahead of her.

Leia carefully measured her steps as she approached. She removed her hood and strode into the receiving area with the same authority she’d present when addressing the Senate. She knew where she was going and she’d be damned if any security measures kept her from getting there.

Her father had given her all the information she’d needed. She had called him as soon as the tender was away from Song of War. She knew that, although secure transmissions to and from Hapan fleet assets could not be recorded or monitored, those with proper clearance were able to access what codes had been entered. Since Leia’s cover story for visiting the surface had been a longing to see her father, it only made sense that she’d have called to tell him she was inbound.

But more than that, she knew her father would know the latest about Han.

Bail Organa had decided he was fond of Han Solo before he’d left Yavin 4 the first time. Bail knew, as very few others had, how little reward Han had taken with him for the recovery of the Death Star plans and the princess who was ferrying them. He’d been impressed by the scruples of a man who’d made his living among the galaxy’s most unscrupulous. And after Han returned to Yavin 4, the two had formed something of an anomalous friendship.

Han’s relationship to Leia aside, Bail had always liked him. He’d paid off Han’s debt to a Hutt cartel just to keep him around the Alliance. Then when that Hutt had kidnapped Han and had him frozen in carbonite, Bail had gone to the crime lord himself in order to get him back. Leia couldn’t know how her father’s relationship with Han had been in the months since their relationship had ended, but she’d never known her father to stop caring about a person once they mattered to him. She knew Bail would have the information she’d need.

And her father had not disappointed her.

He’d been getting morning and evening updates on Han’s condition since he’d been brought back to Coruscant from the battlefield. He’d been able to tell her which wing, which floor, and which room she’d be looking for when she arrived.

And he’d also told her to hurry. Any moment now could be a moment too late.

Over her years as both a diplomatic and a revolutionary functionary, Leia had developed considerable skill at moving fast while still maintaining the illusion of calmness. Moving with intent, with alacrity, without the frenzied energy of breaking into a run, had been a necessary skill when carrying information through the Senate halls to a contact on a tight schedule. It was a skill that served her well as she made her way through the hallways and lifts, the skybridges and rotundas of Imperial Army Hospital.

She knew she was almost there when she recognized Wedge Antilles leaning against a wall. He looked rough, like he hadn’t shaved in a few days, and his hair was a tousled mess of black sticking out in all directions. He was speaking into a commlink when she saw him, but as soon as he recognized her, he ended the call and stood up straight to greet her.

“Leia,” he said, striding forward to intercept her path and placing his hands on her shoulders. He hugged her briefly, an embrace she gladly accepted. He was the first old friend she’d seen in months. It felt good to be with people who knew her. Wedge stepped back then, his hands still on her shoulders, and shook his head. “Leia, you shouldn’t be here,” he said.

Leia understood—at least she partly understood. She and Han weren’t together. She’d hurt him terribly and then gone off for months, maybe forever, to a new life and new people, and left him to fight and die in her war. She was sure there were people close to Han who hated her for that. She wondered if maybe Han himself hated her for that. But that didn’t deter her resolve to see him one last time.

“I just want to see him, Wedge,” she said, “just for a minute. I heard about what happened, and….”

“I’m sure you do,” Wedge said sternly, “but he doesn’t want to see you.”

“Why would you say that?” she asked. She knew the probable answer, of course, but she wanted to know what Wedge knew. She wanted to know how Han felt about her now—even if the truth was going to hurt

“Because he was awake for a minute,” Wedge replied, “a couple of days ago. And it was right after the news reported your ship was due this week. So I told him—I told him you were coming. I wasn’t sure you’d actually show up here, but I thought it might—I don’t know—give him heart to hear that. But what he said back to was, ‘don’t let her in here, and don’t let her talk at my funeral.”

“Wow,” Leia said, her lower lip beginning to tremble. “It’s been more than six months and he’s still mad.” It wasn’t so much a surprise, but it was still painful to hear.

“No, Leia,” Wedge said back, “he’s not mad. I’ve see him mad—we both have. We’ve seen him blood-boiling furious. But when you left… he was never like that. He’s not mad, Leia. He’s just… he’s just broken. He hasn’t been himself. It’s been one crazy, stupid, heroic-to-the-point-of-suicidal thing after another. He just doesn’t care anymore—about anything.”

“Is that what happened here?” she asked. Details of the incident at Wyrzrndir had been sketchy. Intelligence briefings having never been big on specifics. She had no idea the exact series of events that had landed Han in his current condition.

“Yeah.” Wedge took Leia by her elbow and led her to sit on a bench just down the hall. “We’d been up against this dreadnaught—we’d been engaging it and falling back for days. It was huge, Leia, the biggest thing I’ve ever seen. And it was getting the best of us. Han had this idea—you know how he does. He had this idea to punch through their shields at near lightspeed and drop a payload down their reactor exhaust.”

“Like how Luke blew up the first Death Star?”

“That may be where he got the idea,” Wedge allowed, “but this was a hell of a lot more complicated. We were in the middle of a giant space battle, and he was counting on speed to get him through the dreadnaught’s shields. Plus, it wasn’t like that thing was standing still. He had to calculate that into the jump, too—to find a place where it was more likely or not he’d come out between the ship and the shield and not smack dab in the middle of either one.”

“Sounds like Han,” Leia commented, a sad smile coming to her face as she looked across the hallway toward the closed door to the room where he was being treated.

“Yeah, well,” Wedge began again. “Let’s not forget the Falcon doesn’t have torpedoes aboard. All he had were some Ewok-rigged concussion bombs he’d stuffed in an old escape pod hatch.”

“All right,” Leia conceded, “that sounds reckless even for him.”

“It was reckless,” Wedge agreed. “It was the craziest thing I’d ever heard. But what could we do? Short of outright mutiny, there was nothing any of us could do to stop him—especially not when we were all out catching hell in our fighters. So Solo does this thing, and it works. Don’t ask me how, but he got through their shields and he managed to drop his payload. But he’d counted on being able to jump right back out to avoid the wash. What he hadn’t counted on was jumping right into the line of fire of one of the dreadnaught’s deck cannons. The Falcon’s motivator was shot. I think he knew that, but he dropped the payload anyway. The blast blew the Falcon to pieces. The cockpit went one way, the rest of the hull in three others.”

“Where was Chewie when this all happened?” Leia asked, wiping her damp cheek with the cuff of her sleeve and her palm.

“On the bridge of the Mon Remonda screaming like a madman because Han took off without him.”

“Sounds about right,” Leia said. It hadn’t been hard to imagine Han doing something so reckless and dangerous, but he wasn’t the type to put his loved ones in danger when he could avoid it. “Is he here now?” she asked. Wedge shook his head.

“He comes and goes,” he replied. “He doesn’t like hospitals. He’s mostly been trying to get that ship back in one piece.”

“Were you able to salvage it?”

“Sort of,” Wedge replied. “I don’t know if you knew about this, but, on the Zsinj campaign we got hold of  a decoy YT.”

“No,” Leia said, “I didn’t.” Han had come home from the Zsinj campaign the same day the Hapans had arrived. That had been the beginning of the end for them. He hadn’t told her anything at all about his time on that deployment.

“Called her The Millennium Falsehood,” Wedge shared. “Han mostly hated the thing—said it made him sad. Made him think of his real ship, and of the person he left it with. But anyway… we’ve got that one and it’s got all its parts, so Chewie’s been stripping it and using the pieces along with what parts we were able to salvage from the Falcon to try and get it at least looking like a spaceship again. He said if Han survives, he’ll want his ship back—and if he doesn’t they should be buried together.”

“Do you know which one’s more likely at this point?” Leia asked, not bothering to wipe her wet cheeks again.

“The last I heard it could go either way,” Wedge replied. “I couldn’t believe we found him alive in the first place,” he said, “Chewie’s the one who saved him—got hold of the cockpit module with Mon Remonda’s tractor beam and brought it aboard. When the team got to him, he was alive, but barely. They rushed him up to medical and put him in a bacta tank. That’s how we got him back to Coruscant. But the doctors here say he’s not really stable enough for bacta right now. If he codes, they can’t resuscitate him in the tank, and the amount of time it takes to get him out and get access could make the difference between life and death. So they’ve got him on heavy life support, trying to get him stabilized enough he can go back in the tank.”

“Wedge, I really need to see him,” Leia said. Her lower lip was trembling again and she was having a hard time getting words out. “I understand he said he doesn’t want to see me. I even understand why. But if there’s a chance we could lose him….”

“Leia…”

“Just for a minute,” she implored. “He’ll never know I was there. Just a minute, please. Then I’ll go.”

Wedge shook his head as he stood up, but then gestured for Leia to follow him. He crossed the hall quickly and paused in the doorway to Han’s room. He held up his hand, indicating Leia should pause; which she did, clasping her hands together at her waist in a futile attempt to get their shaking to stop. As the door slid open, Wedge peered inside before turning back to Leia.

“All right,” he said. “He’s out cold, so you can have a minute. But you’ve got to be quick. And if he shows even the slightest sign that he may be waking up, you have to leave, do you understand me? I know it might be tempting to stay and let him see you but I promise you it will do more harm than good. We can’t get him riled up; it could kill him.”

“I understand,” Leia agreed. “And I promise,” she added, “he’ll never know I was here.”

#misfire verse #ashlynn's fic #angsty angst with angst sauce #I'm not crying you're crying #no wait that's me #maybe it's all of us #more coming soon #sad Leia is sad

[theglobal-e]

The BURG---> Gatlinburg, that is

Another adventure has come and gone and in the midst of this global pandemic, the memories of travel and discovery are all I have to hold onto right now. In the words of my generation, “WE ARE NOT OKAY!” Nonetheless, better safe than sorry, I need these two weeks to pack anyway. HA! 

So, in February I turned the BIG 23 *shoutout to all the Aquarius* SN: we’re really not that bad. I wanted my 23rd birthday to be gratifying, intimate, and ultimately just a refreshing moment in my life. So I chose Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I’ve heard a lot of stories about Gatlinburg and how much fun it is but honestly I never really wanted to visit. However, after being recently intrigued by mountains, I wanted to take a small trip, not too far away from home and with beautiful mountain top scenery. Gatlinburg was all of that and IN EVERY WAY so much more. So let’s get into my favorites, recommendations, to do’s and more.

It was a six hour drive from Memphis to Gatlinburg and once we arrived we checked into the Chalet Inn which was a really nice hotel that included rooms with a balcony overlooking the mountains AND for a really inexpensive price. The first day there I COULD NOT WAIT to explore the Smoky Mountains so we began our adventure at 6:30 a.m. There are plenty of signs along the roads that will lead you straight to the Sugarlands Visitor Center, which is where you will need to go to began any drive or hike you want to take through the mountains. We chose to drive Newfound Gap road which ascended 3,000 feet up the mountains and included THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VIEWS. I also chose this road because it wasn’t as narrow as the others considering the chance of heavy snow during the month of February. There were also numerous pullout areas where you could get out, take pictures, and read about history.

Newfound Gap road ends in Cherokee, North Carolina so if you have a full day to get out and drive this, it is definitely worth the time, which is about two hours going and coming if you just turn around. Following this drive, we chose to go in the opposite direction toward the lower area of the mountains and view the most BREATHTAKING waterfalls and creeks. From the Visitor Center you could just follow the signs towards Laurel Falls and this road includes several pullout areas for hikes to different waterfalls and sights of nature including The Sinks and Meigs Falls which I highly recommend stopping to view (Meigs can actually be seen from the road). Absolutely Beautiful. We actually did get out and hike to Laurel Falls which was about 2.6 miles and concluded at Laurel Falls itself. 

The later part of the day included exploring the strip of Gatlinburg which was FULL of attractions and FOOD. I LOVE FOOD so I was in literal Heaven on Earth the entire time. Out of all the food I ate, and TRUST ME I ATE, my favorite stop was at a Mexican restaurant in the downtown area called, “No Way Jose’s.” The food was so fulfilling, the margaritas were BOMB, and the location is GREAT- right across the street from the aquarium. We also chose to stop at Dick’s Last Resort. Honestly, I was really hyped to eat here because of the reputation with the intentional sarcasm and all but, it was the bare minimum so I wasn’t as satisfied, however, the environment is fun and I say give it a go. *That’s if you’re okay with a little joke or two here and there* 

OKAY, so now that we’re full, **laugh** HOW ABOUT SOME MOONSHINE!!? When I got to Gatlinburg, I had no idea moonshine was so prominent but it surely didn’t take long to find out. There are moonshine tastings being offered literally every few steps and for very reasonable prices like 5 bucks for 10-12 mini shots of various moonshine flavors. SN: CAREFUL THERE, Yes we love the booze but don’t underestimate it. Two left feet doesn’t only apply to dance. Try walking straight after 12 ... or 24...moonshine shots! LOL, no seriously, try it. It’s quite the experience. My favorite spot to do this was at the Sugarlands Distilling Company. The associates are SO LIVELY and make the experience one to remember, maybe, if you don’t drink too fast. HA! You can also find on the downtown strip various places that allow free tasting for wine, sauces, seasonings, and so forth. No, I wouldn’t recommend that right now due to this virus going around but any other day YES, OMG it’s all SO GOOD! **Just don’t double dip because, GROSS!**

Ripley’ s Believe it or Not, which I’ve been to in other locations, always has something good to offer and it’s quite intriguing to view the various displays, that’s if you’re weird and a square like me. Last but certainly not least, Gatlingurg’s skylift. The skylift takes you 1,800 feet into the sky to overlook the Smoky Mountains and even walk across a Skybridge! It’s absolutely worth tying the entire experience together and promises beautiful views once you’ve made it to the top! Check out these cool pics from each of these sights.

To sum it all up, Gatlinburg is so underrated but if you’re looking for a nice getaway, having some cabin fever, or just feel like taking the time to immerse yourself into the wonders and creations of this world, please consider exploring THE BURG-----> Gatlinburg, that is. Once this pandemic is over I’ve already decided that I need more time to discover and explore this place while the temperature is just right. But until then people, stay safe out here, wash your hands, be smart, and thanks for kickin it with your girl. Peace and Love to all my Global Cuties.

TheGlobal_E 🌻

#gatlinburg #tennessee #travel #scenery #naturephotography #popularattractions femaletraveler birthdaytrips

[annakie]

An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Thirteen

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Last Time: We arrived on Feros, helped the struggling colony, and headed across the Skybridge.

This Time: Falling metal bugs, capitalism, and gas grenades.

Let’s keep moving across the skybridge.

Oh we’re picking up radio transmissions that there’s some people in the area looking for some loot?  Should probably help those idiots out.

Whoops, too late.  Man I hope you sacrificed yourself to the Geth for some truly great loot.

*sad trumpet sounds*  Annnnd.... all reduced straight to Omnigel.

Finally, across the skybridge, and time for a pretty fun battle getting into the facility!  Boom!

During my last playthrough, I remembered I’d made a post on tumblr about the really f’d up textures down in the hallway on the way into the facility, so I was like “Hey, I wonder if the textures are still like that?

Guess who decided to jump down here before getting the dialog at the blue door OR going into the fight behind the locked door?

Guess who hadn’t saved since leaving the colony tower?

Guess who had to do the entire skybridge again?

Anyway, good to know that ALOT fixed the textures in the hallway!

I love this fight.  It’s just dropped in on you then you can watch the varren running at you QUICKLY and it’s so easy to get overwhelmed if you don’t use some well-placed biotics very quickly, and also it’s great for short-ranged weapons, which often fights in this game are not.

Also, flying varren!

Maybe one of the best comical moments from ME1, a particularly dumb Krogan arguing with a VI.

Honestly, krogan aren’t dumb?  At least not any more dumb than most humans.  I’m glad they got out of that mindset. We have Wrex, starting to get to know him and see how he’s survived so long and later becomes a great leader.  Ryder has Drack, and a whole colony of Krogan using their ingenuity to survive.  

Obviously by now we know that things are super F’d up, but throwing something called The Thorian at us WHILE we’re in a tower full of geth and hostile Krogan is like a whole other level of scary.  

I mean thanks for the security clearance and all, but Lizbeth should have given us the rundown ahead of time. Did she think we weren’t going to find out??  Lizbeth, c’mon, we’re here to save you, and your mom is pretty cool.  

Anyway, thanks for the info, VI!  Moving on...

Oh neat, GIANT CLAWS STICKING THROUGH THE BUILDING.  All of this is very Normal.

This fight is like, so easy with a well-placed Singularity!

But seriously, what IS the deal with the orb? We never really find out.  It’s one of those dropped threads that never gets picked up again, and I don’t think we see another orb.  

This hallway fight against THREE CHARGING KROGAN is definitely not terrifying, or impossible feeling on Insanity when I played.  Nope.

Real glad I’m still wearing armor with all of 20 shields on it!  Thank you, Niftu Cal for Barrier.

Believe it or not, Tali survived.

Of course, fighting through the Krogan was totally worth it for Gavin’s data.  Or more like, the very eventual results of said data.

Mmm... yeah.  Awesome.

Now that’s what I call teamwork!

Thanks, ExoGeni and Geth for leaving important data just laying around for me to find out!

Oh no... math.  Nobody told me there’d be math in this game!

Actually, it’s pretty easy to figure out, and there’s two right answers!  But still a decent small puzzle.

And the conclusion is so, SO satisfying.

Buh-bye!

Annnd... done here!  Back to Tower One!

Plus, we can talk to Joker again!  Oh, Zombies, pounding on the Normandy door?  You’re FINE, Joker!   Uhh don’t we have like, Wrex, Garrus, Liara and Ashley just hanging out in there? Should tell them to suit up and clear that out!  Don’t want zombies putting scratches and dents into my ship!!

This guy doesn’t trust Cerberus, eh?  And they’re doing something shady?  I’m sure it’s fine and we can totally trust them and NOT ever be mad at someone who doesn’t want to join them!!

Time to go.

Aw, right.  Lizbeth.  FINE.

Hey, I’ve only ever written five Mass Effect fics, and they’re all pretty short, and it’s been a long time and my writing has gotten somewhat better since I wrote this, but one of the five fics I’ve written is about this moment, right here!  Link: AO3, Four’s A Crowd. The drive back with Lizbeth in the Mako! (Except in the fic, I brought Wrex along to amp up the reasons why things had to happen like they did.) It’s all Shenko, and 2500 words.

(Nevermind the typo in the gif.)

Thanks game, for keeping the mako as we parked it and forcing a u-turn and then putting big blocks and mounds of rock in the way.  Very cool of you.

100% expert Mako driving here, y’all.

Believe it or not, I didn’t fall off the edge.

Yes, Lizbeth.  Run out of the protection of the Mako WITHOUT your highly-trained military escort.  Good thinking.

Have we said fuck you to Jeong lately? No?  Jeong, fuck you for holding Juliana at gunpoint.  Bootlicker.

Let me explain to you how this is gonna go.

Honestly, I’m kind of regretting my decision here to let Jeong live.  Not letting ExoGeni purge the colony is the only reason you get to live.

Annnd... done!  Now to not think about you again for like, fifty hours.

Time to get back to the colony!

Ummm.... 

Well... that’s not great.

Glad we’ve got that clear, now let’s kill some zombies!

FUN!

Now time to kindly put some colonists to sleep, saving their lives.

*cough*

Time to REMEMBER TO EQUIP THE GAS GRENADE and put some colonists to sleep, saving their lives!!!!

That’s better.

No that’s cool, just keep shooting at me.  My 20 shields can take it.  YOU’RE WELCOME.

Believe it or not... all 16 colonists saved on only the second try!

.

So lets’s find the secret, hidden staircase and...

Damn.

I’m truly sorry things went down like that, Fai Dan.  I wish I could have saved you.

I was going to try and finish up Feros in this update, but this feels like a good place to end it.  Next time... the Thorian, and back to the ship.

#mass effect #bioware #kaidan alenko #tali'zorah #video games #annakie's mass effect stuff

[seven-times]

fic piece under the jump

#whatever happened to that old song? #

We watched our friends grow up together And we saw them as they fell Some of them fell into Heaven Some of them fell into Hell I took shelter from a shower And I stepped into your arms On a rainy night in Soho The wind was whistling all its charms... ...I'm not singing for the future I'm not dreaming of the past I'm not talking of the first times I never think about the last Now, the song is nearly over We may never find out what it means Still, there's a light I hold before me You're the measure of my dreams, the measure of my dreams — The Pogues, "A Rainy Night In Soho"

#

985, Deep Sea Research Center

Ellie never sees their faces.  They come and they go, and they're always wearing those stupid doctor's masks.  They never touch her, either; they're always very careful about that.  Nobody takes her by the arm to escort her anywhere.  And the whole building is a circle; if she decides to split off from the path they're taking, she either ends up at an elevator she needs them to open for her, or she ends up where they wanted her anyway.  Eventually.

They don't talk much, either, and when they do, their voices are always quiet.  The loudest one — Nobu — speaks with an accent she doesn't recognize.  Sometimes, though never during the day, Nobu wakes her up with the food buzzer and takes her to a balcony — the railing is electrified — so she can see the sea that surrounds them.  It's endless water, churning and dark, white waves frothing up so close she could almost touch them.

"Leviathan is angry," he tells her one of those nights, staring not out at the water but up at the stars.  "The Brothers are angry.  Bahamut is angry.  The world is not what it should be."

He didn't ask her any questions, so she doesn't say anything.  It's just safer not to talk unless they want her to.  She hates that she knows what's safe and what isn't, that she cares, and there's something in her head that hates it, too.  It's angry all the time, and not just get-mad-and-yell angry, but the kind of angry that throws and breaks things and tries to hurt people.

She doesn't think it's always been there.  But she can't remember a time without it.

"You, Elektra," Nobu says, "will help us make the world right again.  For Leviathan, and the Brothers, and Bahamut.  You will make all the skies as black as this one, won't you?"

Ellie says, "Yes," and the thing that curls around the back of the inside of her head seems to smile.

#

996, Dollet

The exam is going basically swimmingly, with them waiting for the retreat order, and Foggy has himself almost convinced that he really <i>can</i> be a SeeD.  He'll just keep using his Para-Magic, and the hurting and the killing people will all blur in with the good stuff, like Matt discovering a box of kittens in a war zone or Marci and a little blond girl smiling at each other.  It'll be okay, he's telling himself; he and Matt and Marci can do this.

He's still telling hiself that when the giant robot spider shows up.  They hear it first, and Matt turns in the direction it's coming from.

"It's big," he says — like Foggy couldn't have guessed that — and then adds, "Metal?  Machinery?  It's — it has a lot of legs?"

Marci's off the apartment stoop in seconds, knife in her hand.  It won't do her any good against a tank, but she's their demolition man, too, and she's got the look on her face that means she's thinking of how she's going to blow something up.  She tucks the knife back into one of her boots and reaches for the team's grenades.  Foggy watches her eyes narrow, but Matt is turned northward, toward the godawful rumble, and his whole body is tense.

"We need to run," he says, and he's already tucked his escrima sticks back into their holster at his belt.  He doesn't even bother to adjust the band on his sunglasses the way he usually does when he's preparing to do something athletic.  "The retreat order's been given."

Foggy doesn't even bother to ask how Matt knows that.  He just checks the baldric holding his trident against his back and flails silently at Marci until she puts the explosives away.

The thing they thought was some kind of weird tank turns out to be a giant robot spider.  It's literally as tall as the buildings in downtown Dollet, and it's chasing three other SeeD cadets.  Foggy's pretty sure he recognizes Dincht — the wild, electrified hair and the face tattoo pretty much give it away — but they don't have time; they're right on the heels of the spider and the other SeeDs, trying to make it back to the harbor.

They almost make it.  Hell, they're only a block away from the harbor when it all turns to complete and total shit.  But there's a balcony-bridge thing that connects two buildings across the street from each other, and as Marci — always the fastest of the three of them — turns to run under it, the spider does, too.

The spider doesn't bother jumping, or lifting any of its legs higher, or ducking.  The spider just fucking slams into the skybridge and huge chunks of stone start to fall immediately.  It keeps moving forward and Marci tries to stop herself.

No amount of Para-Magic is ever going to blur away the moment that Marci ends up going under the falling bridge, turning her forward momentum into a desperate slide, and a chunk of rock bigger than her upper body hits her outstretched leg.  He will always remember the snap-crunch, the way her whole face twists, the way her body bends in on itself for a moment.

He flings out a hand and casts Protect on her.

The bridge keeps tumbling down, and her face, pale and tight with pain, is the last thing he sees before the dust cloud rises.

#

1006, Dollet

Maybe it's something about being this far north, or maybe the wind off the sea has blown in yet another little squall, but it's raining in Dollet again, Karen notices as she steps onto the street.  Drizzling, really; an endless-feeling fall of gray rain onto dark gray cobblestones, with a gray sky overhead.  She doesn't own an umbrella anymore, so she stops at one of the many little street-side coffee stands to pick up a tray of coffees and a newspaper.

It's made the front pages of three different newspapers.  Three headlines, but they all mean: insurgents have attacked the radio tower.  Again.

She looks automatically north, up at the radio tower.  There's a little building at the base of the Dollet cliffs, where the radio team do most of their broadcasting from, but that's never been the insurgents' target.  No, they want the tower.  The same tower that Galbadia had wanted ten years ago.

She hands over a few crumpled gil and takes everything, holding the paper over her head as she keeps making her way uptown.  A simple Protect spell and the paper keep the rain out of her face as she passes shopfronts and cafes and art galleries tucked in next to houses that grow more and more ramshackle.  Nelson & Murdock rent a shop underneath a lodging house, one of the rare basements in Dollet, and she smiles as she heads in.

Foggy opens the door for her.  He reaches out to steady her as her heel sticks — again — on the final step and she lurches a little into the office.  She drops her grip on the newspaper and saves the coffee, even as he catches her gently by the shoulders.  It's quick, it's easy, it happens every damn time it rains, and the only reason she even notices it this morning is the concern all over his face as they disentangle and he bends to grab the newspaper.

He's tossed it into the nearest trash can by the time she sets the coffee down on the front desk.

"Estharica for all of us," she says.  "Good morning, Foggy.  You're here early."

Foggy's answering smile is strained, and so is his return greeting, but he takes the coffee.  Makes a big show of sniffing it and saying, "Oh, this is going to taste so good.  Get in my belly, coffee.  So much better than Karen's, yes you are."

"Thanks," she says dryly, and he flashes her a smile that's a lot closer to genuine.  

"Good to see you," he tells her, and he sounds relieved enough that she might need to worry.

"Is Matt in yet?"

Foggy's whole expression darkens.  He shakes his head before sitting heavily in one of the office chairs.  "And you'll notice that there aren't any clients in the house today.  It's not that I object to you working for the radio station, Karen.  Hyne knows we're all working wherever we can.  This whole city's economy is in the shitter.  But you've got to stop —"

"Stop what, doing my job?"

"Your other job."  He says it so firmly that she's suddenly reminded of his past in SeeD.  "We're your day job, Karen.  I get your commitment to the truth — I totally respect it.  But can you be a little less committed to truths Reyes will blacklist us for?"

"What won't she blacklist us for?"

"You could talk about the kitten that Galbadian soldier pulled out of the wreckage of the X-ATM092," he points out, like that's at all helpful.  "You could, I don't know, not talk about what the Estharian Peace Keeper brigade is going to find when they come back here.  You could talk about how Dollet has welcomed its new Galbadian overlords peacefully for the last ten years."

She points at the newspaper.  "Peacefully?"

He shrugs.  "You don't have to talk about —"

The bell over the door chimes, and they both turn.  A woman wearing the kind of dress Karen is pretty sure only appears on mannequins in Deling City has stepped into their office.  The dress itself is black, and sleek, and the boots she wears with it are flat-soled enough to be practical, but hug the curve of her calf — and are bright red.

The woman sweeps her gaze over the office, and then her eyes light on Foggy.  Her expression changes to something that's either disinterest or distaste.  "Franklin," she says.

"Elektra."  Foggy's voice starts cold, but turns brightly sarcastic.  "How nice to see you again!  When will you leave?  I mean, don't let us keep you; I'm sure you have islands to buy.  Unless you're back to using Daddy's money to play with SeeD?"

"My father died last week, Franklin," she says.  "And I really don't understand your hostility to me.  I know your little business is struggling —"

"This is Dollet.  Everyone's business is struggling," he snaps.  "Doesn't mean we want anything from you.  Of all the law offices in all the world, why did you think you could walk into mine?"

"Yours and Matthew's," she corrects, almost gently.

Foggy stares at her for what feels like a long, long time.

When it's clear he's not about to answer that, the woman — Elektra — says,  "I'm here because I need a lawyer.  I've noticed that a stream of my father's profits in Esthar are going to some very interesting places indeed.  I'd like to — fully investigate my options regarding those funds."

Karen picks up the coffee tray and settles herself on the other side of the desk.  She'd been intending to run the accounting software today.  Might as well dive into that so that Foggy will take this client back into his office and yell at her there, leaving Karen and what he likes to call her "truth habit" safely out of it.

"That sounds great," Foggy says in a tone that is actively insincere.  "Why don't you go fully investigate the other side of that door?"

Elektra smiles.  She reaches into an expensive-looking purse and drops a business card onto Karen's desk.  Then she bends down, flips it over, and scrawls a series of numbers on the back.  "You can reach me here, while I'm in town.  Call if you change your mind."

And then she's gone in a swirl of black fabric, leaving only an elegant business card and the scent of Galbana lilies.  The bell over the door somehow doesn't chime when she swings the door open.

And Foggy deflates.  He slumps into one of the chairs by Karen's desk.  He seems at once to scrunch himself so he can fit, even as his legs sprawl out on the floor.  It's a position she associates more with melodramatic teenagers than frustrated lawyer.  Eventually, he brings his hand up to rub at his forehead and sighs.

"First you and the radio," he says.  "And then Matt — and now this.  I might as well get the hell out of here and go back to Balamb.  Their economy can't possibly be as hopelessly fucked as Dollet."

She doesn't ask what's wrong with Matt.  She's got a good idea she already knows.

#daredevil fic #fic fragment #final fantasy viii fic #if this doesn't make sense it's because it's a ff8 fusion

[getoutofthisplace]

Dear Gus,

First off, your name is Gus, but more on that later. I’ll pick up where I left off yesterday: When we got to the hospital, I drove to the parking deck as we’d been instructed to, but the entrance was blocked off, so I turned to circle, but the parking lot was partially blocked off and there was a sign that said “Farmer’s Market.” Your mom, who didn’t want anything unexpected to delay your arrival, said, “Who the hell puts a farmer’s market in a hospital parking lot!?” But we eventually got into the parking deck and we parked near the skybridge. I grabbed our bags and we walked across the skybridge. “Do you want me to run ahead and grab a wheelchair?” I asked Mom, but she said no. Even when we had to stop walking so she could have a contraction while she held onto the rail. That skybridge seemed to get longer and longer with each step we took across it. I’d believed the sign that said there would be wheelchairs on the other side of the bridge, but when we got there, we saw only a long empty hallway into the hospital. Dr. Beck had told us there would be a desk there with someone sitting behind it, but alas, there was nothing. We walked toward the center of the hospital and saw no one. We were on a mezzanine level that overlooked the main entrance, but there was no one down there, either. “Hello?” I said into the lobby. No answer. There were no signs directing us where to go, and the doctor had just told us to go to the second floor, which we were clearly on because we could look over the railing at the first floor. “Stay here,” I told your mom while putting down our bags. I ran down the nearest hallway, and shouted again, “Hello? Is anybody here?!” Nothing. I ran back to your mom and down a different hallway. Nothing. The night was starting to take on a post-apocalyptic vibe. I ran down another hallway. Nothing. Finally we saw a bearded guy in a hospital staff uniform come in through the door on the first level. “You guys okay?” he called up to us. 

“Where do we go to have a baby?”

“The second floor,” he said.

“We’re on the second floor!”

He told us to stay put and he would come get us. He grabbed a wheelchair and headed to the elevator. When he got to us, your mom sat in the chair and we thanked him for helping us. Then your mom said, “Preston?” And he looked at her funny, so she pointed at herself and said, “Liz.” “Hey, what’s up, Liz?” “Having a baby!” “Congratulations.” (That’s the gist of it anyway, your mom and I remember it slightly differently.) Preston said he wasn’t supposed to be wheeling patients around, but we told him we wouldn’t complain if he’d just get us to Labor & Delivery. 

Turns out the second floor is not actually on the second floor–leave it to the Baptists, amirite?–so we had to take the elevator to the third floor to reach the second floor. At Labor & Delivery they put us in triage and gave your mom a gown to put on. We were relieved to be there, but then no one came in for a few minutes, which irked us both because we felt like you were on the way. The only other women we saw in triage were watching TV in their rooms. Your mom was in too much pain for that. When they finally came in to check on her, they were surprised to find her water had already broken and she was five centimeters dilated. We heard the nurses say she should’ve never come to triage and instead gone straight to a room. And they eventually took us to one.

The nurses told your mom to breathe through the contractions and do her best to rest between them because she’d need the energy when she had to push later. But of course, your mother couldn’t relax. When they checked her cervix, she was dilated seven centimeters. “When you feel a lot of pressure, let me know and I’ll come check you again,” the nurse said. And as soon as she walked out of the room–literally as soon as the door clicked–your mom said, “Tell her I feel pressure.” So I went to get the nurse, who came in to check your mom again and said, “You’re at eight! There’s a good chance you’re going to meet your baby within the next hour.” They called to update Dr. Beck, and the nursing staff began to cycle through the room regularly. They were all clearly impressed with your mother, who had made up her mind to not have any drugs to ease the pain of labor because she didn’t want you to experience anything unnatural in the first moments of your life. That’s how much she loves you.

You didn’t come within the hour, though. Your mom went from 8.5-9 cm dilated back to 8 cm. We hadn’t prepared for the possibility of moving backwards and it killed morale. Your mom was so exhausted from the hours and hours of contractions and she told me she couldn’t do it anymore, but last week she’d told me that she’d say she couldn’t take it anymore and that I should tell her she could do it. And so I did, and eventually she made it all the way to 10 cm. 

“It’s time to push!” the nurses finally said around 6.45am. And your mom pushed and pushed and pushed. For four solid hours she pushed. Even when she didn’t think she could push anymore, she gritted her teeth and pushed some more. I was so, so proud of her. We went through three different nurses who tried to help her push, and the last nurse said she was going to introduce some aggressive tactics to get you out because you were taking so long and Mom’s body was reaching a point of exhaustion. But even those tactics didn’t work. So the nurse called Dr. Beck, whose office is very proud of their natural birth rate, which is why we chose her, but Dr. Beck decided we needed to go in after you with a Caesarian section. Your mother cried because she wanted to have you there in the room and she was disappointed that she couldn’t. She didn’t want anyone to go in after you like that. And I cried because Mom tried so hard and the thought that she might be disappointed in herself at all crushed me, because she didn’t deserve that. All of the nurses were in awe of Mom’s strength and fortitude, and her willingness to endure so much pain so that your life might be the slightest bit better from the outset. And I kept crying and crying and crying because I was a basketcase. Your mom was strong, though.

They wheeled her to the operating room, but I had to stay in the hallway. I didn’t like that. I thought I would be away from Mom for only a minute or two while they prepped her for surgery, but a minute turned into what seemed like 20, and I worried for her. I tried to distract myself by texting updates to Nene and Yiayia, who were in the waiting room, and I updated Penny and Pa & Tutu. I was so worried about your mom.

Finally the anesthesiologist came and got me. I put a surgical Bouffant cap on my head and another on my beard, and then we went into the OR, where your mother was already on the operating table. I sat down beside her head and put my hand on her hand, but she had an epidural and didn’t realize it was me. I watched Dr. Beck make an incision on Mom’s abdomen and then clear a pathway for you to come out. Mom was awake, but she was behind a sheet so she couldn’t see what was happening. I hated to see her like that, and I think at that moment I realized how devastated I would be if something ever happened to her. I couldn’t stand to see her in pain, which she felt, despite the epidural.

“Can you feel that?” they asked her with surprise when she groaned.

She nodded her head. They told her she would feel pressure, but Mom says she felt pain. And it would be hard not to. As I watched the doctor work, I could tell things weren’t going as she’d hoped. She couldn’t get to you.

“He’s wedged,” she told the nurse. I think she had a hold of you, but she couldn’t pull you out because you were stuck. Your mom groaned from the pain, and the doctor made a bigger incision, and then she grabbed hold of Mom’s abdominal skin and pulled with all her might. She literally tried to stretch your mom so the nurse could break you free, which they finally did. You came out covered in goo and they immediately got you to a little table I couldn’t really see.

“He’s out,” I whispered to your mom, and I rubbed her cheek with my finger. She turned and saw it was me sitting beside her and she smiled. When I looked back up at her abdomen, I saw an artery dancing over her body like a fire hose, squirting blood with each pump of her heart. Blood spurted over the sheet and hit your mom in the forehead, but she didn’t notice. Blood spurted everywhere. Dr. Beck grabbed the wild artery and pulled it back into your mom’s abdomen.

“Is he okay?” Mom asked me. You started crying loudly right about that time, and I said “I think he’s okay.”

The nurses brought you over to me and put you in my lap. They showed me bruises on your head and nose because you were wedged against Mom’s pelvic bone. Mom cried as soon as she saw you. I put you right in front of her face and I could tell it bothered her that she couldn’t reach out and hold you right away, but I held you as best I could. Every time I’ve ever held a baby, there was always an end time, a time in which someone else would take the baby back and I could go about my way, and it was a weird feeling thinking that no one will ever be waiting to take you back from me because you are mine.

This is the first photo I ever took of you, when you are 24 minutes old and being passed to your mother for the very first time.

We’ve named you Augustus Ruff with the intention of calling you Gus. We both like Augustus and the name has some history in both our families. Your mom’s great-great uncle was named Gus Derdevanis. He owned a Greek restaurant/bar in San Francisco called Plaka Taverna, which is closed now, but it apparently used to be a happening place. And my 6th great-grandfather was Milton Augustus Calhoun. He died in the Civil War at the Battle of Shiloh. I’ve been fascinated with him ever since I got interested in genealogy back in 2010.

Your middle name is a nod toward Papa’s memory. His most affectionate pet name for me was Buddy Ruff and when I playfully referred to you as Gussy Ruff not too long ago, I struck an emotional chord by accident. Your mom and I talked about it and decided to go with Augustus Ruff Choate. We hope you like it. 

We’re beside ourselves with joy because you’re finally here. Know that we love you from the start, and we’ll love you forever–no matter what.

Dad 

Little Rock, Arkansas. 6.13.2017 - 11.47am.

#birth #labor #labor and delivery #gus choate #baptist hospital #natural birth #c-section #birth story #dr. christie beck #parenting #new parents #babies #christie beck #operating room