#m!a: fusion flare

[sablegear0]

18. Choose a passage from your writing...

For the writers' ask game! You can choose the passage, I don't have any in particular in mind :)

"18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end."

Going to add a "Read More" cut to this one after the passage, as I go off opining. The following is from the flashback in chapter 2 of "Prussian Blue":

Adam stood with his back to her, facing aft, back the way the ship had come. His posture had none of its normal stiffness, his hands hung loose at his sides, his shoulders slouched. Past him, through the viewscreens, she could see what most likely had his attention. The now-distant nova of the Lusitania’s detonated drive unit. A ring and flare of bright yellow-orange, liquified metal refusing to cool in the vacuum of space.

She cleared her throat with a small, stifled cough, “Commander?”

Nothing. No movement or reply.

The observation deck was small, it took only a few steps to reach his side. “Sir?”

Nothing.

A step closer still. He had his head down, she couldn’t see his eyes past the brim of his hat. “...Adam?”

She raised a tentative hand to touch his hat, to move it up just enough to see. His expression was blank, his eyes distant and empty, glassy with unshed tears. In the instant before she meant to move away, she found herself seized. Caught around her middle, one arm pinned, the other grabbed his shoulder by reflex to push him off as he pulled her close –

And froze when she heard him sob.

(Now, as I'm rereading this, I see a couple things I would like to rephrase but ah well. It's done and posted, I can meddle with it later.)

I have had this sequence in my head since... (*checks when Other M came out*) wow, since like 2010. While the cutscene explaining Ian's death felt shoehorned in even then - personally I don't think Samus and Adam needed some arbitrary shared tragedy to divide them, I liked the implication in Fusion that they drifted apart due to ideological differences before his death - something about it was still so compelling to me. I couldn't explain it.

I was writing angst back then too, so not much has changed in that respect. But the way I imagined this sequence just made it stick, and being able to fit it into the Electrochromic AU with the added context I've been developing was extremely satisfying.

The biggest feature of this, the sticky thing that made this cling in my mind for a decade before I was finally able to find a place to put it, is Samus's dialogue. The incremental decrease in formality was so key to this scene; when she goes from worrying about her CO in an attempt at a professional interaction to "oh no my friend is in distress" - going from addressing him by rank to calling him by name (and she does this in canon, as I recall, she calls him by his first name in the cutscene this extends from). While I didn’t describe it, I imagine her voice getting quieter and more uncertain each time.

In the source material, this was probably a matter of convenience, but also to show their familiarity. Realistically, you wouldn’t address your CO this way; if you were being casual you would probably use their surname. But Samus calls him “Adam,” even (and especially) under pressure. As overblown as the original scene is, that connection is significant, and I wanted to keep and highlight it.

Adam’s reaction in this passage is secondary, honestly, but another element that hung around for ages that I had to include. He’s not a physical person, they don’t have that sort of relationship. With the added context that comes later in “Prussian Blue” we know he has actually been extremely careful about Samus’s personal boundaries. He would never touch her without warning or permission unless it was an actual emergency (eg. moving her so she doesn’t get hurt). 

Here, he’s so thoroughly in shock he forgets himself entirely and just... needs contact. He probably would have reacted this way to anyone else who came to get him but it’s extra weird for Samus, considering she was primarily socialized by elderly bird people and doesn’t really understand why humans like hugs. Her first instinct is even to push him off before she realizes he’s actively crying. 

Earlier versions of this scene may have made this a bit more of a struggle, I don’t really remember, but I didn’t want it to feel combative or... well, “scary,” for lack of a better word. I wanted it to feel sudden, and be shocking, but ultimately benign. Adam isn’t meant to be imposing here; he’s powerless, utterly so, and turning to Samus for support for once, flipping their usual dynamic (in fact, inverting her entire perception of him in this moment).

So... yeah. This whole flashback was important to me but this little scene in particular has been in the works for a very long time. I was happy to finally commit it to word and get it out there. In a way it’s sort of emblematic of why I write fanfic at all; I get these ideas that live in my head for ages - some with startling longevity - and the only way to get them out is to write them down!

Thanks for the ask!

#sable answers #just writer things #Electrochromic #prussian blue #link in post #ask game #i can't express how cathartic writing this scene actually was #it was like a personal exorcism

[yugiohcardsdaily]

Posted Cards Master Post - 35

March 2022

Qlimate Change

Qliphort Carrier

Qliphort Cephalopod

Qliphort Disk

Qliphort Genius

Qliphort Helix

Qliphort Monolith

Qliphort Scout

Qliphort Shell

Qliphort Stealth

Qlipper Launch

Re-qliate

Saqlifice

Floowandereeze & Eglen

Floowandereeze & Empen

Floowandereeze & Robina

Floowandereeze & Snowl

Floowandereeze & Stri

Floowandereeze and the Journey Preparations (Japanese)

Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map (Japanese)

Floowandereeze & Toccan

Guard of The Agents - Moon (Japanese)

Icejade Acti

Icejade Aegirine

Icejade Cradle

Icejade Cenote Enion Cradle

Icejade Kosmochlor

Icejade Erosion

Icejade Creation Kingfisher

Icejade Tinola

Icejade Tremora

Chorus in the Sky (Japanese)

Lost Sanctuary (Japanese)

Majesty Hyperion (Japanese)

Master Flare Hyperion (Japanese)

The Agent of Destruction - Venus (Japanese)

The Agent of Life - Neptune (Japanese)

The Executor of Hades - Pluto (Japanese)

The Sacred Water of the Sky (Japanese)

Aleirtt, the Ogdoadic Dark

Amunessia, the Ogdoadic Queen

Aron, the Ogdoadic King

Flogos, the Ogdoadic Boundless

Keurse, the Ogdoadic Light

Nauya, the Ogdoadic Remnant

Nunu, the Ogdoadic Remnant

Ogdoabyss, the Ogdoadic Overlord

Ogdoadic Calling

Ogdoadic Flood (Japanese)

Ogdoadic Hollow

Ogdoadic Origin

Ogdoadic Water Lily (tagged misspelled "Lilly")

Zohah, the Ogdoadic Boundless

Myutant Arsenal

Myutant Beast

Myutant Blast

Myutant Clash

Myutant Cry

Myutant Evolution Lab

Myutant Expansion

Myutant Fusion

Myutant GB-88

Myutant M-05

Myutant Mist

Myutant Mutator (Japanese)

Myutant ST-46

Myutant Synthesis

Myutant Ultimus

Bolt Penguin

Flying Penguin

Guard Penguin

Nightmare Penguin

Nopenguin

Penguin Brave

Penguin Cleric

Penguin Knight

Penguin Ninja

Penguin Soldier

Penguin Squire

Penguin Sword

Penguin Torpedo

Puny Penguin

Royal Penguins Garden

The Great Emperor Penguin

Awakening of the Possessed

Possessed Partnerships

Spirit Charmers

Unpossessed

Lyna the Light Charmer

Familiar-Possessed - Lyna

Lyna the Light Charmer, Lustrous

Spiritual Light Art - Hijiri

Dharc the Dark Charmer

Meda Bat

Familiar-Possessed - Dharc

Dharc, the Dark Charmer, Umbral (Japanese)

Dark Spirit Art - Greed

Aussa the Earth Charmer

Archfiend Marmot of Nefariousness

Avalanching Aussa

Familiar-Possessed - Aussa

Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness

Aussa the Earth Charmer, Immovable

Awakening of the Possessed - Nefariouser Archfiend

Spiritual Earth Art - Kurogane

#march 2022 #not duel monsters #ygo cd posted list #long post //

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 99-101 Subbed (Finalized) - Fixes/Edits Breakdown (Part 1)

Since it’s 2023 and Tumblr still has a dumb link limit in posts, I’ve made this separate post supplementing my 99-101 Release Post with my usual animation fix/edit breakdown for the interested, since I did still want to give folks a more visual idea as I’d been doing--except I had to split it into two parts to cover everything thanks to said link limit. 🙃 Details below the cut! (Part 2 with 101 here.)

*Note: for 100, there were multiple instances of errors where the video footage suddenly jumps up in the frame, causing a black bar to appear on the bottom right half of the screen. These do seem to mostly happen where ghosting was involved, but all were generally fixed the same way, as I slightly cropped the entire scene and then moved the part of the shot where the jump happens back down into place. I had figured it might've just been an issue with the Astral_Union DVDRips I've been using, but this also happens in the Crunchyroll upload and the YES-uploaded rip on Nyaa.si. To their credit, 4Kids applied similar fixes for the dub, as these issues don't pop up; I imagine they were probably given the same masters that were used eventually for CR and had their video team touch up accordingly. In the list below, I'll still note where they happen/etc, but mentioning this up top to keep things a bit more concise.

Fixes/Edits! (99)

After the commercial break, having survived Ojin's triple Satellite Cannon onslaught, Judai starts his next turn; he draws Fusion and activates it, but as he swings his hand out to do so, we get a look at his hand, which... is looking a little too stacked with extra copies of Fusion for some reason. As I mentioned here, we did see his hand earlier in the duel, so I was able to fix this by first making proxies for OCG-art Featherman and Burstlady (which I'm pretty sure I had before--thanks, SSD drive failure last year) and both Change of Hero -- Reflector Ray and Contact in Photoshop, then throwing them into AfterEffects to apply into the footage, masking Judai's thumb over the cards. (As I noted in the post, funny that the dub kept this when they were in the area to dubify the Polymerization card and somehow missed it, lol.)

Later, after Ojin summons Satellite Laser Balsam, Shou and Kenzan from the stands think that Judai can't lose to it with Shining Flare Wingman's 3100 ATK, but Asuka notes Ojin's calmness and suggests he might have something for him--Kenzan and Shou then turn to her in surprise, but Kenzan actually starts moving a frame before Shou does, meaning Shou ends his turning a frame after Kenzan. Fixed this in Sony Vegas by masking Shou's position as he starts to turn out and timing it with Kenzan's, masking in the chair and a bit of Asuka's collar behind him to blend him in.

During the 100 preview, we see Saiou summoning The World, with Ed and his field being blown by the wind and impacts from the summoning, but the Defendguy and Dunkguy on his field have their Defense-Mode cards under them facing incorrectly, with the effect boxes facing Ed's right; should be their name boxes to his right to match their Disk positioning. I fixed this first for 100 and then applied the fix here, but because of the ghosting going on in the video here, I had to work with that by slowing the footage down a bit and carefully masking in the fix; think it came out nicely considering. (The CR upload and the one in the YES torrent also had ghosting going on.)

Fixes/Edits! (100)

During the recap back to episode 98, I reprised a fix I did to Ed's dad, during his plea to Ed to defeat Bloo-D and go to Saiou, moving a frame before the screen starts to move as Ed slides in on a split-screen; fixed as done there by holding the frame just before over this early-moving frame.

During the 99% OP for this ep, we get a bunch of the footage jumps I mentioned up top, first with the clip during Judai's showcase of Kagurazaka's Black Magician attacking him, with the footage jumping slightly as the Black Magic attack gets let out. As this happens repeatedly throughout the OP, my solution was to grab the OP from episode 99 and use that for the majority, with the leftover issue being the episode preview clip--which was also bugged because a footage jump also happens there (and in-episode) as we see Ed moving to activate his face-down card in response to The World's attack. To deal with that, as I'd recreated this preview clip for use with the textless video I'd sub my English credits onto and fixed the jump, I first used Photoshop to cut the Japanese lyrics out of the shot and into a transparent .png which I then slapped on top of this recreated clip in Sony Vegas; I did try to see if I could just find the font used for the lyrics, but that proved to be fruitless, so thought that would be the next best thing so it blends in. And it does nicely, considering.

Into the episode proper, the first shot we have is of Ed and Samejima's helicopter charging towards Duel Academia, where a footage jump happens going into the heli close-up showing everyone inside that I fixed.

After Ed's flashbacks to meeting Saiou and their conversation about his fate, we see their helicopter getting closer to the Academia, but another footage jump happens a few frames into the shot, which I fixed.

Once the helicopter's close enough to the White dorm, Ed makes his dramatic jump out, but as we see him diving down, another footage jump happens which I fixed.

After Ed lands inside Saiou's room and runs off to try and find him, Samejima looks on from the helicopter, but another footage jump happens as we see lightning about to strike the helicopter, though this time it's complicated a bit as, while the lightning shoots down to the helicopter, we see that the helicopter isn't fully drawn, with its right side leading to its engine being incomplete (though it's fully drawn once the lightning hits it). I fixed this by first applying the footage fix I'd been doing--cropping the shot slightly as it the video ghosts between Samejima and the clouds rumbling--then cropping/zooming the shot a bit more right as the lightning starts to shoot out until the lightning hits the helicopter, zooming back out to how it originally was as the lightning connects, to crop out the heli's undrawn part.

As Ed confronts Saiou about Bloo-D and the Light of Destruction being in him now, Saiou confirms it, and a surprised Ed asks what he means, but as he does so, he drops his outstretched right arm with his hand holding Bloo-D, and we see it's reversed in his hand, as it was upright in his hand when showing it to Saiou a few shots earlier. Fixed this by making a proxy in Photoshop that I then applied in AfterEffects, masking in Ed's thumb over it.

[continued below, just split thanks to stupid text-block character limits]

(8) After the duel starts, after Saiou summons The Empress, its card starts to rotate to decide its effect--but as Saiou slides into an expanding split-screen, saying that Ed can no longer stop fate and that it'll stop while upright, there's a quick frame as the split-screen expands where the sliding compressed split-screen line in the frame just before is still there. Fixed this in Vegas by using the following frame, masking in just enough from what's in the split-screen there to cover up said line.

(9) After Saiou summons The Chariot, knowing it'll land upright, Shou and Kenzan click into a split-screen to note that it's upright (Kenzan finding it low how he's making them work for him), but they split out of their split-screen a bit unevenly which makes Shou's split take a frame longer than Kenzan's to slide offscreen, along with a coloring error with Shou's mouth/face. Fixed this in Vegas by masking out Shou's full split and redoing his slide-out so that it's timed more closely with Kenzan's, fixing the coloring error in the process.

(10) A bit later, after The Chariot destroys Diamondguy, Ed bounces back and activates Destiny Signal, but the shot zooms out a bit too much; we end up seeing that Ed's legs aren't fully drawn in. Fixed this in Vegas by slightly cropping the shot to hide the undrawn section.

(11) As Ed summons Defendguy in Defense Mode through Destiny Signal, another footage jump happens a few frames into its materializing that I fixed; the footage gets restored to normal as the shot zooms out and he takes his pose.

(12) After Saiou uses The Chariot to summon Diamondguy to his field, Kenzan and Shou are shocked that Saiou has as many Monsters as he does after three turns--but as Shou speaks after Kenzan's line, Kenzan's mouth suddenly opens back up for three frames near the end of Shou's "that many Monsters" line. Fixed this in Vegas by masking out Kenzan's closed mouth and masking it over his open one.

(13) On his next turn, Ed summons Dunkguy in Defense Mode, triggering The Empress's upright effect; he tributes The Empress and Diamondguy for his Tribute Summon, but as the two are tributed, another footage jump happens a few frames in that I fixed.

(14) In the very next shot, Saiou declares his Tribute Summon for The Moon, which materializes behind him as he says so--but as it does and the screen pans up to show it, another footage jump happens that I fixed, then used the last three frames of the upward pan to zoom it back out to where it was originally before the ATK counter shows up.

(15) After The Moon lands upright and Ed sees that Saiou's trying to get more Monsters out for a Tribute Summon, he uses Dunkguy's effect to hit Saiou with Effect Damage, but as Dunkguy gets a [really good] close-up while preparing to fire at Saiou, another footage jump happens as he jumps to kick up some damage at him, lasting from that shot to it connecting with Saiou, that I fixed.

(16) On his next turn, after getting a Moon Token, Saiou prepares to Tribute Summon ZA WARUDO The World, holding out its card, but as the shot transitions into the next one showing his Monsters being tributed for it, another footage jump happens that I fixed.

[another split thanks to stupid text-block character limits]

(17) After said shot of Saiou's Monsters being tributed, we see Ed bracing himself as the summon kicks up wind at his field, but the Defense-Mode Defendguy and Dunkguy on his field have their cards reversed under them, with their name boxes facing his left when they should be facing right to match their Disk placements. Since I needed this for 99's 100 preview, this was the first fix I worked on for 100, which I fixed in AfterEffects by applying their correctly-facing proxies over the cards and tracking them throughout the panning shot, masking Defendguy and Dunkguy over them and also tracking their movement over the cards throughout; I also used a layer of solid grey/white coloring, which I masked according to the shape of the wind over the cards as the shot panned, to recreate the wind blowing on top of them. (I then applied this fix to the preview in 99, though I kept trying to figure out a good way to do so given the ghosting there, and tried downloading a different encode of the episode hoping for no ghosting, to no avail; after working on the other fixes, I went back and worked on it as noted above.)

(18) After The World lands upright, Saiou declares The Emperor and The Moon's attacks, but as the shot ghosts into the two attacking, another footage jump happens that I fixed.

(19) A few seconds later, The Emperor's attack connects with Dunkguy and destroys him, but as the shot ghosts into The Moon firing its attack on Defendguy, another footage jump happens that I fixed.

(20) A few more seconds later, Saiou uses The World for a direct attack on a now-wide-open Ed, and as The World's attack closes in on Ed, another footage jump happens as the shot ghosts into Ed activating his D-Fortune Trap that I fixed; the jump lasts until Ed's done swinging his arm out and the shot starts to pan down to his Trap, at which point I cut back to the original footage.

(21) After Saiou uses The World's upright effect to skip Ed's next turn, Saiou has it attack him directly again, and the attack closing in ghosts into Ed's being hit, another footage jump happens--but luckily, 101 recaps this exact scene, not only without the black bar/footage jump but without the ghosting, so to fix this, I just used that footage instead for this scene.

(22) The preview for 102 starts with Ed and Saiou in a split-screen that splits apart to show The Devil behind them, but Saiou's split takes an extra frame to slide off. Fixed this in Vegas by just masking part of the next frame in which both are gone over it. (I wish the same shot in 101 was free of ghosting like this one.)

(23) A few frames later, The Devil fires its attack at The Emperor, summoned to Ed's field by Saiou as we'll see in 101, but as it does, another footage jump happens with all the ghosting that I fixed, this time moving the frame down slightly and using the equivalent shot in 101 to cover up the missing pixels up top as a result of the move-down. The jump lasts from The Devil firing its attack to some frames into The Emperor exploding from it, at which point I cut back to the original footage.

Fixes/Edits! (101) phew

[continued here, due to aforementioned link limit...]

#fix/edit breakdowns #subbing rambling #proper release post now pinned on my blog~

[liars-make-me-sick]

Maki! Maki, we need you right now! Kokichi's in trouble!

"No! I won't let you ge-"

(M!A: Fusion Flare 20/20)

*Poof*

While the fire goes out, the pain is so sudden and so violent...

He collapses onto the floor with a thud. His animals hear and immediately rush to see what happen. Kyo is barking up a storm, as if to alert someone.

#ask #anon #m!a: fusion flare

[ao3feed-joenicky]

by hauntedjaeger (saellys)

Yusuf gasps. “What a scoundrel you’ve become, Nicky.”

“Scoundrel!” Nicky’s eyes flare with offense. 

Yusuf stifles a grin and continues, “Planet-hopping like some vigilante, with your disruptor rifle.”

“You don’t like the rifle.” Nicky’s gaze turns despondent. 

He likes how Nicky used it. “It’s very illegal.”

“Under Imperial law,” Andy says over her shoulder. 

“Even autocratic regimes have good laws now and then.” Yusuf leans closer to Nicky and says in a conspiratorial undertone, “I introduced that legislation.” 

The smile playing on Nicky’s lips makes Yusuf feel like he’s at the center of a trap that’s about to be sprung. It’s a shame they don’t have time for anything else; Yusuf would like to get nice and close to that smile, to see it from all angles, to kiss its corners. Did he ever truly have delusions of resisting the way this man acts on his heart like the gravitational pull of a moon?

Nicky says, “Then, from a certain point of view, you are the one who made me an outlaw and a scoundrel.”

To hell with words. When Yusuf gets him alone in one of the rooms waiting for them, he’s going to show Nicky everything he means to him. 

Words: 13163, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of into a larger world

Fandoms: The Old Guard (Movie 2020), Star Wars - All Media Types

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: M/M

Characters: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, mentioned Lykon (The Old Guard), Gita (The Old Guard), Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Andrei (The Old Guard), Nile Freeman, Nile Freeman's Mother, Quynh | Noriko, Steven Merrick (The Old Guard), Keane (The Old Guard), Dr. Meta Kozak, James Copley

Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, mentioned one-sided Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Lykon

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Fusion, Missing Scenes, POV Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Politics, Pining, Angst, Banter, Canon-typical Temporary Character Death, Interrogation, Developing Relationship, Implied/Referenced Torture

#the old guard #joe x nicky #yusuf x nicolo #immortal husbands

[random-thought-depository]

A short vignette I wrote as part of a discussion on a forum I post on, with past/present tense and other grammar and formatting and math somewhat cleaned up from the rough version I posted there, and I’ve given it a title; it is a stand-alone piece and is not connected to any of my main SF settings; I took the liberty of re-using some relatively generic planet names and taking a little inspiration from John M. Dollan’s Arcbuilder Universe (if you’re interested you can find links to a little of John M. Dollan’s more recent writing on his Twitter):

----------

Advantages of Specialization

As I departed Cordillera, I passed a sign of the times. There was one of the big Hegemony freighters, on its leisurely upward fall toward minimum safe distance. It was much too far away for unaided eye visual contact, of course, but Mariposa's telescope gave me a fine view of it. And Cordillera space traffic control had supplied all the relevant details, of course; planned trajectory and burn timing, alpha-numeric designation - and a name; the Humbolt. Humbolts are whales that sing. Appropriate, I guess; it was big. Next to it little Mariposa would look - well, like a butterfly flitting around a whale, I guess. Mariposa is 50 meters long and masses 100 tons, 500 tons fueled up, with space for about an elephant's mass in cargo. Mariposa could fit inside Humbolt's fuel tank. Mariposa could fit inside the nozzle of Humbolt's fusion rocket.

Humbolt had finished its escape burn from Cordillera two days ago and it was just falling up now, not very fast. Its orbital rockets had burned at a leisurely .5 MSS, only a twentieth of a G, and hadn't burned very long. It hadn't even reached escape velocity from Cordillera's sun. Mariposa had burned hard, 3 G on the way up from Cordillera's surface, then 1.2 G the rest of the way to outbound flight velocity. Mariposa passed Humbolt quickly; the velocity differential was huge. Mariposa hadn't just reached escape velocity from the local sun, Mariposa had reached escape velocity from the galaxy! If I never burned her rocket or did a hyperspace jump again Mariposa would fall up very long and very far, into intergalactic space, where she'd fall up until her atoms evaporated by proton decay or the Big Rip tore her apart or she disintegrated from the slow sandpapering of the intergalactic medium, whatever came first. Of course, that wouldn't happen. I'd reach the local hyperlimit and jump to hyperspace in three months or so, then it'd be a few days in hyperspace, then another two months to get from the 82 Eridani hyperlimit to Hyannis. Funny; a few months to cross a few dozen AU, a few days in hyperspace to cross dozens of light years, a light year is more than 60,000 AU. Our-space distances aren't applicable to travel in hyperspace, of course, but I still think it's funny. Lots of people do.

As I passed Humbolt I studied telescopic images of it, studied its weaknesses, and thought maybe a whale wasn't the right analogy for it after all. Something from an ocean was, but not a whale. It was more like one of those deep sea fish that explode when you bring them to the surface, into the light.

Humbolt hadn't landed at San Ysidro Spaceport. It couldn't have. It wouldn't have survived trying. Humbolt is a pure creature of the void, that will never know the kiss of air or the touch of ground. It unloads and loads cargo at space stations, leaving transport to and from planetary surfaces to specialized local surface-orbit shuttles.

Humbolt is long thin pillar more than a kilometer long, with the fusion rocket at one end, a spherical fuel tank and the cargo and a small crew section spun for centrifugal gravity at the other end, and huge radiator wings between them. The long pillar is to protect the rest of the ship from the heat and radiation of the fusion drive. The fusion drive has a maximum rated acceleration at full cargo load of 2 MSS - one-fifth of 1 G. If Humbolt tried to accelerate much faster with a full cargo load, its engine would melt with waste heat. And if by some miracle it got itself up to 1 G that long pillar would snap and crumble. Put Humbolt on the surface of an Earthlike world, and it would disintegrate into a mass of rubble. If Humbolt tried to land like Mariposa, it would have the aerodynamics of a brick, and pieces of it would snap off from air friction, and its great rocket wouldn't have the thrust to control its own fall, and its own weight would break its back before it even touched the ground.

Maybe a whale isn't a bad analogy after all. The blue whale is the biggest animal to ever live on Earth; it's easier to be big in the water.

It's about efficiency, see. Humbolt should never experience a force of acceleration much above 2 MSS, so it's not built to take more than .5 G or so. That's a good safety margin, given the gentle acceleration its drive maxes out at. Building it fragile like this is efficient. Saves mass. Saves construction material. Saves fuel. Saves money.

It doesn't even really have a cargo hold. They just attach stuff to the front. Lots of different configurations are possible. On that trip Humbolt's front end was a greebled sphere of snapped-together rectangular cargo containers half a kilometer across, with a sort of tarp draped across it to protect it from high-velocity dust. There must have been hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo in that greebled sphere of cargo containers. It must have been a non-trivial fraction of Cordillera's yearly offworld trade. Cordillera isn't a big colony; it's a dusty dry world with only a few small seas, marginally habitable, only 160 million inhabitants. The sphere is the most efficient shape for a container, and the protective tarp is light, and Humbolt doesn't need to worry about streamlining. Trucks and trains and planes and boats and Mariposa are long and narrow because if you have to worry about streamlining you want to minimize frontal area. Humbolt doesn't have to worry about friction, so its cargo can be gathered into a sphere, which is efficient.

Free traders like me with ships that can take off and land like Mariposa are still a lifeline on Cordillera. Until a few years back Cordillera had just one orbiting space station to service big cargo ships like Humbolt. The Hegemony gave them another one a few years back though. Gave them another space station. A whole space station. Just dragged it in all the way from Alpha Centauri. The Hegemony must have plans for Cordillera.

Humbolt fell behind quickly. After they'd passed a few million kilometers behind they sent a text message telling me they were about to fire up the big fusion rocket. The burn timing was already registered with Cordillera space control who'd passed it on to me, of course; it was just standard procedure. The Hegemony were sticklers for this kind of thing. The contents of the message were very standard too; if it hadn't been composed by a computer it might as well have been. I wondered if it was AI composed or some sort of standardized form they had a human fill out. There'd be an audio warning and check-in too.

The audio warning was less standardized. A male voice, with an accent that might have been Tolimanish, saying, "This is the Kentauric Hegemony nationalized transport KDY-442-A74F, the Humbolt, calling free trader Mariposa. Hello, Miss, uh ... Miss Cherinise? Did I pronounce that right? Just as per standard procedure we're giving you a redundant warning that we're going to fire up the big atomic flashlight in 600 seconds. Please acknowledge."

Mariposa and Humbolt were almost seven light seconds apart at this point; far enough apart for light lag to noticeably influence conversation. I could have fired up the subspace radio, but Humbolt hadn't bothered, and I wasn't going to spend power on it if they weren't.

I sent back, "This is free trader Mariposa, I understand and acknowledge your message. I see we have the same destination. Does that make this a race? Seems to be going pretty well for me so far if so; I left after you and I'm already ahead of you."

I couldn't resist the dig, even though I knew it was lame and wasn't even an effective one, it just drew attention to my own weakness. I made it sound happy, like I was joking and saying something to have an excuse to talk to somebody for a few minutes.

The voice from the Humbolt said back, "You'd lose. Might want to make sure any un-hardened electronics are protected before we fire the big rocket, and maybe put your fuel tank between your crew and cargo compartments and us, just to be extra safe. You should be OK at that distance, but it's gonna be some real Manhattan Project hours out here when we fire. KDY-442-A74F over and out."

I said back, "Mariposa's been in battles and flare star megaflares and I've had to navigate more than one particularly nasty gas giant and brown dwarf magnetosphere. My ship's built tough, I'll be fine. Free trader Mariposa, over and out."

For some minutes Mariposa and Humbolt fell up away from Cordillera's sun, glowing only with the warmth of life support and radar and power reactor standby power and cargo environment maintenance. Then Humbolt's main rocket fired.

Mariposa can do 4 G at a steady burn, more in a sprint. The big limit is my own tolerance. Compared to Mariposa's muscular rocket, Humbolt's great rocket is weak in thrust. It imparts the gentlest of pushes. Humbolt's great radiator wings soon sizzle with heat at a fifth of a G. It ejects less than 200 kilograms of fuel per second, for a ship that masses hundreds of thousands of tons fueled and loaded. It's built for fuel efficiency, endurance, not thrust. The big rocket fires continuously for more than two weeks, compared to Mariposa's 22 hour 1.2 G burn.

And that efficiency implies its own sort of power. That 200 kilograms flies out of the rocket nozzle at more than two percent the speed of light. Humbolt's big rocket is a butterfly's sigh in terms of thrust, but in terms of energy it's a nuclear bomb that explodes continuously for more than two weeks. Ships like Humbolt have to maneuver near planets using weaker secondary orbital rockets because of the damage that storm of radiation and high-velocity charged particles might do. Alerts squawked nervously as Humbolt became a dark speck at the end a brilliant comet of charged particles and radiation thousands of kilometers long, the brightest thing in Mariposa's sky except for the local sun.

Mariposa uses not a lot of energy to eject a lot of fuel not very fast. This gives it the thrust to blast off the surface of a world. It's like one of those gasoline-powered SUVs you see on a lot of low-population worlds with big stretches of hostile terrain; go anywhere no matter how bad the road, power over rocks and through sucking mud puddles. But it's like an SUV; it guzzles fuel. And fuel-guzzling, in space, ultimately means slow. Humbolt uses terawatts of energy to eject a little fuel very fast, and this makes it fuel-efficient, and fuel-efficient in space ultimately means fast.

The man was right. If it's a race, Mariposa will lose, I'll lose. Humbolt will reach the hyperlimit of Cordillera's system in a little over a month, reach Hyannis in a little over two months, well ahead of me. And with ships like Humbolt the Hegemony can charge shipping prices half of the minimum I can charge to stay in business and come out with a 20% profit. And they can ship high-bulk goods that are just out of reach for me. Mariposa is a flying fuel tank with an engine and a crew quarter and a cargo compartment attached, stuffed into something shaped like a delta-winged aircraft. Humbolt gets almost three times my delta V while being less than half fuel by mass.

Free traders like me kept trade flowing through the age of fragmentation and economic contraction after the disintegration of the Terran Empire. Our tough versatile little blast off from anywhere land anywhere rockets were just what human space needed back then. But it's getting tough for somebody like me to stay in business nowadays.

#my writing #stories #speed fiction #fiction #my fiction

[mythgirlimagines]

ANON-CORRECT QUOTES

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

(After Purple/Fusion are taught modern slang by Fusion II...)

Purple/Fusion: (dressed in tacky hip-hop clothes)

Fusion: (gesturing to Purple, to Fusion II) Yo, my kiddo! Me and my homefry here would like to be in your possum!

Fusion II: (cringing in confusion) What's he trying to say?

Source: Arthur

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

(Context: Eldritch is venting to Iris about fellow Sunshine Squad member Dream, and Iris claimed that he liked Dream...)

Eldritch: (flustered) Wh-What?! I-I-Is this s-supposed to be some s-sort of j-joke?! W-Why would I be i-int-interested in some d-dumb Anon?! L-Like I've said, Anons are n-nothing more than government p-pawns! Th-They're just an-animals, no b-better than m-mindless sheep! You think I-I'd be interested in a mindless sh-sheep?! HELL NO! That's crazy! A-And anyway, Dream isn't even that s-special as far as A-Anons g-go. A t-total doofus! So stupidly h-h-happy all the time! Why w-would I care about-

Iris: (giggling slightly) Eldritch, listen to yourself! You're so desperate to deny this! You're almost in a panic over it. It's as if you're screaming, "Hey, Look! I'm totally crazy about Dream, Iris!".

Eldritch: (frantically waving his hands around) What? WHAT?! I-I-I'm not d-desperate! A-And I'm n-n-not in a p-panic n-neither! I'm t-totally calm! Everything's t-t-totally n-normal in Ritchieland!

Iris: (smiling) I have to say, it seems that Dream likes you too!

Eldritch: (actually trusting Iris for once) R-Really?! Are you s-serious?! You think D-Dream l-l-likes me? 

Eldritch: (confidently) Well, n-now that you mention it, Dream does strike conversations with me more than other Anons, right? M-Maybe I'm giving off the aura of someone that's okay to confide in...

Iris: (under their breath, snidely) They say the dumber someone is, the easier they are to talk to...

Eldritch: (suspiciously) W-What?! D-Did you say s-something just now, Iris?! 

Iris: (innocently sticking her tongue out) Me? No!

Source: Obey Me! Shall We Date?

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

Myth: (comes out of Scar's infirmary, covered in bandages)

Wyre: (protective instincts flaring up) Alright, who the f**k do I have to beat up?!

Myth: (grumbling) It was Janon...AGAIN! All I did was give him a little pat on head, one time when he wasn't looking. And now, he pounces to attack every time he lays his eyes on me. 

Myth: (shrugging) Haha, what can I say? Bunnies are adorable! What am I supposed to do? NOT pat one on the head? Oh yeah, and that's the other thing: he beats you up, if you call him a bunny, too! What's up with that? I mean, a bunny is what he's going for, right?

Myth: (exasperated) Sheesh! Talk about getting your fur all ruffled over nothing!

Janon: (glaring at Myth from a distance)

Source: Genshin Impact

Video Source: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf-I-aDfMsA)

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

(How Sparkle's play auditions tend to go...)

Scar: (going up to Sparkle's audition desk) Greetings, Upper Demon of the Mind Traps! I'd like to try out for the part...of the Grim Reaper...who ushers screaming souls into the next life!

Sparkle: (checking the audition list) THERE IS NO GRIM REAPER IN THIS PLAY!

Scar: (confidently) I could improvise!

Source: Dave the Barbarian

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

(During one of the Twins' cursed schemes...)

Wet Sock: (whispering to Egg) You don't think we'll get into trouble for this, do you?

Egg: (confidently) No! Not a chance!

(30 MINUTES LATER...)

Nerd: (harshly scolding the twins) 

Source: The Prince of Egypt

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

(In an AU where Dream starts a volleyball boot camp for Jr. Ultimates...)

Dream: (happily, to a crowd of Jr. Ultimates) ALRIGHT, Jr. Ultimates! If you were an office supply, what would you be and why?

Curious: (with a dissonant smile on their face) I will be paper, because people use me, and then throw me away.

The Other Jr. Ultimates: (very disturbed)

Dream: (with a strained smile) ...Descriptive...

Source: Vine

Video Source: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9GISbFl9Nc)

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

(In an AU where the Fancy One/Mastermind fails to sucker in an Assistant/Traitor...)

The Fancy One: (with a contract in hand) Dear Anon, I would like to formally invite you to help organize the Anon Killing Game with me!~★

Assistant/Traitor: (confidently) I'm in.

The Fancy One: (taken aback) Really?~★

Assistant/Traitor: (rudely turning away) F*** no. You guys are ***holes.

Source: The Most Popular Girls at School

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

I hope you like this week's quotes! I'd love to hear your opinions on them!

-Fusion Anon

#submission #anon #fusion anon #incorrect quote #fusion anon ii #purple anon #curious anon #sparkling anon #eldritch anon #dream anon #iris anon #just anon #wet sock anon #egg anon #anon nerd #anon scar #my evil twin #anon kg

[zxanthe]

life is but a dream

chapter 2/?

rating: M

pairings: sollux/roxy, sollux/terezi

ah yeth. the second chapter of the angsty cowboy bebop fusion au. it’s been a bit but i’m still working on this. chapter 2 is from sollux’s perspective this time.

The television, because what else would be playing, continues to babble, underscoring the soft beeping of a heart monitor nearby. The world swirls on your tongue. An unfamiliar ceiling in dingy dishwater beige, harshly lit with fluorescents that taste like wintery fluoride toothpaste. You groan, because that’s a fucking disgusting combination to wake up to. The heart monitor beeps a little faster. You try to inhale more deeply to get a better look, but it’s cut off in a hiss because it hurts, a brief sharp flare that dissolves into dull distant echoes reverberating from your torso to knock around the rest of you. Gingerly, you run your hand over the area, encountering bandages, a tender lump of gauze.

To your left, someone stirs. AA? you croak, stupidly, before your brain catches up with your mouth and you realize distantly that you’re doped up on pain meds and Aradia’s been dead for sweeps.

#solrox #solrezi #sollux/roxy #sollux/terezi #sollux captor #roxy lalonde #homestuck #hs by z #zxanthe writes sometimes

[briefololtragedy]

Of menus and audio-books

Pairing Kakashi Sakura

Rating M

Summary: Sakura and Kakashi both want their dinner date, but Sakura's work keeps getting in the way. Sakura asks for Kakashi's help with tasting the menu, lets see what happens. The coffee shop saga continues

also posted to AO3 , follow up to Pakkun’s plan and Frazzled Friday

Sakura couldn’t believe the last two weeks she has had. Two weeks ago she was supposed to have dinner with Kakashi, but she kept having to put it off for work. She really needed to make a note to never cater ever again. She thought nothing could be worse than catering for that 16th birthday party, a shiver ran up her spine thinking of all the pink and sparkles. Hana, Sakura loved her to death, but between her changing her mind about the menu every other day and then Kiba constantly showing up in the coffee shop, Sakura was on her last shred of sanity. Kakashi still visited with Pakkun, but for not as long and his visits were what was getting her through this hell. She knew that Kakashi wasn’t fully comfortable talking with her when Kbia was present. 

Burning...something was burning! She looked around and realized it was her muffins that she put into the oven. Sakura made a mad dash to the kitchen, smoke was billowing out of her oven. The muffins were beyond saving. Throwing the tray into the sink she couldn’t help but let out a frustrated yell. The shop wasn’t open yet, not for another 30 minutes, so there were not any customers to scare away. 

And it was just at this moment her phone decided to ding. Not even two seconds later the phone was flying across the kitchen. Yep...here come the tears. She didn’t know anymore if they were out of frustration or actual sadness. Hana changed her mind again and wanted to go into a different direction. Sakura already decided that this day sucked. She just wanted to crawl back into bed and cuddle up with a good book. Silver flashed across her mind, cheeks flushed. She wouldn’t mind cuddling with him either. 

Sakura didn’t know what to make of their relationship. He was more than a customer, but she wasn’t sure what he wanted. She wanted to get to know him more, wanted to see him outside of these stupid walls. She wanted to shave her legs, do her hair and makeup, and wear a dress for him, well more for her, but she wanted him to be there to appreciate her. A small voice said she also wanted to appreciate him, take that scarf and more off of him. 

After her 10 minute freak out she got up from the floor, retrieved her phone and went to work. She was on the phone with Hana when he came in, he was earlier than usual (very odd). After talking Hana down from the edge, no she would not do German Russian fusion, what even the hell was that! She will handle the menu and told Hana to not worry about it. She couldn’t help the flutter in her chest when watching her favorite duo take a seat. She thanked whatever deity was looking out for her since Kiba was nowhere in sight. 

“I think someone played a prank on you and messed with your clocks. You do know that it is 9am?” Kakashi was yet again hard at work on his laptop, Pakkun at his feet. She sat across from him, well she more like flopped into the seat, but it was a long day and it was only 9am! 

“Hmm, maybe I just really wanted to see you.” Kakashi felt worn down, he didn’t want to beat around the bush. He was here finally when Sakura wasn’t busy with a certain customer. It was over a month since he had started to frequent Sakura’s coffee shop and he really wanted that dinner date. It didn’t help that Genma started talking about the pretty pink haired coffee shop owner when he was drunk the other night. Images flashing through his mind. He also wanted to take her up on her offer of helping him with his audiobook debacle. Kakashi decided that today would be the day, they would set the actual day for their date.

“I’m sure a busy editor like yourself has better things to do.” Sakura took a pause. “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to get our dinner together. This catering event has been a huge headache. You and this little guy have been so helpful.” Why couldn’t they seem to get out of these four stupid walls. 

“I’m never too busy for coffee or your dessert of the day.” Sakura couldn’t help but smile, it was then she decided to throw her shoulders back and give herself a mental pep talk. “So my client changed the menu again, this is a short notice, but how would you feel about testing out the menu I came up with tonight?” It felt like an eternity as she waited for his answer. 

Kakashi wanted to jump up and cheer, but he was not Gai. “Tonight would work.” His palms were not sweaty, he was not a teenager anymore. However, he felt himself melt at that wide dazzling smile. “Perfect! I’ll send you my address. Does 8 work?” 

“8 sounds good.” He would have made sure that it worked. Kakashi watched her walk away and couldn’t help but chuckle at the flour she had on the back of her jeans, highlighting her amazing backside asset. Eight couldn’t come fast enough. 

Sakura couldn’t help the extra pep in her step throughout the rest of the day. Mei looked at her like she grew a second head when she was giving customers free upgrades on their coffee orders. Sakura even had time during her break to make a menu and grocery list. She would have plenty of time to get what she needed, exercise (cause of her sugar addiction), and start preparing the food. She felt good, she hadn’t felt this good in a long time. Sakura had decided on a simple green fit n flare dress that came to her mid thigh, hair was in a messy bun, and just a little bit of makeup. 

A knock on her door brought her back down to earth. She froze and was at a loss for words at the sight before her. Kakashi was wearing dark loose fitting jeans and a light grey henley shirt. She could see part of a tribal tattoo peeking out from under his right sleeve. Then there was his scarf, or more importantly the lack of a scarf. Internally she started to whimper, it wasn’t far for him to look like that. 

“Kakashi please come in. I’m not making everything that I was thinking of serving for the event, but wanted to do a variety. You wouldn’t mind giving me your opinion on the other foods too?” Sakura felt more comfortable talking about food or more work related topics. She didn’t trust herself with him. Previous boyfriends didn’t like it when she was more “aggressive.” 

“Sounds good.” Kakashi couldn’t help, but appreciate Sakura’s appearance. She always looked stunning, but now...  He could see her muscular thighs, small waist, toned arms, and her rear. He had admired one of her best assets earlier today and couldn’t help stare as she led him through her house.  

“Here is the menu I wrote up. Whatcha think?” Sakura was leaning over her kitchen island resting on her elbows. 

Kakashi looked at the menu in front of him: Short Rib Crostini with Cambozola Cheese and Cherry Jam. Kimchi deviled eggs. Apple stuffed pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon. Butternut squash soup, tomato soup with mini grilled cheese crouton. Caramelized onion, goat cheese, and mushroom flatbread. Teriyaki salmon mini burgers. Medley of roasted vegetables Desserts in a shot glass: Tarrimsu, white chocolate blueberry cheesecake, lemon meringue. Trio of hot chocolate and cookies 

“There will also be fruit and vegetables, fresh dip...Oh and some homemade crackers. I was thinking of baked brie with apricot jam. There were fresh apricots at the store and couldn’t help making some jam.” Before he could speak his stomach decided to join the conversation. 

“Hmm , maybe I should stop talking about food and we should go to the eating part. I made the deviled eggs, flatbread, vegetables, tomato soup and grilled cheese. Then the hot chocolate and either chocolate chip or snickerdoodle cookies.” All of the smells that hit him when he first walked in all made sense now. He could smell the cookies, but really caught his attention was the eggplant in the mix of roasted vegetables. 

“That sounds like a perfect plan. I forgot to ask if it would be alright to take you up on your offer from a couple of weeks ago, and have you listen to me read?” He had tried reading for Jiraya earlier, but all he got was a sour face from the man. 

“It's the least I can do. Let’s eat!”  Sakura found the conversation was easy. Kakashi gave some comments on the food, she noticed how he went back for more eggplant. She also had to pat herself on her back for not being too awkward. She found herself talking about Naruto and Jiraiya. Along with stories of Ino. Kakashi shared about his dogs, how he rescued them, he had more than just Pakkun. He had been in the army, but left after 5 years. He found himself settling into the publishing business with his passion for books. 

Kakashi had settled into her sofa, while she decided to clean the kitchen before dessert. Guilt overtook him while he watched her do the dishes and clean off the counters. He found himself making his way to help her, she seemed shocked when he pushed her over to dry while he washed. It seemed like her friends didn’t volunteer often to help her clean. 

The dish water had gotten his shirt slightly damp on the front, allowing for it to cling just enough to get an outline of his abs. It was getting hotter in her kitchen and the oven was off. She was taken out of her thoughts when she felt an arm grazing her back. “Sorry, I finished washing and decided to help with drying, the only other towel was to your right. You were lost in thought I didn’t want to disturb you.” 

“Sorry for zoning out. Let me get the hot chocolate ready. Do you want white, milk, or dark chocolate? Also cookie choice.” She had decided on white chocolate and snickerdoodle, hmm this sugar was going to go straight to her ass. 

“I’m starting to think you are made out of sugar. I will have dark chocolate. Hmm I think I’ll try both, I’ve been a good boy.” Sakura felt warm again, how was she going to get through him reading one of those stupid books. 

“The night is still young, hope you stay a good boy. Lets go to the living room for your contribution to the evening.” Kakashi was having second thoughts. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to practice?” He didn’t want her to run away or ruin what relationship they had.

“Kakashi it's the least I can do! You have been so much help with all of this, have a seat.” Kakashi went back to sitting on the sofa, placing his hot chocolate on the end table. The chocolate chip cookie was already gone. Sakura made herself comfortable on the other end of the sofa, she was sitting facing him, one of her legs under her, she was sipping on her drink and occasionally dunking her cookie into it. 

“Alright here goes nothing.” Kakahi cleared his throat as he started to read. 

“We shouldn’t be doing this, Maalik.” Elena looks forlorn. The wind blows her chestnut hair in front of her face obscuring her crystal clear blue eyes. They are meeting in their safe haven, far from the eyes of their families. A small stream flowed through the area, wildflowers surrounding. The trees provided shade from the gruling sun. A ray of light had cut through the trees and onto Elena, it was their oasis.. Maalik couldn’t help but give pause. She was beauty, nothing could compare. He could feel his palms become sweaty and his heart race as he looked at her. 

Kakashi noticed that Sakura was adjusting in her seat. She was cupping her mug with both hands staring at him intently. He continued on. 

“You say that everytime we meet, my love.” Maalik’s smoky voice penetrated through the air. He couldn’t help, but bring his hand to her face making her look him in the eyes. Elena’s heart was beating so fast it felt like it would come out of her chest. All thoughts vanished from her mind as she looked into his brown eyes. His arm went to wrap around her waist, pulling her to him. Elena’s hand was resting on his chest and she could feel his heart beating like a drum in his chest. 

Sakura could feel some discomfort between her legs grow. She wanted to rub them together. It should not be allowed to have his deep baritone voice so smooth, warming her all the way to her bones. 

“Every time I see you I can’t help but feel like your beauty grows, it puts the flowers to shame.” He couldn’t help but bring their lips together. It had been weeks since they last saw each other. Elena was hesitant at first, but wasted no time to deepen the kiss. They both were acting like people dying of thirst getting water for the first time. Before Elena knew it she was laying on the grass, Maalik hovering over her. Their kiss never broke. 

Kakashi’s heart was beating fast. He was sure he was blushing. Sakura’s eyes had started to glaze over. He wanted to reach out and move that strand of hair from her face. 

“Please...Please Maalik it's been too long. I need you.” Maalik didn’t have to be told twice as he ventured down Elena’s body leaving wet trails as he made it to his destination. 

“Sakura… are you alright?” She had been fidgeting in her seat. “I...” All self control had abandoned her and she lunged. She shoved the book out of his hands as she settled herself on his lap. Sakura cupped his face in her hands and went in for the kiss. She could taste the lingering chocolate and cinnamon from dessert. Part of her wondered if he would pull away, but once she felt him deepening the kiss with hands going to her hips she cheered internally. 

Kakashi was wondering if he was dreaming. The slight nip on his lip assured him this was reality. He couldn’t help, but to slide his hands up her thighs to her hips. He took note of the ripple of her muscles with his touch. Kakashi pulled her closer to him. A low moan escaped him as Sakura started to slowly circle her hips against him. The small whine she created when he had to pull away broke part of him. They both were panting heavy just from their kiss. 

“I have wanted to kiss you since the first time I met you. Do you know how much I desired to pull that stupid scarf off of you? “ Sakura’s voice had taken a husky quality to it, while they had stopped their current activity she continued to stay on his lap. 

“Sakura you are no better, with those tight jeans and aprons you wear. How a baker has this great of an ass I will never know.” To emphasize his point one of his hands went to squeeze her ass lovenly. This time it was Kakashi initiating their heated lip lock. His hair was so soft between her fingers. A pleasant sensation ran up her spine as he rubbed small circles on her hip. She wanted to explore more of him. 

Sakura found her right hand venturing downward, tracing the outlines of his pectorals, down his abdominal muscles, to rest just above his jeans. She slowly pulled away from him, resting her forehead on his, as she slowly unbuttoned his jeans to slide her hand to her goal. The moan and bucking of his hips was the only sign she needed to continue. She could feel Kakashi’s lips on her neck, him lightly biting at times. Sakura almost had to give pause once she had his sizable member in her hands. She licked her lips as she started to slowly work up and down his shaft. Her position was slightly awkward as her hand was between both their bodies. She wanted to move with him and found herself circing her hips with his rhythm. 

Kakashi felt like he was in overload at the moment. The taste of her neck and mouth still lingering, then the feel of Sakura’s hand as she worked him, and then her hips grinding against him it was almost too much. Before he could speak he found himself standing up with her in his arms. The small squeak she let out was adorable, but it was her wrapping her legs around him that he focused on. 

“Bedroom?” At his question Sakura pointed her head in the direction of her hallway. As he made his way to his destination he couldn’t help but kick off his jeans as they fell down. Once he found the right door on his own. Sakura had decided to start licking and biting at his neck, hands wondering. At least she had released her hold on little Kakashi because he didn’t think he would have the self control to not take her against the wall. 

He made quick work of his shirt after laying her down, while Sakura made quick work of her dress. 

Sakura started to feel self conscious as she looked at the greek god in front of her. The tattoo that she saw earlier extended up his shoulder and over his right pec. She was so wrapped up on her thoughts she didn’t notice Kakashi staring. 

While Sakura made some of the most delicious desserts they didn’t make his mouth water as much as the woman in front of him. Her breasts were covered by a white lace bra, but looked like they would fit perfectly in his hands. His eyes trailed down her flat stomach to her matching pair of white panties. It was time for his second dessert. 

Sakura felt her bed dip as Kakashi joined her. Her arms locking around his neck as he started to kiss her. She couldn’t help but to rub her legs together as one of his hands went to her breast, messaging it. He started to trail down her with kisses. Him making quick work of her bra as he latched onto one of her nipples, while he messaged the other. After a few minutes he switched. The pressure between her legs was building and she couldn’t help her whimpers and moans. She wanted more. 

As if hearing her thoughts he ventured down her stomach pausing where her underwear started, then it was gone. His thumb started to rub circles over her clit before he replaced it with his mouth. He started sucking gently at first then the pressure started to build, especially once he placed two finger into her pumping at a lazy rhythm at first. Her back arched and she was coming. 

Kakashi came back up to kiss her and she could taste herself. She wasted no time in wrapping her legs around him as he positioned himself. Finally he slid inside, stretching her deliciously. 

____________________________________________

They laid intertwined both exhausted from their multiple rounds. 

“You don’t like my scarf?” Sakura rolled her eyes as she nestled into him more. “Shut up and don’t make me regret spending my day off with you.” 

Extra- Pakkun's thoughts:

Pakkun thought all was well 2 weeks ago, yet his owner can't seal the deal with the pretty shop owner. Pakkun has his life set and Kakashi had to ruin it. Tonight just takes the cake! Kakashi left him! Kakashi had looked like a nervous teenager when he left, mumbling to himself as he walked out the door. It almost sounded like he was giving himself a pep talk. Pakkun looks to the sofa where the other human is sitting, sipping a beer, while having a toothpick in his mouth, why was this guy even here! Pakkun had become accustomed to tuning out this human. he vaguely hears a ding of the phone. "Well peanut looks like it will be just us. Kakashi wont be back tonight, lucky dog." Genma has a smirk on his face.

Pakkun doesn't want to be with Genma and he also sees his hopes of a belly full of dog biscuits crumble. Surely if Kakashi was visiting Sakura he would have taken Pakkun along.

#kakasaku #Sakura x Kakashi #Sakura Haruno #Kakashi Hatake #naruto #fanfic #drabble

[ao3feed-minjoon]

by bangtanboops

“What is his name?” Namjoon asked, trying to keep the awe out of his voice as he watched their interaction. The creature’s glow flared a tint of red as his head whipped over to Namjoon and seemed to glare at him. Namjoon stuttered out an apology, surprised. “I-I mean, I wanted to ask you, but I don’t think I’d understand if you told me?” He scratched awkwardly at his neck, and it was Taehyung’s turn to laugh as his friend huffed in annoyance but didn’t seem to disagree.

“Joon, that’s Jimin,” Taehyung stated like it was obvious, like it was something Namjoon should already know.

-----

a peter pan-inspired au with seven lost boys finding each other again.

Words: 16528, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Kim Namjoon | RM, Park Jimin (BTS), Kim Taehyung | V, Min Yoongi | Suga, Kim Seokjin | Jin, Jeon Jungkook, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope

Relationships: Kim Namjoon | RM/Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Taehyung | V, Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Peter Pan Fusion, Magical Realism, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fairy Park Jimin (BTS), Fae & Fairies, References to Depression, Friendship, Mutual Pining, everyone's in love with namjoon, jimin is tinkerbell, i can't wait to introduce the others, Kim Namjoon | RM-centric, Sweet Kim Namjoon | RM, Sassy Park Jimin (BTS)

#ao3feed #fanfic #minjoon #nammin

[magicbyhalves]

Shantae, Uncle Mimic, Bolo, Sky, and Rottytops were loading the last of their luggage onto the airship back to Scuttle Town.

“For a first vacation, that sure was a doozy...” Shantae said, shoving a particularly heavy bag into place.

Mimic nodded. “I know you had a bit of a rough start, but I’d say it was worth all the trouble in the end, wouldn’t you?”

Shantae smiled and nodded. Then the sound of approaching footsteps drifted to her ears, and she turned to see who was coming over. All of the other Half-Genies had shown up, and she ran over to them - the rest of the luggage would be fine without her, surely. “Hey, everyone!”

Harmony smiled - an easy and gentle expression on her face, like always. “Hello, Shantae. We heard you were leaving, and thought we’d see you off.”

“Aw, thanks! I’m going to miss you all a lot, y’know.”

There was a squeak from the back of the crowd of Half-Genies, and the Lobster Siren poked her head out from behind the group.

“Wha- of course that means you, too!”

The Lobster Siren’s tail thumped against the floor, and she quickly looked the other way as a huge smile broke out over her face.

“We also wanted to give you this, before you go.” Harmony had been keeping her hands behind her back, and now she brought them forward, presenting Shantae with a tied-off bag. “There’s a little something from each of us - it’s the least we can do after everything you’ve done for us.”

“Aw... you guys didn’t have to do this...!” Shantae carefully took the bag from Harmony, trying not to jostle the contents too much. “Uh... should I open this now, or...”

“If you like.” Harmony kept her cool expression, but Vera and Plink seemed unable to contain their excitement about whatever their gifts were. Zapple, by contrast, looked somewhat nervous.

The first thing Shantae pulled out of the bag was a necklace - it looked familiar, and Shantae realized she was looking at Vera’s lucky amulet as she inspected it more closely. The other three Fusion Stones she’d found on her journey had been affixed to the chain, and they gleamed brilliantly in the light.

“In case you ever need to borrow someone’s magic again. It’ll be easier if you have those stones on hand,” Vera said, smiling.

“Are you sure it’s okay if I have this?”

“Of course!”

Shantae kept digging. There was... a surprising amount of food in the bag. She pulled out a stack of melba toast from somewhere in its depths. “Um...”

“Oh, that’s from me,” Plink piped up. “I’ve heard airship food tastes kind of funny, so I wanted to make sure you had something tasty to bring with you! Your blue-haired friend over there is going to be especially grateful, trust me.” She winked, and one of her eyeball-shaped hair ties did too.

Shanate couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed they’d been copying Plink’s expressions this whole time. “Right... well, I’ll make sure it doesn’t go to waste!” She carefully re-placed the stack of melba toast and resumed pawing through the bag. The next thing she grabbed was a sealed envelope.

“It’s an invitation. I know it’s a little too formal, but... if you ever come back to Armor Town, you can get some, uh, real armor. Instead of armor like what they made for your friend.” The normally-confident Zapple was fumbling her speech quite a bit. “... or you could just come to visit m- the island. If you want.” Her pointed ears were about as bright as her outfit, pointing towards the ground, and nervous little sparks flared up around her feet as she spoke.

Shantae was surprised to catch herself regarding the whole thing as cute. She dismissed the thought for the moment - it seemed like something to mull over on the flight back home. “Y’know what, I think I’d like that. Coming back when the island isn’t under attack sounds nice!”

Zapple let out a sigh of relief as her invitation was slipped back into the bag.

There was only one gift left, and Shantae knew what it was immediately as her hand closed around it. All the same, she grabbed the worn-out scrapbook and pulled it out to confirm, looking from it to Harmony.

“I... I can’t accept this!”

Harmony chuckled warmly. “It’s only fair that you get a chance to learn from that book as I did.” As she spoke, an odd, ghostly light grew visible, hovering at her side. “And I’ll always have my mother to guide me, scrapbook or no scrapbook. Please, keep it.”

The Lobster Siren let out an abrupt squeak, charged forward, and flung her arms around Shantae in a hug, her tail wrapping around the Half-Genie’s legs like she didn’t want her to leave. Zapple let out a shocked gasp, then ran forward to hug Shantae as well. Soon, all of the other Half-Genies joined in, too, erupting into a chorus of well-wishes and goodbyes.

Rotty snickered. “Someone’s popular.”

“You jealous?” Sky asked, a smug smirk on her face.

“Uh... why would I be?”

“That’s your girlfriend they’re all throwing themselves at.”

“And? Shantae’s very loveable.” Rotty huffed and crossed her arms. “Don’t project your insecurities onto me, feathers.”

Sky’s face flushed. “How dare you?!” She dove at Rotty, clearly intent on starting a fight. Rotty retaliated by swatting right back, grinning hugely, and soon they were scuffling.

“Aw, c’mon, don’t fight...” Bolo sighed, trying to get between them. He received several smacks for his troubles, and wisely backed away from the ensuing ball of violence.

Shantae, still trapped in the Half-Genie hug pile, let out a sigh, equal parts exasperated and fond.

#drabble #Mimic #Harmony #wretched runaway #Vera #Plink #Zapple #Rotty #Sky #Bolo #7S Vacation Arc #The Real Vacation #readmore'd for length

[ao3feed-klaroline]

a lover's concerto

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2UqTcP9

by but_seriously

“Would it make you feel better,” he said, “if I named one of my dragons after you?”

“It would not,” she said primly, but Klaus hardly missed the little flare of curiosity in her eyes.

“Qeldlie, I think I’ll name her,” Klaus decided. “It means golden. After your hair.”

  Caroline, who had not yet started to learn High Valyrian, had to take his word for it.

Words: 1591, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Bingo Bangers

Fandoms: The Vampire Diaries (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Klaus Mikaelson, Caroline Forbes

Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Game of Thrones Fusion, Anachronistic

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2UqTcP9

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #the vampire diaries #klaroline

[liars-make-me-sick]

now im scared for you. you think you'll be ok?

"Should be?"

(M!A: Fusion Flare 17/25)

#ask #anon #m!a: fusion flare

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NEW ‘SUN CLOCK’ QUANTIFIES EXTREME SPACE WEATHER SWITCH ON/OFF ** 200 years of sunspot observations used by University of Warwick researchers to create “Sun clock.” Sun clock pinpoints times of sharp switch on and off of high solar activity and space weather. Earth geomagnetic observations reveal only 1-3% of extreme space storms over the last 150 years occurred in the quiet period of the solar cycle clock. Will assist planning for space and ground-based infrastructure sensitive to space weather. ** Extreme space weather events can significantly impact systems such as satellites, communications systems, power distribution and aviation. They are driven by solar activity which is known to have an irregular but roughly 11 year cycle. By devising a new, regular ‘Sun clock,’ researchers have found that the switch on and off of periods of high solar activity is quite sharp, and are able to determine the switch on/off times. Their analysis shows that whilst extreme events can happen at any time, they are much less likely to occur in the quiet interval. The clock will help scientists to determine more precisely when the risk for solar storms is highest and help to plan the impacts of space weather on our space infrastructure, important since the next switch on of activity may be imminent as solar activity moves from its current minimum. Published in Geophysical Research Letters by a team led by the University of Warwick, the Sun clock uses the daily sunspot number record available since 1818 to map solar activity over 18 solar cycles to a standardised 11 year cycle or ‘clock.’ No two solar cycles are the same, but using a mathematical technique known as the Hilbert transform, the researchers were able to standardise the solar activity cycle for the first time. The clock revealed that the transitions between quiet and active periods in solar activity are sharp. Once the clock is constructed from sunspot observations it can be used to order observations of solar activity and space weather. These include occurrence of solar flares seen in X-ray by the GOES satellites and F10.7 solar radio flux that tracks solar coronal activity. These are all drivers of space weather on the Earth, for which the longest record is the aa index based on magnetic field measurements in the UK and Australia going back over 150 years. All these observations show the same sharp switch on and switch off times of activity. Once past switch on/off times are obtained from the clock, the occurrence rate of extreme events when the Sun is active or quiet can be calculated. Lead author Professor Sandra Chapman, of the University of Warwick’s Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, said: “Scientists spend their lives trying to read the book of nature. Sometimes we create a new way to transform the data and what appeared to be messy and complicated is suddenly beautifully simple. In this instance, our Sun clock method showed clear ‘switch on’ and ‘switch off’ times demarcating quiet and active intervals for space weather for the first time. “Large events can happen at any time, but are much more likely around solar maximum. By cleanly ordering the observations we find that in 150 years of geomagnetic activity at Earth, only a few percent occur during these quiet conditions. “The ability to estimate the risk of a future solar superstorm occurring is vital for space and ground-based technologies that are particularly sensitive to space weather, such as satellites, communications system, power distribution and aviation. “If you have a system sensitive to space weather you need to know how likely a big event is, and it is useful to know when we are in a quiet period as it allows maintenance and other activities that make systems temporarily more fragile.” The research was co-authored by Scott Mcintosh of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Robert Leamon of the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Robert Leamon said: “The Hilbert transform is a really powerful technique across all of science. Sandra suggested it to me on a completely different project -- this really is a serendipitous chain of events -- because of her work in lab fusion plasmas, and when we applied it to sunspots, we saw it tied to the sharp switch-on of activity that we’d seen elsewhere. Sandra then saw the switch-off looking at the aa index.” Scott Mcintosh said: “We foresee that the door that this innovative work opens will lead to development of meaningful climatologies for solar activity and improved predictability that will result from that.” IMAGE....Multiple cycles of the irregular, but roughly 11 year cycle of solar and geomagnetic activity is mapped onto a regular solar cycle clock with increasing time read clockwise. Circles indicate the cycle maxima (red), minima (green) and terminators (blue). Measures of solar activity are the daily F10.7 solar radio flux (blue), and GOES X-class, M-Class and C-class solar flare occurrence plotted (red, blue and green scaled histograms). Extreme space weather events at earth seen in the aa geomagnetic index are shown as black dots arranged on concentric circles where increasing radius indicates aa values which in any given day exceeded 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600nT, large events appear as ‘spokes’. The clock identified when activity switches on at the terminator and switches off at the pre-terminator (blue lines). This work was supported by the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick.

#space #science #Astronomy #physics #space weather

[bak62]

F.U.S.E Corp Special: Mega Zerozo by Dragonith

Mega Zerozo (M-Lucario/Zeraora/U-Necrozma) Electric/Fighting/Psychic Classification: Divinity Bolt FUSEmon Special Ability: Blinding Light "After an Electric-type move is used, the foe's accuracy is decreased for the remainder of the turn." -Note: After the turn ends, their accuracy returns to normal. Signature Move: Photon Bolt Category: Special Type: Electric Power: 100 Accuracy: 100% PP: 5 "The foe is struck by a blinding bolt of lightning. Has a high chance of lowering accuracy or inflicting paralysis." Normal Form: "-DATA UNKNOWN-" ---------------------------------------------------------- Entry Note: As a precautionary measure, the following FUSEmon is a digital specimen in order to prevent any damage to the facility. No actual fusion has been performed yet using the following materials. "Fusing Necrozma always proves to be a hazardous task, as evidenced from past fusions involving its genetic material. Tossing in Mega Lucario into the mix with its unstable Mega Evolved state is only asking for trouble. As such, this fusion will remain as a digital specimen for the sake of preserving our laboratory equipment." "Mega Zerozo's tactics in combat revolve around removing its target's vision with a flash of light before frying them with a powerful electrical flare. With Mega Lucario's heightened aura sense and Zeraora's innate power to always shock its target even when it misses, this is truly a dangerous specimen."

#pokémon #lucario #zeraora #fusion

[bloodiedbiotic]

Thanks to BioWare and their well-practiced ability of not giving us lore for key things  ( ie. the Lazarus Project ), not much is known in detail about Shepard’s reconstruction. What we do know is it took two years and over four billion credits to complete; and even then, it wasn’t officially complete as Wilson’s betrayal put a halt to things  ( thus why Shepard has facial scarring )  but it was still a success with Shepard regaining full neurological activity.

Not to mention that throughout Mass Effect 2, you can upgrade Shepard’s cybernetics through the research terminal in the Tech Lab. So, after garnering small bits of description text from those upgrades and screen caps of the Lazarus Project, I’ve decided to go into detail about Shepard’s reconstruction during the Lazarus Project and elaborate on the extent of their cybernetic implants.

As far as the details go regarding Shepard’s body and what’s what, it’s stated that cybernetic implants were used to reconstruct their skeleton, which, as evidenced by the Lazarus Project cameras and scans, was heavily damaged due to crashing through Alchera’s atmosphere groundside. Granted, the damage could have been a lot worse; it’s clear their hardsuit absorbed much of the damage, the breastplate more than likely reaching its breaking point and falling into pieces  ( as evidenced by Legion and Liara’s apartment in the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC ).

Still, the damage done to Shepard’s body as a whole was enough to make them nigh-unrecognizable, a salarian named Tazzik stating that it's “hard to tell if it's even a man or a woman, blown to hell like that” when observing their body in the stasis pod. Of course, while this was also a playful reference to Shepard’s gender being player-determined, it still meant that their body went through so much damage prior to reconstruction, they couldn’t even be recognized. As Jacob said, “meat and tubes”. 

As seen here, there’s a lot of the damage done to the skeleton, though I feel that a good part of it is focused on the upper body: rib cage, arms, and the spine  ( granted, the legs are definitely looking pretty gnarly as well ).  Look closely at the lower half of the spine between the rib cage and pelvis and you see a large part of it is missing. We’ll get back to that later. 

One interesting thing to notice is the little amount of damage to the skull. If the Normandy Crash Site DLC is played, you can find Shepard’s old N7 helmet and have it kept in their cabin, and upon inspection, it’s relatively intact. And it’s a good thing it is, because it kept the most important part of Shepard intact: their brain. While Shepard was confirmed to be clinically brain dead — thank you, Mass Effect 3, for that — their brain was intact and that more than likely saved tons of time for the Lazarus Cell.

Of course, Shepard needed more than a functioning brain to get back to action. All those breaks in the skeleton had to be fixed and considering that there’s nothing in ME2 or ME3 regarding the Lazarus Cell regrowing any bones, it becomes apparent that most, if not all, of Shepard’s skeleton was reconstructed via cybernetic implants. Remember that part of the spine that was missing? We actually see cybernetic implants being augmented for that missing section!

We also know it’s that part of the spine being augmented due to the scene overlooking Shepard’s repaired body.

In addition to the cybernetic implant for the spine, other parts of the body share the same blue-tinted highlight, indicating there are other cybernetic implants in place. From the screen caps, there’s one in Shepard’s left forearm and two in the right  ( and one in the upper right arm ), one in their right shin, as well one in their right quad and two in their left. Something I noticed that I find interesting is the five ribs highlighted on the right side. Looking back at the damage sustained to the skeleton, it’s reasonable to assume that those ribs were completely replaced with cybernetics.

Now, that’s just covering the SKELETON.

It’s stated that the Lazarus Project moved from simple organic reconstruction to bio-synthetic fusion. I believe that the simple organic reconstruction started and ended Shepard’s internal organs and circulatory system. The extensive damage to Shepard’s skeleton is what led the move over to bio-synthetic fusion. It’s comfortable to say that Shepard’s skin was more than likely all bio-synthetic fusion, given the facial scarring they can experience through the games. 

Now, throughout Mass Effect 2, there are upgrades — I’m sure everyone knows about those. There are different categories for the upgrades, but the one I want to focus on are the Cybernetic Upgrades. There are three that can be upgraded multiple times throughout the game:

—  LATTICE SHUNTING: Strong synthetic fibers can be woven through the skin, dramatically reducing damage taken from most attacks. These fibers also act as a medi-gel conduit, improving healing. —  MICROFIBER WEAVE: Perforating the muscles with micro-fibers increases overall strength and decreases the potential for muscle damage from exertion. —  SKELETAL LATTICE: By reinforcing the skeleton with a synthetic weave, bones can be made almost unbreakable. In the event of bone trauma, medi-gel conduits allow for bone regeneration in a matter of days.

Taking these into consideration is honestly insane; Shepard’s skin has synthetic fibers woven through it, and their skeleton, which has already been augmented in numerous places with implants, is reinforced with a synthetic weave. The latter honestly explains why in Mass Effect 3’s Citadel DLC, Shepard is able to walk off that fall through Ryuusei's fish tank without any broken bones.

These upgrades also explain how Shepard can achieve and display certain feats of indescribable strength and durability across Mass Effect 2 and 3, including but not limited to:

—  Matching the strength of a fully grown Yahg, even hitting it hard enough to knock it back —  Headbutt a Krogan on their crestplate hard enough to stagger them without sustaining any injuries —  Knock out the fully-armed guards on The Project  ( Arrival DLC )  with their bare hands —  Survive high falls with no impact on functionality  ( Vancouver and Citadel DLC ) —  Lift up the Virmire Survivor  ( while they are clad in battle armor )  fireman-style with ease —  Use weapons such as the M-98 Widow and M-300 Claymore, guns that both tout in their description that a normal human is not capable of firing them without serious injury; the Widow can shatter an ordinary human’s arm after firing and the kickback on the Claymore has enough force to break a human arm —  Lift the giant metal slab that was on top of them and one of their squadmates following the destruction of the Human Reaper Larva

Now, with these augmentations, Shepard’s humanity comes into question. Technically, Shepard is a cyborg. Something about that, however, doesn’t quite feel right. It’s basically told by the games that they’re a super soldier, already having gone through genetic enhancement as an Alliance recruit to improve their natural human abilities: their strength, speed, reflexes, etc. Though, that was genetic engineering and comparing that to bio-synthetic fusion is like comparing apples to oranges. Shepard’s humanity and their take on it is a headcanon for another day!

This is definitely something I have as a personal headcanon, but in regards to Shepard’s facial scarring, I fully believe that morality has no part in the healing process. I believe that stress has an adverse affect on those incomplete cybernetics, thus as Shepard gets into more stressful situations, the scars worsen. This explains how Shepard can turn themself in to the Alliance with their face laced with glowing scars after destroying the Alpha Relay and then face the Committee scar-free, having spent the past six months in Vancouver on house arrest.

Also, this is something I’ve seen people talk about, but people question how their Shepard can be biotic in Mass Effect 2 when they played a non-biotic class  ( Soldier, Engineer, Infiltrator ). Well, according to developer documents, Shepard had already been exposed to eezo in utero, being born with latent biotic potential. It was only when they received secondary exposure to element zero at the age of fourteen that biotic abilities began to manifest. Fast forward three years, and Shepard is “officially” detected as biotic and outfitted with L3 implants at the age of seventeen. Upon enlisting at eighteen, it’s completely possible that Shepard chose not to develop their biotic abilities as an Adept, Vanguard, or Sentinel in the Alliance. Yet, they are still capable of biotic abilities  ( ie. Barrier, Throw, Lift, Stasis, etc. ). This explains how a Soldier / Infiltrator / Engineer Shepard can use biotic abilities in ME1.

With ME2, Shepard is given a new biotic implant, an L5 that is one of three variants. My guess is that Shepard’s combat style is determined by their implant while they’re fighting for their life aboard the Lazarus Research Station. An L5n-implanted Shepard finds themself capable of charging across the battlefield, while an L5x-implanted Shepard discovers their ability to generate a singularity. If they’re not fitted with one of those two implants, then that leaves the other four classes with their own abilities, and Shepard still being able to generate mass effect fields  ( for the sake of bonus powers for Soldier / Infiltrator / Engineer ). 

This continues on into Mass Effect 3, only that Shepard is stuck with the implant they received from the Lazarus Project, but because of just how powerful a biotic Shepard is, they’re still capable of abilities such as: Reave, Flare, Slam, and others. As Kaidan states in the Citadel DLC, he worked to learn how to Reave, meaning it’s more than possible for Shepard to learn other abilities. 

I’ve just about tapped out everything I had for this headcanon, even going further than expected to bring up those extra details about the facial scarring and how Shepard can still use biotic abilities as a non-biotic class. I know this was a long read, and if you’d like to share your thoughts or opinions, I’d love to hear them! ^^

#{ * ✧° ⋆ } || headcanons. #long post // #|| YELLS. #|| I HAVE WORKED ON THIS ALL FREAKING DAY. #|| 12+ HOURS #|| i'm so tired lmfao. #|| i didn't mean to go on as extensively as i did initially but then it just all kinda poured out #|| anyways if you disagree with my headcanons and decide to take it to my inbox in a non-courteous manner you will be blocked