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captainsophiestark · 7 months

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Always Be Prepared

Poe Dameron x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2023!

Fandom: Star Wars

Day 21 Prompt: "Just in case this doesn't work."

Summary: Poe and his SO are supposed to be completing a simple, subtle reconnaissance mission, but a complication might make the 'subtle' part challenging.

Word Count: 1,073

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"This is... not good."

My boyfriend, Poe Dameron, and I stood shoulder to shoulder, tucked into our hiding spot as we watched First Order troops crawl all over the ship we were supposed to be escaping on. We'd come to this world on an intelligence gathering mission. Unfortunately for us, we apparently hadn't gone completely unnoticed.

Poe shrugged, nudging his shoulder against mine. "I don't know, it could be worse. We could've been in the ship when they swarmed it."

I huffed a laugh. "I guess that's true. So what do we do now?"

"Hmm. Did you see any other ships around here that we could take off with instead?"

"Not unless you count the ships the First Order came in on. And somehow I don't think we're gonna have much luck taking one of those."

"Then we need a distraction. Something big enough to draw them away from our ship, so big that we actually have half a shot at getting past those troopers."

Poe and I hummed in thought, each scanning our surroundings and staring off into space to try to get some inspiration. We'd spent enough time studying maps of this place and actually combing through it in the past few hours that if there was anything to be done, we should've been able to figure it out.

My eyes wandered over the door we'd just come from, leading to the heart of the building, including its power core.

A crazy, stupid, terrible idea hit me like lightning. I turned to Poe and found him staring back, the same spark of insanity I'd fallen in love with glimmering behind his eyes.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked, a manic grin growing slowly on his face. I shook my head.

"I kind of hate to say this, but yeah, I think I am."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

A better, less dangerous idea, I thought, but didn't say it out loud. Poe and I had done and survived all kinds of crazy things in our time with the Resistance, both together and apart. If we'd made it this far, then odds were good that we'd keep making it. Right?

As one, we turned and headed in the opposite direction from our ship, back into the heart of the facility we'd stolen information from. With the discovery of our ship, security had surely been tightened, but we still made it to our target.

The building's energy core hummed before us like a giant glowing weak point. If someone were to blow it up, they'd certainly cause a distraction worthy of attention from a bunch of First Order stormtroopers.

"You know, I feel like it's concerning that we're so in sync about stuff like this," I said as Poe and I moved around the room, quickly identifying weak points where we could do the most damage with just a few charges.

"I think we should be more concerned about why you bring explosive charges with you every time we go on a mission."

I shrugged. "It's working out for us so far, isn't it? You never know when a fast and easy sabotage method might come in handy in our line of work."

"I... guess I can't argue with that," said Poe with a chuckle. We worked together to place the charges, then I hooked up a remote detonator while Poe watched the door. Once everything was set, I gave him a thumbs up and went to meet him by the door. We ducked and dodged through the ever-increasing security measures, thankfully, finally making it back to our hiding spot in front of our ship.

It seemed like another group or two of storm troopers had made their way over, and I knew it was only a matter of time until they started expanding their search radius. It wouldn't take them long to find Poe and I if we didn't do something soon.

"Alright, should we go for it?" I asked, holding the detonator up in question to Poe. Suddenly, this plan felt a lot riskier than before we'd actually been ready to implement it.

"Hold on, one more thing first."

With that, he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him. He kissed me, hard, and after a second's surprise I melted into him, kissing him back just as hard. After a few long, savored moments, Poe pulled away, leaving me a little breathless as I subconsciously trailed after him. He grinned.

"Just in case this doesn't work," he said by way of explanation. I just smiled and shook my head.

"Get ready to run to the ship and go like hell, Flyboy. Once I press this button, it's mostly on you to get us out of here. I'll watch our backs."

Poe winked at me, and I smiled back at him. I took a deep breath, trying to steel myself as best I could, then pushed the button on the detonator.

A moment later, an explosion rocked the building. All the stormtroopers in front of us dropped what they were doing to look up in shock, and as the chain reaction of the explosion continued, they started shouting and rushing towards the building to try to do something. As a result, our ship was left almost completely unguarded.

In perfect sync, Poe and I took off running. I let him get a bit ahead of me, then turned as I ran, ready to shoot at anyone who tried to stop our escape.

Lucky for us, the distraction had worked even better than planned. With a First Order facility literally going up in smoke, even the few people left on the other ships in the yard were too distracted to notice Poe and I taking off until it was basically too late to stop us.

Once we made it to Hyperspace headed back for Resistance HQ, I let myself relax all the way. I put a hand on Poe's shoulder and kissed him on the cheek, then flopped back in my seat to watch the stars streak by.

"Nice work," I sighed. "We should start giving classes on pulling off insane shit like that."

"I hate to break it to you, but we're not out of the woods yet, sweetheart."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"One of us still has to explain the mess we left behind us to General Organa."

"Not it!"

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

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury

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agentrouka-blog · 8 months

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Rouka Reads: The World Of Ice And Fire - 2. The Coming Of The First Men

Preface

1 - The Dawn Age

The comfy world of the branch-swinging, barrow-building giants and their arch enemies, the face-carving, skinchanging, arrow-shooting children of the forest is about to be disrupted.

But how?

According to the most well-regarded accounts from the Citadel, anywhere from eight thousand to twelve thousand years ago, in the southernmost reaches of Westeros, a new people crossed the strip of land that bridged the narrow sea and connected the eastern lands with the land in which the children and giants lived.

GRRM, are you KIDDING me? (Hello, First Men.)

How many times are we hit over the head with the idea that the Wall itself and the Stark line is 8,000 years old?

The Others are as dead as the children of the forest, gone eight thousand years. -- AGOT, Catelyn I

The Wall has stood for what, eight thousand years? -- AGOT, Eddard I

The Others are only a story, a tale to make children shiver. If they ever lived at all, they are gone eight thousand years. - AGOT, Jon VII

The Long Night has come before. Oh, eight thousand years is a good while, to be sure … -- AGOT, Jon VIII

[...] and all the Starks going back eight thousand years. -- ACOK, Bran III

[...] the mighty Eddard Stark, of a line eight thousand years old . . . -- ACOK, Sansa IV

For eight thousand years the men of House Stark had [...] -- ASOS, Jon II

The Night's Watch takes no part [...]. For eight thousand years—" -- ASOS, Samwell V

For eight thousand years the men of the Night's Watch have [...] -- ADWD, Jon XI

And NOW Yandel is telling me that there's a casual span of 4,000 years that either did or did not happen before that? Or the number 8,000 is just wrong and everyone and their bastard cousin is just tossing it about for funsies? OH REALLY?

Samwell, make me angry:

The oldest histories we have were written after the Andals came to Westeros. The First Men only left us runes on rocks, so everything we think we know about the Age of Heroes and the Dawn Age and the Long Night comes from accounts set down by septons thousands of years later. There are archmaesters at the Citadel who question all of it. Those old histories are full of kings who reigned for hundreds of years, and knights riding around a thousand years before there were knights. You know the tales, Brandon the Builder, Symeon Star-Eyes, Night's King . . . we say that you're the nine hundred and ninety-eighth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, but the oldest list I've found shows six hundred seventy-four commanders, which suggests that it was written during . . ." "Long ago," Jon broke in. "What about the Others?" (AFFC, Samwell I)

I swear on my breakfast mango, this timeline violence will answer to justice one day. And if Jon Snow interrupts another rant by my favorite nerd about to shine some light on this mess, I will stab him again.

So from now on: House Stark, a dynasty approximately several thousand years old. Possibly. But potentially not! Who knows! Not me!

It was here that the First Men came into Dorne via the Broken Arm, which was not yet broken.

Gee, I wonder what happened to that piece of geography.

Why these people left their homelands is lost to all knowing, but when they came, they came in force.

Actually, I really do wonder what prompted this migration. Just running out of space in Essos? Population explosion? Escaping conflict?

Thousands entered and began to settle the lands, and as the decades passed, they pushed farther and farther north. Such tales as we have of those migratory days are not to be trusted, for they suggest that, within a few short years, the First Men had moved beyond the Neck and into the North. Yet, in truth, it would have taken decades, even centuries, for this to occur.

Odd conflict to introduce out of nowhere. I suppose "tales not to be trusted" is the key information here, then, since he doesn't elaborate on those stories at all. Thanks, GRRM, I was not at all aware that there may be SLIGHT INCONSISTENCIES in your ancient lore.

Absolutely primed to believe that we are going to discover some Big Historical Lies with plot relevance in the next books. I swear.

Now give me something reliable to work with.

What does seem to be accurate from all the tales, however, is that the First Men soon came to war with the children of the forest.

Of course. :(

Unlike the children, the First Men farmed the land and raised up ringforts and villages.

Sounds cosy enough.

And in so doing, they took to chopping down the weirwood trees, including those with carved faces, and for this, the children attacked them, leading to hundreds of years of war.

It's interesting that all accounts agree that the direct violence was instigated by the Children. Was there no communication beforehand? Warnings, ultimatums?

Also where were the giants in all this? Just staying out of the way minding their own business?

The hunters among the children—their wood dancers—became their warriors as well, [...]

Dance as a metaphor for violent conflict #361. Arya vibes.

but for all their secret arts of tree and leaf, they could only slow the First Men in their advance. The greenseers employed their arts, and tales say that they could call the beasts of marsh, forest, and air to fight on their behalf: direwolves and monstrous snowbears, cave lions and eagles, mammoths and serpents, and more.

Once again I wonder how happy the animals were to participate in this, given the example of Varamyr.

But the First Men proved too powerful, and the children are said to have been driven to a desperate act.

Uh oh.

Legend says that the great floods that broke the land bridge that is now the Broken Arm and made the Neck a swamp were the work of the greenseers, who gathered at Moat Cailin to work dark magic. Some contest this, however: the First Men were already in Westeros when this occurred, and stemming the tide from the east would do little more than slow their progress. Moreover, such power is beyond even what the greenseers are traditionally said to have been capable of … and even those accounts appear exaggerated. It is likelier that the inundation of the Neck and the breaking of the Arm were natural events, possibly caused by a natural sinking of the land. What became of Valyria is well-known, and in the Iron Islands, the castle of Pyke sits on stacks of stone that were once part of the greater island before segments of it crumbled into the sea.

Okay:

Considering the unlikelihood of The Doom being a natural disaster, I vote Dark Magic. Moat Cailin would have been built much later though the name "moat" suggests a relationship between this event and the creation/location of the castle. I was going to mock them forgetting that new settlers could arrive on boats but given the effort of building a fleet that size (hello, Nymeria), I see their point.

Hardhome, 600 years ago. The first time the region beyond the Wall had a real city developing. And it goes kaboom with such violence, the place is still considered cursed today. COTF, I want to talk.

Erosion in Pyke? Really? Yandel, stop trying to distract me.

So, did it help? Maybe? You'd think a large scale geographic alteration would motivate the First Men to take them seriously.

Regardless, the children of the forest fought as fiercely as the First Men to defend their lives. Inexorably, the war ground on across generations, until at last the children understood that they could not win. The First Men, perhaps tired of war, also wished to see an end to the fighting. The wisest of both races prevailed, and the chief heroes and rulers of both sides met upon the isle in the Gods Eye to form the Pact.

Nope. Still took them all ages to sit down together.

Anyway, let's have a quick look how this stacks up against the version of events told to Bran in the main series:

“But some twelve thousand years ago, the First Men appeared from the east, crossing the Broken Arm of Dorne before it was broken. They came with bronze swords and great leathern shields, riding horses. No horse had ever been seen on this side of the narrow sea. No doubt the children were as frightened by the horses as the First Men were by the faces in the trees. As the First Men carved out holdfasts and farms, they cut down the faces and gave them to the fire. Horror-struck, the children went to war. The old songs say that the greenseers used dark magics to make the seas rise and sweep away the land, shattering the Arm, but it was too late to close the door. The wars went on until the earth ran red with blood of men and children both, but more children than men, for men were bigger and stronger, and wood and stone and obsidian make a poor match for bronze. Finally the wise of both races prevailed, and the chiefs and heroes of the First Men met the greenseers and wood dancers amidst the weirwood groves of a small island in the great lake called Gods Eye. (AGOT, Bran VII)

Seems Luwin read the same sources as Yandel, but he does not believe in being fexible with the timeline. Nothing but solid numbers for our maester.

Now about that Pact. Yandel?

Giving up all the lands of Westeros save for the deep forests, the children won from the First Men the promise that they would no longer cut down the weirwoods. All the weirwoods of the isle on which the Pact was forged were then carved with faces so that the gods could witness the Pact, and the order of green men was made afterward to tend to the weirwoods and protect the isle. With the Pact, the Dawn Age of the world drew to a close, and the Age of Heroes followed.

They divided up the land and made peace. I bet that was just about as easy and fast as it is implied here! :)

How does Luwin tell it?

“There they forged the Pact. The First Men were given the coastlands, the high plains and bright meadows, the mountains and bogs, but the deep woods were to remain forever the children’s, and no more weirwoods were to be put to the axe anywhere in the realm. So the gods might bear witness to the signing, every tree on the island was given a face, and afterward, the sacred order of green men was formed to keep watch over the Isle of Faces. “The Pact began four thousand years of friendship between men and children. In time, the First Men even put aside the gods they had brought with them, and took up the worship of the secret gods of the wood. The signing of the Pact ended the Dawn Age, and began the Age of Heroes.” (AGOT, Bran VII)

Once again, Luwin doesn't truck with that "we can't be sure" new age-y doubtful nonsense about the timeline. Four. Thousand. Years. Of friendship. Jot that down.

According to him, that friendship ending coincided roughly with the emerging of House Stark, the Watch and the Wall (if they are 8 millenia old) - but more significantly with a new wave of migration. Much more violent and much quicker than the one before. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Timeline shenanigans aside, it seems that the main message here is that the First Men and the Children could have sat down to make peace a whole lot sooner if they hadn't decided on killing each other right away. Seems like this extended bloodshed, as much as anything else, may have contributed to their "long dwindling".

Or, you know, it's all lies and this entire book is designed to drive me to madness. We'll see!

****

Now about that island:

Whether the green men still survive on their isle is not clear although there is the occasional account of some foolhardy young riverlord taking a boat to the isle and catching sight of them before winds rise up or a flock of ravens drives him away. The nursery tales claiming that they are horned and have dark, green skin is a corruption of the likely truth, which is that the green men wore green garments and horned headdresses.

Or foolhardy young Reeds.

What, if any, is the relationship between these folks and Bloodraven in his subterranean weirwood chateau?

And why does this island have weird parallels with the Quiet Isle and the island at Queenscrown?

And is this order of unicolored guardianship a spiritual predecessor of the Night's Watch?

Do they have families and kids taking over regularly, or is it the same guys still serving there?

I am confident that this book will answer none of my questions. <3

****

Next up: The Age of Heroes!

#rouka reads #the world of ice and fire #long post #first men #asoiaf history #children of the forest

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cannibal-wings · 2 months

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WIP Wednesday For You Pay the Cost I'm currently working on the Méndez boss fight. Here are two little snippets from it. This is probably the most rough I've ever posted. Usually my WIP Wednesday stuff has gone through a bit of editing, but these chunks haven't. They're as close to raw as they can get. Currently the fight is at 3K words, and I'm expecting another 2K at least, since I haven't even hit phase two yet. Anyways, enjoy! I'm off to work. (Update might not be next week, with the holidays this weekend, and I'm hosting, claiming my days off, my time to write will be limited. I wouldn't be surprised if the update drops late next week or early the week after)

“Be careful,” Ashley said behind him. It was clear that she had picked up on his unease as well.

“I always am,” he said but that didn’t seem to have the effect he wanted. He supposed his arm in a sling was proof enough that just being careful wasn’t all he needed to do. The movement to Leon’s right was so sudden and explosive that he hardly had time to turn his head. His body was hit, hard, enough to throw him against the side rail and snap it. The momentum carried him across the open space and he hit the concrete floor below with force. Leon would have cried out in pain if the wind hadn’t been kicked from his lungs.

He rolled several times before he came to a stop face down. He lay there motionless, trying to force his lungs to remember how to breathe. His eyes were watering and his vision was white with pain. Finally, he drew a gasp, then another, like a fish out of water. Something off to his right hit the floor as well, it was heavy, and gave no cry of pain. It wasn’t Ashley. Leon pulled his good arm up underneath him and pushed. Slowly he got himself to his knees and looked over. It was Méndez. He turned so he was facing him, his whole body was still shaking with pain. When he looked up at the where he was, he saw a hole had been busted through the wooden wall. That man wasn’t human, that was for certain. There was no way someone could ram him through a solid wood wall with enough force to break metal and likely bone. Leon carefully felt around his ribs but he couldn’t tell if the pain there was from the giant fight, the bull man’s hammer, or the various other times he had been thrown around today.

Méndez started to walk towards him, slowly, in a manner not unlike something that had cornered its prey. “Little Protector, you have forced my hand.”

Leon was still struggling to process his own bodies movements; words were lost on him. But he heard Ashley call out from above, she was still near the walkway. “Leon! Oh my god, are you ok?”

At the sound of her voice Méndez turned to look at her. “I feel I must apologize, for what I am about to do to your Protector.” At that Leon shook his head and reached for his SG. He was able to get two good shots off. The first one hit Méndez in the back, he turned to look over at Leon and the second caught his chest. Fatal shots to someone who was human. “Cease your pointless struggling. Your body has already begun the change, abandon who you were and accept the will of our God.”

“You’re a shitty missionary you know that?” Leon managed to say between gasps of air. Méndez reached down to pick up his hat, it had fallen when he rammed into Leon from above.

Mendez began his approach again. “Lord Saddler wants you alive. But I think he’s making a mistake. You now share our blood, you have been bestowed our gifts, but you fight us every step of the way. You are unwilling and unworthy, and for that I must destroy you. Surely our Lord shall understand, and the Lady will be provided with a new Protector, one who understands its place.”

Leon didn’t like the sound of that. He shot three more times. It didn’t look like Méndez felt a single one. Leon might as well have been shooting him with BBs. “Oh almighty! Grant me the strength to fix your mistake!”

“Son of a bitch,” Leon muttered under his breath. He was going to have to fight, and the odds were looking less in his favor than normal. He quickly scanned the room for anything he could use to his advantage. This was a meat processing house after all, there had to be something he could use. He spotted a machine, a hoist, for hauling the carcasses up onto the tables, it looked like it was gas powered. Sure enough, there were barrels not too far away labeled “fuel”. Leon forced himself to his feet and shouted up at the walkway, “Ashley! Run!”

“Ok!” Her voice seemed hesitant, but her actions weren’t. With one last look down at Leon she sprinted for the stairs that led to the door to the outside.

Once he saw her orange jacket vanish through the door, he kicked the barrel over and shoved it towards Méndez. It started its roll towards the man and Leon didn’t have time to come up with anything clever to say besides, “Hasta luego!” He shot and the barrel exploded upon impact.

That wasn’t the only barrel of fuel, Leon didn’t notice that others had been stored nearby until he heard them go off. Four more loud bangs sounded off, followed by intense flames and clouds of thick, dark smoke. Another set of explosions pounded in from the opposite side, gasoline splattering the walls and pillars of the room. Everything was quickly caught in an intense blaze. Leon shielded his face with his good arm until the explosions ceased. When he lowered it he couldn’t see what was left of Méndez through the thick smoke. His next move was to try to find his own way out.

He looked behind him but there wasn’t a door, just a staircase to another walkway. The only door seemed to be behind the wall of fire he had just created. “Great,” Leon muttered. He solved one problem with another. He would have to run through the fire to get out. Not ideal. It could very well kill him. He gathered himself and started to move towards the fire when something stopped him, a chill ran down his spine despite the heat. Something else was moving in the haze of the flames.

Leon could hear a snapping sound, like breaking branches, followed by the wet sound of meat being torn apart. Again, that sound hit his ears, then he recognized it, bone snapping. It cracked and popped, blending in with the wood that was burning all around them. Through the fire he could see something twitching, then jerking upwards. With each pop it grew taller and it swayed back and forth on what Leon could only assume were legs. Then the whole figure turned towards Leon and began to advance towards him.

Méndez stepped into view. His upper body had become separated from his lower half. It sat on an elongated, exposed spine. Each set of vertebrae now sported sharp insectoid legs that wiggled independently from each other. It reminded him of a centipede. Leon took a step back, then another. “The fuck?” Méndez grew closer still, he didn’t seem disturbed by his body’s sudden mutation.

“God, I thank you for your gift,” Méndez said as he calmly strode towards Leon. Two bulbus growths on his back burst at once, spraying fluid as his body lurched and rolled. Two more appendages sprang out of his back, insectoid again, long, thick, with five joints. Corse hair and spines glinted fresh in the firelight. The tips were curved and sharp. No doubt they were designed to pierce. The limbs were dragging on the floor as Méndez gathered himself, strong spine pulling his upper body and the new arms back up to their full height.

Leon was already backing up. His claws and carapace suddenly seemed a lot less threatening. He spread his mandibles wide and hissed before he said, “You wanna get ugly? Let’s get ugly!” Bold words from a frightened man.

Méndez once more didn’t seem impressed by his threat display or the words that followed. He simply laughed and said, “I knew God would see my side, I knew he would agree with me. You will not live to regret your choice to turn your back on us. Now, behold the miracle!”

Méndez seemed to be getting frustrated. He lashed out more desperately than before. The erratic movements were harder to predict, harder to dodge and Leon caught one to the side that flung him against the wall. The air wasn’t knocked from his lungs this time and he recovered quickly. He quickly shot a few times to distract the monster as he fully got back to his feet. Sweat was running down his back, or at least, Leon hoped it was sweat. He wiped his face, somehow the carapace on his hand was cool despite the heat around him.

“We share the same blood,” Méndez said as he turned to make his way over to where he had tossed Leon, “why do you resist?”

“I’m not answering that, there’s nothing I could say to a man who’s lost himself.” Leon shot again, this time more bullets hit than missed. He was getting more confident and comfortable aiming one handed. “I don’t share your blood either,” Leon spat. He could feel Méndez’s gaze on him. “D-Don’t look at me! I’m not like you, I’ll never be like you! Some sort of monster!” He flared his jaws and said, “You freaks can mess my face up, change my legs, my arms, I don’t care! I won’t be like you, it won’t work.”

“And that, Little Protector, is why I’ve decided to exterminate you.” In a movement faster than what Leon could see, Méndez swiped and caught Leon off balance. He moved in and grabbed the other man with his human hands. He had long, sharp, talons that didn’t struggle in piercing between Leon’s neck plates. He squirmed and struggled in his grasp. “To think you could be this foolish, to reject a gift as wonderful as this!”

Leon looked at Méndez, if there was a good man in there, he was lost now. That Leon was certain of. He couldn’t reach his knife with his injured arm, nor could he get it with his free hand. He kicked out and slashed at Méndez’s chest with his feet claws. The pressure on his neck tightened and he hissed in pain not intimidation. His heart was beating faster now, he needed a way out and fast. He tried again with the claws on his feet. He managed to rake them across his chest but despite digging in deep Méndez didn’t let go. He moved his hand with the SG just enough to line up with Méndez’s leg. He closed his eyes and prayed he didn’t miss. He squeezed the trigger and shot three times, his knee buckled and Leon felt himself drop to the floor.

He landed and scooted back as Méndez fell against the upper walkway. He roared and looked over at him. Leon felt a chill run through him. Those insect arms were a lot longer than they appeared. Mendez flung them out and they came crashing down on him like trees. There wasn’t any space to dodge, his back was against the wall, he had cornered himself again.

Leon didn’t even have time to swear. He raised his good arm and closed his eyes. Ready to hear the crack of carapace and then nothing as he was crushed under the weight of Méndez’s arms. The searing pain was just what Leon expected, only it hadn’t come from his arm, but his sides. Both sides of his body flashed hot with pain, just below his ribcage, as something split his skin and burst forth from his body.

Leon dropped to one knee and cried out. He wasn’t dead, but he sure felt he should be. His body spasmed. His brain was registering resistance on what felt like an arm, but not the arm he was used to. Through watering eyes, he looked up and saw limbs he didn’t recognize. They were holding off Méndez’s claw, which was far too close to his face for his own comfort.

Leon knew they were his immediately. He didn’t even have to look to see where they were connected, he just knew. He had two more arms now, and they were in the process of saving his life. His body shuddered and the new limbs crawled further from his body. With each push they grew longer and stronger. Leon watched as a hand formed at the end of each one. The fingers that unraveled looked like a human’s for a brief moment, before the pointer and middle fingers fused into a long blade like claw. He pushed back hard against Méndez and was surprised to find the monster giving ground to him.

Leon screamed as his body gave one last push and the arms fully extended out of his body. He stood and shoved the limb off and ducked to the side. He took a brief moment to catch his breath and look at the two new arms by his side. They were thin, more like insect limbs than human, but they had the correct number of human joints, a clear shoulder, or pivot point against his body, then an elbow and wrist. The hands weren’t human anymore, but they did have three fingers. That, Leon decided, was enough to hold a shotgun with.

Blood and fluid leaked down Leon’s sides from spot where the new limbs had burst forth, but already the pain was dulling. That healing factor was kicking in again. Leon holstered his handgun and moved for the shotgun. Sure enough, the new arm responded just like his old, injured one. It found its place on the front of the shotgun, the long blade like claw was easy to rest the gun against and the remaining fingers held it in place.

He moved in on Méndez, firing as he walked. The Merchant hadn’t been kidding, this gun packed a hell of a punch, but he hardly felt it against his shoulder. He fired three shots in rapid succession into the spine and Méndez finally howled in pain. He curled in on himself, human arms wrapping around his exposed spine. When he looked at Leon there was pure hatred burning in his eye. “Why? Why has God given you, a heretic, a gift? Have I been betrayed? Was my judgment not true?” Leon didn’t have the answers that the monster needed. He just shot again and again, pumping him full of lead. Méndez swept out again with the long piercing limb. This time Leon jumped on top of it, his dexterous toes wrapping around the limb and he followed the swing as it moved him closer to the upper walkway. He pushed off and jumped to the upper floor in one smooth movement. This time when he spread his jaws and hissed Méndez flinched. “Maybe it’s time to take this “Little Protector” seriously!”

#WIP Wednesday #You Pay the Cost #Resident Evil #Leon Kennedy #Plaga Leon AU #Verdugo Leon AU #Resident Evil 4

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another-clive-blog · 5 months

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clive impalement basically (plus anemia-induced delirium)

You sure have, buddy !! God, this is hurting my soul :') (Not the fanart itself, it's a good fanart that looks awesome !!)

I tried to write a little something, not sure about the quality ?? It's hard to capture the feeling of dying from blood loss ! Also I tried to match your vibes a bit, especially at the end ^^'

TRIGGER WARNINGS are impalement, blood, injury, and uh. Not a graphic description of injury but there is a pretty clear metaphor.

Clive gripped tightly the cold metal, as if he was scared of falling otherwise. Far below, at the feet of the mobile fortress, was screaming and burning London, a few flames refusing to go out amidst the ashes.

Clive couldn't see the city : he could only see his failure, Bill Hawks slipping through his fingers, his whole fortress and plan self-destructing.

"No- It won't end this way !!" There had to be something left to do, anything. Maybe he could fix the generator, stabilize the fortress, keep it from breaking apart-

A loud snap. Clive startled, staggering back to better see the cause of this concerning noise- and the cause of the concerning noise, a tube of some sort, came swinging down at him. Clive didn't have any time to react and try to brace for impact : the tube hit him in the head, and the impact was so brutal that he lost his balance and fell back.

Cold metal under him. An explosion of pain. A wet sound.

It took a few disorienting, agonizing seconds for Clive to figure out what had just happened : firstly because he was now laying on the ground among literal debris, secondly because one of said debris was sticking out of his chest.

It wasn't a flattering thing to admit, but Clive's first reaction was to think that this pointy metal stuff had nothing to do on him, and he therefore grabbed it with the intent of throwing it away. He didn't go through with it of course, because the second his hand closed on the metal he felt something... wet on his palm : upon closer inspection, he noticed that his hand and the metal were now stained red, which shouldn't be the case. Metal didn't bleed, because this was absolutely blood, he knew what it looked like after all, and he also knew metal didn't usually have blood.

Only then did he become aware of the excruciating pain he was in.

He hadn't noticed at first : the initial collision with the tube had been brutal, so it made sense for him to hurt. However, the pain had now propagated to his whole body, lighting every single nerve in fire : it was especially bad in his chest, a minefield of pain just waiting to explode. His chest hurt- it hurt so bad. It hurt almost as much as that time he had inhaled smoke and couldn't stop coughing, when he was thirteen and his whole world had gone up in flames. Except that it wasn't smoke this time- just a giant metal tube piercing his chest, wreaking part of his lungs, keeping him from drawing another labored, long, longed for breath.

Some things never changed. His parents had died that day, and now he- he would-

He would not be awaiting death here. He was more than a tragic story, an ironic retelling of the same sad old tale- he was a person, and he'd keep living as such.

His hands were trembling as he raised them, gripping the metal pipe : he examined it, ignoring the warm liquid streaming down his chin whenever he'd cough. Well, this thing wasn't moving anytime soon : it was wider at its base than at the part sticking out, which meant that he couldn't just pull it out and go about his day. He'd have to- uh- what- have to-

Stand up. Then take it off. Yeah.

Why was his mind so foggy all of a sudden ?

Clive shook his head, hissing in pain as the movement amplified the feeling of his insides being torn apart. It was best to- uh- yeah. What was the plan again ?

"Okay, here's the plan : I'm going to help you stand up, and then we'll wait for the professor to return," Claire said firmly, and Clive only nodded. Wait, when had she gotten here ? Had he fallen asleep ? Passed out ?

He may have passed out actually, because the pain was increasing just as his blood flow was decreasing.

Claire gently grabbed his arms. Apparently, the- thing he was impaled on, couldn't be moved, which meant that he had to be moved. Without it. And it was fine, really, it would be easier to tend to his injury without some pipe obstructing the way, but Claire seemed worried : she kept muttering something about blood loss and the professor coming back quickly, whatever she meant.

She wasn't making a lot of sense, and Clive was tired."Hey- Hey !" Claire snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Stay with me, okay ? I need you to work on getting up because I'm not doing all of this alone."

Clive laughed- he wasn't sure why, actually. Probably because her face, a mix of confusion and concern, was an hilarious sight. She looked stupid. "You look stupid," he said, and giggled some more.

"That's rich coming from you," she said, looking upset- had he irritated her ? It would be fun and stupid. Look at her, she's upset about him insulting her rather than everything going to sh- "Alright," Claire said, "Lean on me."

Uh ? Oh. Hey, he was fairly certain he was impaled just a minute ago ! Oh well, it was probably nothing. There was nothing left after all, just a big old hole on his chest. He should poke it.

"Do not touch your injury !" Claire snapped at him, pulling a bit harder on the arm she was holding to help him up : the movement made him stagger, and it took a couple seconds to regain his balance.

Alright, alright, none of that. It was itchy, though. "It's itchy," he said.

"No it's not."

"Yes it is," he said, because this was his injury and he knew very well what it felt like. "Probably because of the worms trying to crawl out. They make it all fuzzy."

"The wo- oh." Claire said unhelpfully, before falling silent. She looked paler, all of a sudden, refusing to glance at Clive. "The worms- uh, the worms are good actually. They're trying to stop the itching."

Clive thought about it, then thought some more, and decided that it probably made sense. He wouldn't take out the worms then. "They'll have to work hard to heal me, though," he said about the worms.

Claire wasn't talking about them. "I don't think they will be able to."

#I wasn't sure whether to keep going or not on this tbh #But I liked that ending point so I'm keeping it #Anyway I hope you enjoyed that short thing =)#clive dove #Professor layton and the unwound Future #Professor layton and the lost future #My writing #Ask #TW : blood #TW : injury #TW : violence

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killmeifimwrongblog · 1 year

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Sooooooo I don't normally post much on here because I am mostly private with my opinions, but... Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles had me hypnotized for about three months now, and since then, I have consumed every morsel of content I could get on them like a ravenous wolf.

Now one of the things that had most of my attention were the AUs where peepaw Leo comes back to the past with Casey.... like omo, wmas, mnmc, etc. and I've been having thoughts on that myself ... thoughts I need to get out somewhere or my head is going to explode ... so now you will have to deal with that sorry.

Anyway... I am not a writer

I am not a good writer so there won't be any fanfiction for my ... let's call it AU ... because I'm not good at English since I'm from Germany so you will probably only get this giant, incoherent block of text from me and maybe some art (which I'm also not good at) 😐

Sooo here goes ... my idea was kinda 29 year old leonardo, who is still adjusting to a robot arm that he had for about a year and just lost his twin brother two weeks ago, gets sent back into the past by Mikey.

It wasn't some grand bid for peace or freedom from the Krang, it also wasn't a last-ditch effort for salvation at least not yet ... simply said it was selfishness on Mikey's part.

He had just lost his second brother to this war and was still reeling, when the bunker, the resistance had taken over, was attacked.

And Mikey.... well he had enough!

He felt for Leo's ninpo, which was rapidly closing in on him, and made his decision then and there. He refused to lose another brother.

Donatello and he had talked about it often ... the possibilities of time travel, the intricacies, anything and everything that could go wrong, and even who would be a good candidate to go.

Mikey knew it would cost him everything, he also knew Leo would hate himself for not seeing Mikey's struggles and not doing anything about them but it had to be done. He had to do something.

Because he could feel it ... the earth was being drained of all of its resources and even if they won, even if they were lucky enough to beat the Krang... the earth was dying and nobody knew if it would be able to sustain the survivors.

So he started the ritual to open a time gate. He needed to do it before Leonardo arrived at his room because if he let him speak if he let him say even one word he knew he would falter knew he would let himself be persuaded to stop and think about it, and then it would be already too late.

He couldn't let that happen, couldn't let Leonardo be a voice of "reason" or they would lose.

So when Leo stepped into the room trying to get Mikey to move, he was met with the sight of his brother glowing like a supernova and falling apart at the seams.

Then one of Mikey's chains wrapped around him and before he could make even one sound he was flung into the portal that was coming into existence behind Mikey.

The last thing he sees is his little brother disintegrating, disappearing in an explosion of glowing particles. His only thoughts being:

No, please, not again not him I don't want to be alone.

But Mikey was gone and Leo was hurtling through the colorful space of the space-time continuum at increasingly faster speeds.

What Mikey hadn't anticipated though was Leo carrying 6-year-old Casey junior, in a sling made out of his scarf, bound to the front of his plastron.

That little mistake made a really big difference in where and when he was about to land. So curled protectively around little Casey he shot out of the time stream, landing uncomfortably on his back ... somewhere.

After getting some air back into his lungs and making sure Casey was unharmed he started to look around trying to find something to find out where exactly he was and thaaat's the statute of liberty ... so New York okay, cool they had taken over a military bunker somewhere in North Dakota but now he was back in New York which did not make sense since the last time he had seen New York it looked like a warzone and the statue of liberty didn't have a head and everything was covered in pink, gooey krang stuff.

Yet here he was in New York clean and loud and as bustling as ever.

Leo was losing his mind without thinking he went out of the alleyway, he had landed in, to the next best kiosk he could find ignoring the stare and the gasps from the pedestrians around him he grabbed the next best newsletter and stared dumbfounded at the date 6th of September 2008.

Yeah and that's it for now 🤷🏻‍♀️

#rottmnt leo #rottmnt #future leo #i had to wordvomit this out #it was stuck in my head and wouldn't leave me alone #maybe i will write more later #or draw who knows #leo isn't old enough to be a real part of the peepaw brigade yet #Uncle Noel and the Tots

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chris-continues · 2 years

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Iron Man 3- The Suit Save

Iron Man!xyx x GN!reader

@lucicomplexx TYSM FOR HELPING ME COME UP W/ THIS

In which xyx saves you with his suit

Mentions: brief mention of bombing, explosions, danger + violence, arguing, stress, brief mention of panic attacks

I haven’t seen iron man 3 in a hot minute so this is so messy and not super accurate LMAO (this is so rushed I’ll probably edit it later)

“Mr. X what are you going to do about the mandarin?”

“Mr. X!”

“Will you take action?”

A man was up in his space with a camera, asking questions,

Fucking hell-

He leans up towards the phone, making sure it catches every word.

“You know what, fine. Come to me, mandarin, at the off chance you’re a man, here’s my address. 10880 Malibu Point, 90265.”

His hand clasps the phone, throwing it the other way before stepping into his car frustratedly, the press flocking around as he’s driven away.

What a shocker that his stress isn’t completely gone by the time he gets home, not even when he arrives home he sees you. Especially as of recently, he wasn’t doing well. He was having lunch, a kid asked him about… the attack on New York and he just- god. He found out it was a panic attack from his AI, but it was unbelievable.

He didn’t want to think about it too hard.

He also didn’t want to think about how he saw you with some business man, talking to him alone- god.

On top of that, he was late for date night and ate without you. So yeah, he was a huge mess while he did research in his lab.

His research rattled off little facts and results he pieced together from the local bombing the Mandarin had set by a Chinese theater, to which he examined more, “That’s two military guys. Ever been to Tennessee?” The ai confirmed and accepted his command to travel, before the doorbell rang.

His curiosity was piqued, “Do we have any visitors planned to come here?” He rolled his shoulders while his feet pattered against the floor.

The ai spoke, monotone. “No, sir.”

“Damnit- This is what I get for sharing my address to the public.” He sighed in slight regret to his earlier open, angry nature to fuck with the press.

Brisk walking and the bold patter of footsteps made it to the door as xyx welcomed… a lady. Pretty, brown hair to a bit below her shoulders, and furrowed eyebrows.

“Hi, it’s me, botanist Maya Hansen?” Her voice was as rushed as xyx’s coming to the door, pushing into the room before just almost being hit by your luggage.

“You remember me? From 12 years ago?” Xyx shook his head at her questioning, “Don’t take it personally I don’t even remember what I had for breakfast.”

“Gluten free waffles, sir.” he nodded, “that’s right.”

Maya’s voice came out rushed as another bag fell. “Can we- can we talk somewhere private? This is an important matter”-

“Did we have visitors?”

“Unexpectedly, we do, and doll this is an old friend. If there’s a 12 year old kid in the car I may pass out.”

“Yes there is,” he almost faints, “no he isn’t yours, and hi, it’s nice to meet his partner.”

You turn to look at xyx, “Well isn’t it nice to see one of your ex girlfriends.” Xyx noted you crossing your arms, you definitely weren’t in a good mood after he didn’t trust you with a business partner, “well- it was only one night..” Maya looked away shamefully while xyx tried to make light of the situation.

“Oh yeah, because that’s how you rolled back then.”

“You like your birthday present?”

You looked back to the giant teddy bear. “Yeah, sure, my very normal present.”

“I thought you liked it!”

“Is… this normal?”

Both you and xyx turned back to Maya, “Yes this is normal!”

You both bickered more, before Maya began explaining more about her research.

With xyx turned away from the floor to ceiling windows, Maya was facing them. “Is this normal?.. what-“

Light exploded behind the three of them, with Maya in the back. Before xyx could even think, they were all midair, rubble falling from everywhere.

X summoned the suit, each piece of armor going to you. It dawns upon you almost too late, rocks and dirt flying past your face and in a trance.

“I got you.”

Xyx covered his head when he fell, the ground breaking as the floor broke off into the water. Everything seemed to be collapsing in a panic, until a piece too big seemed to get him when he was in a rough spot. He prepared himself, until-

“I got you first.” With the signature suit on you, the mask opened to show your small smile as you looked down at him.

Even in this small moment of chaos he couldn’t help but gaze at you in admiration and love.

#iron man xyx #bloomic marvel au #blooming panic xyx #bloomic #blooming panic #chris writes #marvel au #xyx bloomic #xyx bp #bp xyx

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jeeperso · 2 years

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D&D Quotes Without Context

Ravenloft edition, Har-Akir arc, part 3

"Well, off to go tomb raiding once more. Let's hope the traps weren't made by a sadist.” “Oh, Nyx. You sweet summer child.”

"The local monsters no better than to attack a Vistani caravan, but we'll be on our own.” “We can make a few examples. They’ll learn about us fast. Just remember to leave a survivor.”

"At least it isn't vorpal rabbits. Stupid idiot just had to use magic to crossbreed rabbits with wolves.” “And that's what hand held explosives are for.”

"Suffer not The Love Guru to live…"

"Fear not children, hope has arrived! Why? Because WE ARE HERE!”

GM: The ogres are now moving in slow motion. OOC: BGM All-Star at .05 speed.

GM: Actually wait not. You catch the guy int he knee. He starts screaming. Edmund: "Ill fix that! I'm a doctor!” Jonni: “Stop crying! We’re rescuing you!”

Poom shoots the non-groveling one with a ray made of clocks. Nyx: ”Ewww, Poom, did you have to rot the ogre? Couldn't you have done some other form of damage so it doesn't explode in a shower of guts when that damaged?” Edmund: ”Apparently Ogres become more juicy with age.... “ Poom: "Only if you store it wrong.”

Jonni stands in mid air. “Here! Let me show you a big … bang… kind of atta… fuck it, fireball!”

“I AM THE GODDES OF HELLFIRE AND MOLASSES! AND I BRING YOU THE GIFT… OF FIRE!”

Gorbash: “It's Ogres, My Great Uncle always said they're often too stupid to realize they're already dead.” Jonni: “They are. Torm the Almost Unbeatable was nearly killed when one kicked him after he cut its head off. That was a good solstice festival.”

“I’d say you can take a bite out of them, but Ogres taste like crap.” Poom: "You have to pickle them first.”

"Easy now... Let me look you over... I think. You have an arrow to the knee.”

Azathoth: "Giant rubies are never a good thing.”

OOC: Oh, shit, it’s Akio Ohtori! Don’t get in any cars with him!

OOC: Put some sand in there. Maybe a helmet made from a skull.

“I, sir, am a Paladin. It is my sworn duty to keep the innocent from harm.” “He is. Trust me. It’s almost gotten us killed.” “Please, all of our virtues or vices have nearly gotten us killed at some point.”

The circus tent that walks like a man's heavy iron tread echoes through the halls.

Edmund: ”Which... might be quite..... Deadly. Assassins are rather known for it. “ Jonni: “I mean, so am I.”

OOC: DREAM WARRIORS ASSEMBLE!

The streets are empty, the buildings are basically empty shells like the set of a stage play. “Is there still booze?”

As you look around, you hear singing in the distance, along with the dragging of something. “Yeah, yeah, creepy dream demon 101.”

"Mouth eyes, cute. I've seen worse in my own nightmares.”

The ruby is gone, in its place is a deck of cards. Gorbash slaps Eddie's hand instinctively.

Poom: "I'm not sure I dream any more so much as have 'enforced family time’."

"Are you guys still in town? What happened?” “Minor delay, unrelated cursed nightmare shit. Nothing you need worry about.” "Right yeah, I forgot you guys are addicted to the side quests. Alright carry on.” “Yeah having a functioning conscience can be inconvenient.”

Jonni: “I think I can see the curvature of time, guys.”

Jonni flies back and does her sexy Identify dance on the wagon.

"DOG! I HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED IN THIS ACCURSED BOTTLE FOR 500 YEARS, I VOWED TO SLAY THE FIRST LIVING BEINGS I SAW WHEN I EXITED AND THAT SHALL BE YOUuuuu…" He lowers his scimiter and looks at Jonni. Then at her bottle. Then he quickly bows.

"I am the duke of boiling rage, hurler of 10,000 curses, collector of 10,00 skulls, who has brought low everyone who has insulted me.” "Your haircut is very fancy!” "Thank you.”

SANDSTORM! OOC: I had that book.

OOC: No fair! I’m using Mon-Ra in Spelljammer! Their the unholy spawn of Mum-Ra and Mon-Starr.

Jonni: “Their last name is ‘Golzana?’ I could have been making fun of that this whole time?!?”

OOC: FUCK THAT! JONNI NEEDS HER EYES FOR LOOKING AT TITTIES!

OOC: Also, bold of you to assume Jonni’s cylindrical shaped vessel has been a bottle.

“Mistress, can I chop this ones hands off? He wont leave my flask alone.” "No. I need my hands. For Reasons!”

Jonni: “Efreet don’t get powers from bottles. They only get into them at all for weird sex stuff.”

#dungeons and dragons #dnd 5e #quotes without context #ravenloft #har-akir #sandman #special guest villain #the corininthian

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gbgamebun · 1 year

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Road to Cream 64 v1 Part 6-3: Vibin' in the Sky

So turns out there's actually gonna be four parts to this. Thanks, Eggy. ANYWAY

youtube

Tall Tall Mountain: Sonic Adventure - Mt. Red: A Symbol of Thrill (Red Mountain) Secret Slide: Mario and Sonic 2014 - Slide (SM64)

Ya know after all these versions, I cannot find a track that better suits TTM better than this. I mean the two levels are kind of similar in structure, minus the random explosions and construction on Red Mountain. Still, can't go wrong with a classic.

The secret area is kind of a weird one. Cause I had originally set the music for the race against Gemerl, since the original version is also this same song. Around the time I was getting to the extra areas, I was hitting the original hard cap on sequence files you could add, which was 50 total. So here I would just end up reusing the race track for the slide since I didn't have much of a choice.

Smaller areas like the secret star levels are like this for the same reason, except for one.

youtube

Tiny-Huge Island (original track): Team Sonic Racing - Lost Palace Actually Used: Sonic Lost World - Juice Archipelago Wiggler Cavern: Sonic Mania - Lava Reef Act 2

The level always had tropical vibes to me, so digging around I had a few in mind. Still trying to find tracks in games I haven't touched, I landed over to TSR and found this. Liked it enough to put it in for a bit and is even in footage I recorded for previews.

Eventually I felt it was a bit too fast paced for the level and ended up swapping it out for something a little less intense. And so back we go to the Lost World pool...Again not a bad track per say, just another instance of me grabbing a song from the game that's basically a Mario game.

Wiggler's Cave being Lava Reef Act 2 was kind of a "ehhh I guess it fits?" moment. I had nothing in mind and was just glancing at what I had put aside to use. In later versions, I would just remove it entirely and just reuse DDD's track cause of that hard limit I mentioned earlier.

youtube

Tick Tock Clock: Sonic Unleashed - Rooftop Run Night

I had ask some people for ideas on what to use for TTC cause it's kind of a unique level type for Sonic. Sure, you had him going through factories or large mechanical structures but nothing like a clock tower.

It's funny cause my mind instantly went to this track but I never considered it at first till someone just went "well why not just use it?" and here we are, simple as that.

youtube

Rainbow Ride: Sonic Runners - End of the Summer

So this is another one of those I had in my mind playing before I even had a chance to implement it into the game itself. It bares repeating, if you haven't had a chance to hear this game's ost, give it a listen. It's real good and it's a damn shame it's all stuck and gone in a gacha game.

I remember this track being part of a special event, no idea if it was ever actually in the sky, but it has that vibe of flying through the sky. Hopping from cloud to cloud, traversing the floating platforms. I just wish the track was like shorter by a minute but I refuse to remove it. It's too perfect to me.

youtube

Princess Secret Slide: Sonic Advance 2 - Leaf Forest (unused)

So this track ended up being used twice: One for the initial splash screen with the giant Mario head, and the track mentioned here. It does become clear that this was meant mostly as a trailer track or even a menu track (or even back when Advance 2 may have been a slower platformer like the first one), it's hard to say but it's really grown on me and I wanted to use it somewhere.

And as mentioned before, this is the only other secret star stage to have its own unique track as I guess I had this in mind for that level rather than the Mario head screen, especially since I would just skip that part in later versions.

youtube

Boss Theme: Sonic Adventure 2 - Master of the Desert (Egg Golem) Actually used: Sonic Mania - Ruby Delusions (Eggman Boss 1)

(Just left a link to the song in the Egg Golem header)

I was kind of shuffling between tracks to see which one I wanted to use. Sonic has a wide range of really good boss tracks so it was just a matter of preference and what games haven't I used. For the time being I went with the first one, since I haven't used many SA2 tracks and it's pretty short.

Eventually I gravitated toward Mania cause it's such a vibe. Sure it's longer and could eat up more space, but suddenly hearing that against King Bob-Omb should let you know what exactly you're in for with this hack. Still the boss track to the latest versions.

youtube

Wing/Vanish Cap: Sonic & Knuckles Collection: Unused Track (Or well was unused)

Had this one in mind for a while cause aside from the allure of it being an unused track, let alone a super sonic unused track, it did kind of fit that sense of majesty with the wing cap. Not so much the vanish cap but they shared the same track so not much choice there (least for now).

For this I actually had to find a rip of the midis from the Sonic & Knuckles PC Collection and use that. Sure, there were other midis in the usual spot, but I thought it felt more appropriate to grab one from an official source since there was actually one I could use. On that same subject...

youtube

Metal Cap: Team Sonic Racing - Team Ultimate: Amy Actually Used: Sonic & Knuckles Collection - Chrome Gadget

Did the same thing as Egg Golem for the TSR track cause of space.

The logic was that this was short and easy to loop plus a nice guitar riff for metal explorin'. Only reason it got replaced was to save up on space so there's another one. Shame, I do enjoy the TSR tracks but I don't think most of them fit the pace of SM64 which I guess makes sense.

I guess to keep things consistent between the cap themes, I chose another midi from the S&K Collection. Chrome Gadget is a bop but still it's just a bit silly in retrospect. Still, I'm happy I got to go ham with the Metal Cap sound bank and those percussion samples.

That just leaves the Eggman specific ones so that'll have to go into Part 4 ->

#super cream 64 #sc64 #road to cream 64 #rom hack #super mario 64 #sonic adventure #sonic and knuckles collection #sonic advance 2 #sonic unleashed #team sonic racing #soundtrack #Youtube

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the-firebird69 · 2 years

Text

Amazonians are considered to be a race that stole from the gods and that was my clan and Kenna's one and right in my front yard is the proof it shouldn't be here

Zues Hera

Actually see something I've had enough this s*** but they were doing work to our stuff is ridiculous I did a maneuver it didn't work at all I can't believe how stupid this s*** is everybody's after me all the ships and everything got gone through and all our people

Mac

The point is we don't really know what we're doing he's kind of right his clan had a system and didn't tell people they've had it for thousands of years and it's centered around him and these people are complete assholes to him and don't know what it does and just keep doing it and doing it he say he thinks this is clan because the computers will get broken out of the ships and other things and they'll go to Titan we'll fight over Titan they'll make robots and they're going to send them to Earth using us and robot people from these boarg ships, now this is a lead and he says they've been stealing from the gods and he said the proof is in his front yard and I've seen it and I've seen what they can do in those ghwb who did an apartment s*** and that new apartment was in there before I could get there even I wasn't sure what happened I thought there was an explosion to the air now come on I'm the head guy I don't know what happened but really they saw it on video and it could have been CGI place her beforehand and blowing up in the air just threaten people no it was to blow the whole area up and clear it all out and George was doing a lot of that stuff so what's the illusion their chunks of stuff everywhere I saw Windows blown out I don't know what the hell's going on all the time for the most part at all and what happened recently was so spooky and gross did they need to be around and for Christ's sake he thought sigourney Weaver's act was awesome okay and it's scary to us that she knows what she's doing sort of and found out she's just following what the ACT is and what she thinks they should do but it was smart cuz they've been listening to Ken and him and will and Bill for Christ's sake words if you come up against an enemy The Superior you follow sop and they developed all that for us and them not just them and you're wrong Cork and your wrong Trump and you made a big mess and you're ruined them and where helpless and they were taking stuff when you agree to it or not they made a bomb themselves and they did it on purpose using a parallel and inverted parallel whatever you want to call it it's stupid what you're saying you probably would have got nowhere but his this guy here wants parallels and things so I don't know you don't know what you're talking about BGA and we know it and you got screwed up in what you're saying and doing and your influenced by Trump and he's wrong all the time and things are getting spoiled and they might be running their plan anyways because they have to our friend here said no they were trying to train the Army and they needed you but so I got to get on this and really it's just going to start a fight he says but it's real cuz they're the amazonians okay they're the Giants in the jungle that's who they're known Mac Daddy

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babyboy-cody · 3 years

Note

Literally your Grayson smut has me GONE 😵‍💫😵‍💫 can I ask for like anything that has to do with Gray fingering reader with his arm across the back of the couch and his lips against your ear with dirty talk???? Love you!

okay you’ve officially KILLED ME 😮‍💨

It had been Kristina and yours idea to have a movie night/fort. While the twins were reluctant, seeing the excitement on their girls’ faces was enough for them to help create the giant fort in the living room. Kristina and Ethan chose their spot on the floor in front of yours and Grayson’s spot on the couch. The four of you had your own assortment of snacks so that there wasn’t the continuous interruption of the movie when one of you needed to get up and get another snack.

The layout of the separate forts were quite simple. For Ethan and Kristina’s fort, couch cushions were placed behind and on either side of them with a large blanket covering the top. The cushions were big enough for them to sit underneath without their heads touching the blanket. Yours and Grayson’s fort had tall cushions on either side with a bigger blanket covering the top, sides, as well as the back of the couch. The lights were all off and the sun had already set - the only source of light being from the huge television hung on the wall above the fireplace.

Halfway through the movie, Grayson had gotten a little bored and started getting distracted by his own thoughts. He subtly turned his head to look down at you, his thoughts suddenly being overcome by you. The soft hues of light coming from the television made you look angelic that it nearly took his breath away. With your beautifully curled eyelashes, the soft slope of your nose, your parted lips as your entire focus was on the movie playing - every single thing about you enticed him. He couldn’t stop himself from lowering his head until his lips were at your ear to huskily whisper, “You’re so pretty.”

Almost immediately, your attention was pulled away from the movie and was focused on the handsome man beside you. You felt your cheeks warm up as your breathing stuttered. “Pay attention to the movie,” you softly whispered and nudged him with your elbow. Grayson loved how shy you got when you were complimented, especially when it came from him. He was obsessed with the effect he had on you.

“How could I when you’re sitting next to me?” He whispered in your ear again, watching closely when you squirmed closer to him. “You don’t understand how hard it is not to fuck you right here.”

You muffled your gasp and looked up at him in shock at how vulgar he was being, especially with company around. He has a smug grin on his face as he licks his lips. Under the blanket splayed across both your laps, he placed his right hand on your inner thigh and slowly spreads them.

“Think you can keep quiet for me, pretty girl?” He huskily asked in your ear, lightly nipping your earlobe and relishing in the way you shivered. You frantically nodded and bit your lip as you gripped the blanket to make sure it doesn’t slide down. There was a lump in your throat and a rush of butterflies in your stomach. It dawned on you that Grayson was seriously going to finger you while Ethan and Kristina were a few feet away.

He applied the slightest pressure against the crotch of your shorts. He rubbed agonizingly slow circles, hard enough for you to feel those sparks of pleasure. Your lips part to let out a choked and soft gasp. Grayson chuckles quietly in your ear before whispering, “That feel good?” And you nod frantically while eagerly spreading your thighs more open. It was embarrassing how desperate you seemed, but every little thing Grayson did always made you desperate. “If I slide my hand down these little shorts, are you gonna be wet for me?”

“M-Maybe..” you let out a shy giggle, barely flinching when a loud explosion erupts from the movie. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”

He immediately slides his large and veiny hand under the waistband of your shorts, pressing his fingers back against the crotch of your panties this time - the fabric so damp and sticking to your dripping pussy. Grayson lets out a muffled groan that he hides in your hair. Somehow, the thought of getting caught didn’t scare you anymore. It just amped up the excitement.

“You’re dripping through these fucking panties,” he huffs a small laugh of disbelief, his hot breath hitting your ear and making you shiver once again. “Take off your shorts.” To your dismay, he pulls his hand out and gets himself comfortable - legs spread, body slouched, left arm never once moving from behind your shoulders on the back of the couch. Hastily pulling off your shorts, you readjusted the blanket until it covered yours and Grayson’s lap, as well as spreading your thighs to its original position. His hand goes right back between them and nestles against your clothed cunt. He can feel the outline of your pussy lips against the thin fabric and the small button of your clit beginning to swell.

Kristina and Ethan suddenly let out boisterous laughter after a particular funny scene, briefly scaring you at the possibility if one or both of them coming out if their fort and catching you and Grayson. His long fingers start rubbing your clit a little faster, now applying harder pressure for you to feel that tingly sensation. You rest your head back on his arm, your hips barely twitching against his hand. He whispers a small “fuck” in your ear, very slowly and finally sliding his hand into your panties to gain perfect access to your bare pussy.

Your brows furrowed and bitten lips parted, your face contorting into one of relief. Grayson couldn’t believe how wet you were until he dipped his fingers down to scoop some of your slick. He can almost here the obscene wet noises of his fingers rubbing all over your click to spread your wetness. You hastily grabbed onto his wide wrist, nails digging into his tanned and hairy skin.

With his lips against your ear, in a husky and gruff voice, he mumbles, “Just lay back and let daddy do what he does best.” Almost instantly, he began rubbing frantic circles on your swollen clit, applying just the right amount of pressure that has your eyes rolling back and pussy clenching around nothing. He’s rubbing you just right - it’s almost too much but not enough. The hood of your clit just barely pulled back until your bundle of nerves was fully exposed. The pads of Grayson’s fingers pressed down against it and it has your stomach bursting with butterflies. More slick pools out of you as you fight back your moans. With one hand around his moving wrist, the other clamps down over your mouth.

“I can’t wait to fuck you nice and hard when this movie ends,” Grayson cockily tells you, pulling away to look at your expression. His pupils have expanded from arousal. He never once let up the speed of his fingers on your inflamed cunt. He rubs much faster and harder, loving how hard it is for you not to let out your pleasure filled squeals and moans. Your hips began bucking more freely against his hand. “You want my fingers inside, pretty girl?”

“Yes yes yes yes,” you quietly babbled incoherently as your clit throbbed erratically, the tingles spreading like a wildfire throughout your lower-half. Your toes curled when Grayson roughly shoves his middle and ring fingers inside your cunt, the burning stretch making your eyes cross as you let out a pretty loud gasp that was thankfully silenced by a couple arguing on the screen. He starts fucking your pussy with his fingers, crooking them and rubbing your g-spot perfectly. The palm of his hand presses and rubs your clit. Both sensations has your mind turning to mush.

“You’re just soaking all over my fingers, aren’t you?” He softly asks in a condescending way. You can now hear the sopping wet noises of his fingers fucking your insides. You didn’t realize how loud it was.

“Yo, can you both stop making out please?” Ethan shouted from his spot in his own fort, immediately making your eyes open and thighs shutting around Grayson’s hand and wrist. “It’s loud as fuck! And gross!”

“My bad, bro,” Grayson lets out a full belly laugh and doesn’t stop the come hither motions of his fingers. He looks down at you with a grin wide enough for you to see the jewel on his canine tooth. He silently raised his brows at you as if challenging you to say something. He pulls his fingers out from your tightening cunt, just as you’re on the cusp of a strong orgasm, and he goes back to rubbing your clit at a fast pace. Your mouth falls open and your head falls back against his arm again. You’re holding onto his arm with both hands now to ground yourself. He leans in close to your face, his floppy hair brushing against your temple. “Are you gonna cum, angel?”

At the sight of your frantic nodding and heavy panting, he rubs faster and harder. And then you felt it. The wave getting higher and higher and higher. Your toes curled as you practically humped his hand like a dog in heat. When that wave finally crashed down, you had to bury your face in Grayson’s neck. He gruffly groans and shoves his middle and ring fingers back inside your pussy, feeling your walls contracting around them to keep your orgasm going. He slows his fingers to a stop before gently rubbing your overstimulated clit with his thumb. When you let out a small whimper against neck, he presses a quick kiss to your forehead and pulls his fingers out of you.

“You still wanna fuck later?” He bluntly asks you, staring at his pruned fingers coated in your cum.

You elbowed him with a quiet laugh. “How could I refuse that offer?”

He side eyes you - a gesture he always does because it makes you blush - and slowly licks his fingers into his mouth, letting out a deep moan only you can hear. Suddenly, the movie pauses and Ethan announced, “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” You quickly grabbed the couch pillow and held it against your chest to hide your still fast breathing. You always shut your thighs and move them into a criss-cross position, stifling a gasp at the ache in and around your pussy. Grayson licks his lips and subtly wipes his mouth with the back of his wrist just as Ethan stands and looks at you both.

“No more making out!” He points at you both.

You and Grayson look at each other, both of you hiding a smirk before looking at Ethan. When you both nod in agreement, watching as he leaves to the bathroom, you lean over to whisper in Grayson’s ear, “Can I suck your dick?”

#IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE #i’m feeling a lot better physically 😭😭#grayson dolan x reader #grayson x reader #grayson dolan smut #saamwilsonn ask <3

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everythingfan589 · 2 years

Text

A Work In Progress

Chapter 8: Take Your Time

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, non-sexy choking

Word Count: 5.1k

Masterlist

You miss Sorgan already. It’s hardly been two hours and you can’t help but miss the smell of fresh unprocessed air. While you have nothing against the Razor Crest一you actually quite enjoy it一it’s nothing compared to the beautiful greenery.

Not sure exactly where Mando was planning on taking all of you, you join him in the cockpit, sitting in one of the two copilots seats一the baby sitting in the other.

Falling asleep was completely unintentional, but a side effect of sitting in silence. You only wake when your head is knocked to the side so sharply that you stretch your neck and hit the side of your head on the seat.

“Ouc一” Your hand instinctively goes to cradle the side of your head, but you don’t even have time for that一the ship learches to the left just as fast. You quickly take in your surroundings一assuming the baby somehow took control of the ship, but you’re proved wrong when you see Mando driving.

“Buckle up.” He says without turning, clearly very focused on something.

“Have you gone mad?” You start to question him before large blaster fire whirrs past the window and your eyes widen. You turn to try and get a look behind the ship only to see another ship tailing yours with it’s blasters firing with deadly aim.

“Buckle up.” He repeats himself and you look down at the seat, grabbing the straps to connect them across your lap and chest. As you click them in place, you look over to see the baby isn't strapped in, so you unclasp yourself and reach out to him. “What are you doing?”

“The kid.” You hiss, stretching yourself thin as you click the strap over his little chest一once happy, you lean back in your chair and grab your own seatbelt again.

Now that everyone is secure, Mando takes it up a notch一steering the ship from left to right, spinning it almost completely vertical when needed.

“Give up the child, Mando.” An unfamiliar voice rings through the comm system and you realize the other ship has synced with the Razor Crest. Mando says nothing in return, continuing to outlast the smaller ship.

Suddenly, the entire ship lurches, a deafening explosion heard overhead and you cringe, realizing the ship was hit. You turn to see one of the two engines on fire一destroyed.

“Mando! We can’t afford another hit.” You yell at him over the sound of blaster fire. The console in front of him is flipping out, sensores warning him of the destruction, urging him to land一but he doesn't have that option.

“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.” As if something is triggered within him, Mando practically spins the ship upside down, trying to get out of the other ship’s way. Just as the ship blasts past the window一you now have the advantage.

“Easy!” Your shrill voice snaps at him, worried about the ship that is supposed to be under your care and is currently taking a disastrous beating.

Mando doesn't answer, instead, he tails the ship, preparing the Razor Crest’s blasters before the other ship can figure out what went wrong. He fires, a giant ray of plasma shooting through space and hitting the ship dead-centre. It explodes into a fiery ball that the Razor Crest flies right through. You release a breath of air in relief一still pissed that one of the engines you worked so hard on was destroyed.

“That’s my line.” He mutters to himself一referring to the other bounty hunters threat and you roll your eyes. “Can you fix it?” He asks, still driving the ship through a calm space.

“Are you kidding? Mando, the engine is on the outside. We need to land.” You explain, looking out the window and up at the engine that continues to spark. With a light sigh, he nods, tapping the console in front of him to reveal a map of the sectors.

“We can land here. They should have a hangar we can rent.” He points at the screen and you read the name of the planet一Tatooine.

As you walk down the ramp of the Razor Crest and onto the sandy planet of Tatooine, you notice three funny-looking droids scuttling over to the ship. Before they can get to it though, a little red blast of plasma hits the ground in front of them一terrified beeping noises ringing from their small bodies and you look beside you to see Mando putting his blaster back into the holster on his hip.

“You didn't have to shoot ‘em.” The unimpressed tone isn't lost on him as you both descend the ship, but he just shrugs. You know him well enough to know he doesn't like droids.

“HEY!” A shrill voice pierces the air from somewhere in the hangar and you look up to see a short lady with a head full of untamed curls running over to you two. “You damage one of my droids, you pay for it!”

“Just keep them away from my ship.” His voice is firm, professional一back to the way it was when you first met him.

“Oh, yeah? Think that’s a good idea, do ya?” You notice that she can’t seen to pull her judging eyes away from the ship behind you一likely due to the embarrassing amount of damage. “If I didn't know better, I’d think you were in a shootout.”

“Well一” Before you can get anything out, Mando has casually cleared his throat, alerting you to stop.

“Let me take a look.” The woman says, walking around you and looking up at the ship. “This is a mess. How’d you even land? It’s gonna need a whole lot of work.”

“I have a mechanic. I just need the hangar.” Mando informs her and she looks at you, taking an obvious glance up and down with her hands on her hips.

“You do, do you?” She doesn't sound impressed. “Well, if you aren't paying for repairs then this hangar can’t be used for actual maintenance. I’d be losing money here.”

“I’ve got 500 Imperial Credits.” As he pulls a little fabric bag from his utility belt your eyes widen. That’s a lot of credits just for renting a hangar. You guess he’s just that against droids that he would pay for them not to work on his ship unlike most people who would pay for their services.

“That’s all you got?” She snatches the bag from him, but he remains silent and after a moment she sighs一annoyed. “Fine.”

“Just remember一”

“No droids. Got it. Your mechanic can have at it for all I care.” She gestures to you and you give an awkward half-smile that she doesn't return. He doesn't do more than nod at her confirmation as she turns to walk to the other side of the hangar.

“I’m going to go look for a job. You can start working on that engine.” You nod at his instruction and after lingering for a moment too long, he turns to leave the hangar, as if there was something else he was planning to say, but couldn't manage.

Looking up at the ship from the outside, you cringe at the damage. The plasma shot straight through the engine, leaving a gaping hole that sparks furiously. Some of the metal panels along the outside of the ship have bent or been completely stripped off.

This is gonna take awhile.

Those couple weeks spent on Sorgan soil were complete bliss一but now that you’re working again, you realize just how much you missed it. Getting your hands dirty and having the freedom to let your engineer brain run wild, problem solving as you work.

You decided to take on the task of the engine first一it being the only necessity to gain function of the ship, everything else can be done later. Here in Peli’s hangar一you learned the woman’s name after a migraine inducing argument about using her tools一you have the access to gadgets you could only dream of on Arvala-7.

The height doesn't bother you as you sit on top of the engine after being brought up to it by a mechanical lift. At least when it was stripped, you had all the intact parts to work with and put back together. But, now, you’re working with melted and non-existant metal that was blasted through space. Not exactly a walk in the park.

“I’m in.” You look down to see Peli playing some kind of card game with her three little droids. She’s taking advantage of being paid not to work and indulging in simple pleasures. “And I’m going to raise you three bolts and a motivator.”

Rolling your eyes in amusement, you go back to the task in front of you before an echoed shriek sounds from inside the Crest. You don’t think anything of it at first一the baby must be awake一but when Peli suddenly grabs a large blaster, aiming it at the door of the ship, you react.

“Wait! Wait!” You call out, jumping onto the lift and climbing down the ladder to get to the ground before Peli fires.

“What the hell do you have in there?!” She screams at you as you run over to the ramp of the ship一she doesn't lower her weapon.

“It's th一it’s my kid.” You put your hand up to try and get her to lower the weapon, watching as her gaze drifts down to your feet. You turn your head slightly to see the child walking down the ramp.

“That’s your kid?”

“It’s complicated.” You mumble as he looks up at you with big confused eyes. Mando had put him down to sleep before you left the ship and he was asleep for a couple hours.

Now noticing the lady with a blaster pointed at him, the child tilts his head at her in question. As if realizing she’s still in defence mode, she lowers it to the ground and steps forward.

“Uh, hello there.” She mumbles in a gruff voice, obvious not used to talking to children. The child steps around your leg to get a better view of the lady. After looking at you quickly and you giving her an approving nod, she lifts him up slowly. “Is this what that Mandalorian looks like under all that?”

“Wha一Mando?” You actually laugh at her deduction. “Oh! Maker, no, we didn't一that's not our kid.”

“My mistake.” She mumbles, looking down at the wrinkly baby in her arms. “Well, you should get back to work.”

“I should really make sure he’s一”

“I got him.” She says with what you assume is the closest thing to a smile she can physically manage一a twisted crook in the corner of her mouth. With a sigh and a grateful smile, you turn to continue with your work. Looking after the kid is one less thing you have to do for the next couple hours at least.

Using some parts from Peli’s workshop, you manage to pull together the engine一even better than it was originally if you do say so yourself. It still needs to be built around, concealed properly, and calibrated before it can be used, but you’re impressed with your handiwork. Without taking a break, you move onto the fuel leak that resulted from panels being blown off the side of the ship一not ideal.

You’re bent over the metal sideboard and into the fuel compartment of the ship when you hear a familiar rough voice behind you.

“Where’s the kid?” You nearly bang your head on the inside of the ship一fortunately you’ve learned from the last time that happened and you pull your front half out of the hole carefully.

“He’s fine.” You say as you turn to face him, his helmet turning upward to meet your eyes from the view he was granted only moments before. “Making a friend.”

Offering you no more than a nod, he holds out his hand for you to take一helping you down off the large box giving you leverage on the ship. You jump down with his help, now having to look up at him.

“I got a job.”

“That’s good.”

“I’m not sure how long it’ll take. Likely no more than a day or two.” He explains as you wipe your oil covered hands on a rag by your tool kit.

“I still have plenty to do here. Take your time.” You can almost hear him chuckle at that as he tilts his head to the side.

“I don’t make a habit of taking my time with bounties.”

“Right. Only the cute ones.” You tease, gesturing your head to the side without taking your eyes off his visor. His silence encourages a playful grin to dawn upon your face before you abdondon the rag to the side. “You should see him before you go. He kinda adores you.”

As if on cue, Peli makes her way out of the back room of her hangar, walking into the clearing with the child on her hip. He notices Mando’s presence right away, a little grin spreading across his face as he makes grabby-hands for him.

Mando takes him from Peli’s arms, not paying him any more affection than being held一likely due to Peli’s presence.

“You got a job?” She asks him, less out of curiosity and more based off her own self interest. He gives nothing but a quick nod, handing you the child and picking up a bag he must’ve collected while you were working.

“Mando! You coming?!” An unfamiliar voice yells from outside the hangar door and you frown.

“Who’s that?” You ask before following a seemingly frustrated Mando out of the hangar with Peli by your side and the child on your hip.

Just outside the main exit of the hangar sits two speeder bikes一not unlike the one you built on Arvala-7一only you can tell these ones are manufactured and can withstand the heat resulting from heightened velocity一something you didn't have time to configure. Standing beside one of the speeder bikes is a young man with his arms crossed.

“Hey, Mando, what do you think? Not too shabby, huh?” The man says, gesturing to the bikes which Mando glances at. With no readable emotion on his covered face一he could be impressed or absolutely disgusted一no one would know. “Well, this ain’t Corellia, that’s for sure.”

When Mando doesn't answer him but continues to look over the bike he’s meant to ride, he turns to look at you and Peli, who stand idly by.

“Ma’am.” He nods his head at Peli before his eyes bounce over to you. The way his eyes drift down and back up again is not lost on you一a slightly sick feeling you don’t recognize washing over you. You’re not used to being looked at一now that you think about it一by anyone other than Mando.

You don’t like it.

“Miss.” He says, nodding his head at you after his eyes linger a moment too long. “Calican.” He introduces himself and you don’t pay him the respect of a nod back, neither does Peli. After his eyes glance down at the peculiar baby in your arms and a confused frown graces his face, he finally turns back to his bike.

Turning your attention to Mando, realizing they’re about to leave, you give him a tight-lipped smile. Without the notice of the other two standing only feet away, he taps your elbow twice一for what reason you can’t quite tell.

A goodbye? I’ll be back soon? Either way the gesture is soft and concealed for only you two.

The two men mount their bikes, revving the engine before lurching forward and speeding away across the sand. You’d be lying to yourself if you said that seeing Mando riding the bike didn't twist something inside you一what exactly, you don’t know.

He’d been gone longer than you expected. It didn't really bother you. You know he’s more than capable of any job he takes, but it still surprises you that he’s not back yet after explicitly saying it shouldn’t take long.

Either way, you still found ways to busy yourself. Finally finishing the engine and fuel leak, moving on to work on the outer panels and bringing the Crest to her former glory. Even indulging yourself in taking a break to play a card game with Peli一Sabacc, as she called it.

“What you in for?” Peli asks you, a little too cocky in your opinion, likely because she’s playing against a first time player, but you’ve been listening the entire day to her playing with the droids一you have a decent understanding by now.

“I’m all in.” You shrug, pushing your credits into the center of the table. Her smirk falters for a second, unsure of your new found confidence in the game. The baby in your lap reaches forward to touch the cards in your hand but you keep them out of his reach.

“Well, I guess I’m getting paid after all.” She says, laying her cards down in front of her and you glance down at them, keeping a stone face.

“You may need to rethink that droid update.” Feigning apology in your tone, you gently lay down your cards face up. Her face drops, looking between your cards and hers in absolute shock.

“There is no way you got that on your first game!” She exclaims, picking up your cards to get a closer look at them as you drag the credits across the table to you.

“Beginners luck?” You offer and she sighs, putting the cards down and holding her hand out to you.

“Not bad, kid.” After shaking her hand, you collect some of the credits and hold them out for her. “Nah, you won those.”

“It’s a payment一so you don’t hassle Mando when he gets back.” After considering your offer, she takes them from you without a fuss. You pocket the other credits and stand, holding the child in your arms as you walk toward the ship.

You noticed as you were playing it started getting dark, now the only light emits from the back room to the side of the hangar where Peli makes her way now.

“You ready for bed, bean?” You ask him, his eyes already droopy as you start to walk up the ramp and into the ship. Not needing to do anything more than rock him gently, he falls asleep and you lay him down in the bed chamber.

Realizing you forgot your jacket outside the ship, you descend the ramp to get it before tucking yourself in for the night. The darkness doesn't help your search, but you find it thrown across a chair and go to grab it.

“Hello.” A male voice says from behind you, making you jump and spin to face him. You can’t see much more than a white shine reflecting in his eyes and a soft yellow glow touching half his face from a lamp, but you know it’s the man from earlier; Calican.

“Where’s Mando?” You notice the lack of his presence instantly, a chill running down your spine as an infinite amount of possibilities race through your mind.

“He won’t be joining us for a while.” His voice is sinister and something vile lurks beneath his words as he stalks forward, approaching you. “Where’s your little friend?”

“Stay away from me.”

“Sorry, sweetness. No can do.” He tutts before lunging forward to grab you.

Quickly, you react, grabbing his arm and twisting it, but he’s just as quick. The two of you move like chess-pieces, thoughtful and purposeful with each move. Something tells you he’s just as inexperienced as you, but unfortunately, he’s still physically stronger.

He grabs your arm and wraps a hand around your waist, twisting you around and holding you against him tightly to restrict you from moving. The position is almost exactly like the one Mando had you in during your training一you didn’t manage to get out of it.

You try the only thing you could think of back then一slamming your heel into the toes of your attacker. This time, unlike Mando, he didn't see it coming and the force of your heel making contact makes him jump back.

“Shit!” He hisses at the pain creeping up his foot. “You bitch.” Recovering quickly and lunging forward again, this time with a blaster pulled from his hip, he wraps a hand around your neck一pushing you back until your waist hits a table.

“L-Let go!” You strangle against the tight grip around your neck一still utterly confused to what Mando did to make Calican turn against him so ruthlessly. He holds his blaster to the side of your head, pushing the barrel into your skin.

“Stop resisting. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“O-Oh, yeah, I’m so convinced of that, right now.” You choke, finding it hard to release the words with the minimal air entering your lungs.

“What is going on out here!” The high pitched shriek of Peli sounds from the other side of the hangar, making her way over and you try to turn to her, but the hand around your neck prevents it. The blaster moves to be pointed at her instead.

“Don’t come any closer!” He yells at her and she stops, her hands going in the air in fear, likely not used to her life being threatened. He looks back down at you again. “You. Stop fighting or I’ll blast her head off.”

“F-Fine. I-I’m not resisting.” Your hands release his arm where you were once clawing at him, holding up your hands in surrender and he nods before looking up at Peli. “Go stand over there with your hands where I can see them.”

She does as she’s told, shooting you an apologetic look. You can offer her no more than the understanding emotion in your eyes before he takes his hand off your throat, grabbing the back of your shirt and shoving him in front of you.

“Walk.” He orders, leading you over to the ship. “Get me the kid.”

“No.”

“Did you not hear me.” He hisses, the barrel of the blaster touching your temple again. “Get the kid.”

“No.” You spit and he growls, getting frustrated by the second before shoving you into the ground and walking up the ramp. “Hey! No!”

You stand, trying to follow him and get him away from the kid, but he fires his blaster so the plasma hits right in front of you一stopping you in your tracks. Continuing to aim his blaster at you, he walks over to where he kids sleeps一you curse yourself for not closing and locking the bedchamber door.

“If you hurt him I swear to the Maker I will kill you.” You threaten him but he just smirks, picking up the kids and holding him in the arm not occupied with the blaster. He gestures you forward with the blaster until you’re facing away from him, the barrel pressing firmly to the back of your head.

“Now what?” You ask, less scared of him than you are extremely annoyed.

“Just...keep quiet.” He growls at you and you come to the sudden realization that he’s trying to put on a show. A show of masculine intimidation for when Mando comes back. You have to stop yourself from laughing at the realization.

“You’re just waiting for him?”

“Basically, yes.”

“You really are an amatuer.”

“Shut up.”

It doesn't take long for him to get here. The familiar heavy sound of his boots walking into the hangar catching your attention almost instantly. It caught Calican’s attention too, him pushing you forward with the blaster, walking you down the ramp and into the light.

“Took you long enough, Mando.” He announces and through the darkness, you see the gleam of beskar一a blaster in his own hand trained on the man behind you. “Looks like I’m calling the shots now. Huh, partner?”

Without seeing Mando’s face, you can still sense the wheels turning over in his head, stance unfaltering as he aims.

“Let them go.” His voice is threatening一you’d even consider it scary if this was the first time you were hearing it.

“Drop your blaster, then I’ll consider it. Wouldn’t want to bump up your girlfriend too much, now, would we?” It doesn't go unnoticed the way he pushes the barrel harder into the back of your head, threatening the possibility of pulling the trigger一Mando notices and visibly tenses.

Slowly, he lowers the blaster to the ground and stands up, raising his hands behind his head.

“Hey! Lady!” Calican calls out to Peli who was watching nervously from the side with her own hands up. “Cuff him.”

Hesitantly, she moves forward and picks up the pair of cuffs he threw to the ground in front of her. She stands behind Mando, working to cuff him but his helmet continues to look forward in your direction.

“You’re a Guild traitor, Mando. I’m willing to bet that this green thing is the target you helped escape. Fennec was right. Bringing you in won’t just make me a member of the Guild. It’ll make me legendary.” As he talks, rambling on like a child playing pretend, you notice an ever so slight shift in Mando’s helmet. Almost like a nod of understanding and you return it.

That seemed to be all he needed before a powerful beam of light emits from his hand. The flash causes you to close your eyes and look away, the blaster leaving the back of your head as Calican is also rendered incapable of seeing. You force yourself to recover quickly, ducking out of the way just as Mando fires his blaster at him.

He's launched backward off the ramp, falling to the ground with your baby bundle still in his arms. You move forward quickly to run to him but a hand across your chest stops you.

“Wait.” He holds you back, moving in front of you to make sure Calican’s really dead. Once he kicks him to the side, his lifeless body slumping over, you rush forward to find the child.

“Hey, hey, baby.” You comfort, picking him up and holding him to your chest. “You’re okay.”

A gentle hand on the back of your head makes you turn to face Mando who looks you up in down in what you assume to be worry or concern一but you don’t have much in the way of visual cues to help you.

“Are you? Okay?” His voice sounds almost frantic but you’re quick to nod in reassurance.

“Yeah, I’m fine. A little shocked, but fine.” You can’t help but notice how his visor is tipped down slightly and you pray that Calican didn't leave a bruise on your neck from choking you. Even if he did, Mando looks back up at you and says nothing about it.

“Let’s go.” He says softly, hand moving from the back of your neck to your actual back, leading you to the ship through the darkness.

“Oh! Wait!” Remembering Peli, you turn, finding her checking up on her terrified droids. “See you round, Peli.”

“I sure hope not.” She mumbles and you can only laugh at the sentiment, giving her a quick appreciative nod which she reluctantly returns before joining Mando on the rap up to the ship.

He’s quieter than normal.

Which is definitely saying something considering his defining trait is his silent and stoic mannerisms. You’re sitting in the cockpit with him like usual, the child sitting in his seat and you in the copilot seat beside him.

The child doesn't seem to notice anything is amiss, completely unfazed by the event that transpired only hours ago.

You notice.

You notice the way he forgets to breathe every couple of minutes. The air caught in his chest as the thoughts become so overwhelming that his body forgets about everything else. You notice the way his helmet tilts to the side every so often as if he’s about to say something一so subtle it could be disguised as looking at the console in front of him.

It’s infuriating that you can’t will yourself to say anything to him一thank him even一just say literally anything to break the usually comfortable silence between you. There are a million things you want to say and yet you can’t hold onto anything for long enough to formulate words you could use outloud.

Your fading attention is caught as Mando reaches forward and twists the little metal ball off the top of the console before turning to the child and placing it in his little outstretched hand. You smile at the gesture, the old baby absolutely fascinated with the new toy.

Finally at peace with the silence, you lean back in your seat, trying to get comfortable for the ride but then一he speaks一you can’t believe the words that pass through the modulator.

“Would you want to know my name?”

Stunned silence is all you can muster. He sounds...tentative almost一unsure. It’s only in this moment do you realize you’ve never considered his real name. You’ve spent hours picturing and debating what he could possibly look like and yet you never thought about his name. You’ve just known him as Mando and left it at that.

You quickly realize you’re sitting in shock without offering him an answer so you swallow thickly, considering your answer carefully. He’s putting himself in a vulnerable position, one he would never usually put himself in for any reason.

“If you’re willing to share it.” You settle on your answer thoughtfully一him still unable to look at you一you assume he’s nervous but that assumption is heavy and usually unlikely.

“I...I trust you.” He states, words rolling off his tongue slowly with careful consideration. “That doesn't come easy.”

“I trust you, too.” At that he finally turns to look at you, pausing for a moment before speaking.

“My name...use it only in private一in front of the kid is fine一but I’m Mando in front of everyone else.” The realization that in a few short moments you will know his name is exhilarating.

“Okay.” A whisper is all you can manage before he takes a long pause. After studying you for a moment, he takes a deep breath.

“It’s Din.”

Din.

There's something so fitting about the one syllable name. As you roll it over in your head, it becomes so obvious that the name correlates with the man in front of you. To the point in one quick sonant, just like the man it belongs to.

“Din.” You breathe, the name gentle on your tongue and you notice the sharp intake of air through the modulator, so quiet you almost missed it.

That’s when you realize how long it must have been since someone has used his name一since his name was last said out loud. You say it again.

“Din.”

“Yes.” His voice is deep, winded一as if he’s having trouble breathing.

“I like it.” You give him a soft smile and his helmet continues to gaze at you. You’re not sure what he’s thinking一despite him being as transparent as he’s physically able一but when he subtly shifts his head…

You think he caught himself smiling.

#the mandalorian x you #mandalorian x reader #mandalorian fanfic #the mandalorian #din djarin x you #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin x reader #din djarin #pedro pascal

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nebulablakemurphy · 3 years

Text

Miss American Pie

Chapter Five: This Will Be The Day (Finale)

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

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

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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

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

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

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

“What the hell does that mean?”

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

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

“What is Vormir?” She asks.

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

“The red room.”

“Do you remember getting out?”

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

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

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

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

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

“Not gonna happen.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

———————————————————————

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Very,” she agrees. “Natasha?”

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

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

“A tower fell on me.”

“Of course it did.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Get it out of here!” Tony insists.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Working on it now.”

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

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

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

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

“Good.” You bite back a smile.

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

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

You won. You. Won.

And you lost.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nat pushes against his chest in retaliation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I will,” you return the smile.

“I’ll see you around.”

You nod, “I’ll see you.”

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

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

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

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

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

You let out a chuckle.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

——————————————————————-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hmm?” You turn to face her.

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

“I’m not-“

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

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

Yelena closes the space between you, “why?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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valdomarx · 4 years

Text

Aard

“Jaskier, down!”

Jaskier doesn’t think, doesn’t question, just drops to the leafy mulch covering the forest floor. He sees Geralt gesture with his left hand and a whoosh of air thunders over his head.

The shockwave slams into the huge, hideous arachnomorph that had been scuttling towards him, lifting the creature off its legs and sending it flying ten feet through the air. It hits a tree trunk with a sickening crunch and falls, twitching, to the ground.

He’s still in shock when Geralt comes over, picks him up and sets him on his feet.

“What was that?” he asks, heart pumping furiously.

“Giant spider,” Geralt says flatly.

“No, the -” he gestures by flapping his hand about. “- thing you did. Was that Witchery magic?”

Geralt scowls but indulges him anyway. “It’s not mage’s magic. It’s called a sign. That one was Aard.”

“Huh. Handy.”

Yrden

“Show me another of your signs.”

“They’re not party tricks, Jaskier.”

Jaskier pouts. “I have the natural curiosity of an artist, and it’s cruel to deny me the sustenance of knowledge.”

Geralt glares at him. “You want to see another sign? Fine.” He inscribes a round shape with his fingers and a line of purple light glows in a wide circle on the floor around Jaskier.

“Tingly!” Jaskier grins.

“Now stay right there.” With that, Geralt disappears off, silver blade in hand. Jaskier twiddles his thumbs, pretending he isn’t bothered by the muffled sounds of something inhuman shuffling around the old castle or the distant blood-curdling shrieks.

Out of the corner of his eye he’s sure he sees something pale and insubstantial flit through the air, but when he turns to look directly at it, it’s gone. Then there, again, more shapes moving in the dark corner of the room, then another by the window.

“Geralt?” he calls, determined not to let his fear show in his voice. “Um.”

One of the shapes draws closer, still wispy like smoke until it crosses the threshold of the purple circle and all at once solidifies into a twisted nightmare of a human skull, flesh tearing away from the bone in filthy chunks.

“Geralt!” he screams as the figure approaches him, all thoughts of bravery forgotten. “Geraaaaaaalt!” The figure is inching closer, bony hand outstretched to claw at Jaskier’s face.

As he thinks this is it, this is how I die, Geralt leaps from the darkness with blade in hand, slicing the wraith’s head clean off. Its body collapses and its head rolls to a stop in front of Jaskier’s horrified hands.

“You used me as bait? You absolute brute!”

Geralt shrugs one shoulder. “Worked, didn’t it?”

Igni

Jaskier shivers, looking morosely at the cold bath. They’d been trekking through the snow for days and every part of him was frozen from his nose to his toes.

He’d got through the freezing nights by promising himself a lovely warm bath when they finally reached an inn, but they arrived late and had been lucky to find accommodation at all.

He’d insisted Geralt take the bath first to have the benefit of the lukewarm water. He needed it more after the hunt. But by the time he was clean, the water was stone cold.

Jaskier braces himself. Needs must, though he dreads the idea of becoming even colder for the sake of getting clean.

As he contemplates the bath, Geralt slips up beside him. He looks him over, seems to make a decision, and waves one hand.

There’s an orange glow, and then the water is steaming and Jaskier can feel the heat radiating off it. He could honestly cry.

“How did you...” he looks at Geralt. “Never mind. Thank you, Geralt, really.”

Geralt grunts and goes back to cleaning his armor.

Axii

The pain is unlike anything he has experienced before. The gash in his leg is deep and ugly, but the tearing of the rent flesh pales in comparison to the agony of the arachas venom racing through his veins.

Every muscle in his body feels like it’s on fire, a blazing explosion of acid which leaves his lungs heaving for breath and his voice hoarse from crying out.

“It’ll be okay, Jaskier,” Geralt says, his voice clipped and tight. “We need to get you to a healer.”

Through his panic Jaskier catches sight of Geralt’s face, frowning deeply. He longs to wipe his sad expression away. But his body is wracked by another jolt of pain and he can’t stop screaming long enough to respond.

As his vision begins to swim and fade, he sees Geralt gesture with one hand and his mind goes suddenly, blissfully blank. The pain and the worry and all of his thoughts dissolve away, leaving him floating in empty space.

Feel no pain, Geralt’s voice echoes through his mind, and everything in him yearns to obey. Sleep.

The pain is gone. His eyes drift shut and darkness descends.

Quen

Jaskier barely has time to register the gang of bandits that appears on either side of the ravine they’re travelling through before a hail of arrows descends on them, sharp death incoming on the end of every shaft.

Geralt swears and moves faster than lightning, grabbing Jaskier and pulling him close, throwing one hand upward. A shimmering gold shield fizzes and pops into place around them both, the arrows bouncing harmlessly off it.

Jaskier looks up at Geralt with wide eyes, seeing him cast in a golden glow as the shield thrums around them. The bandits yell and growl, but within minutes they give up their assault and slink back into the forest in search of easier prey.

Geralt’s arm is still around Jaskier’s waist and their bodies are pressed together. Warmth blooms everywhere they touch.

“You okay?” Geralt asks, voice gentle.

Jaskier is breathing heavily, and it’s not due to the close call. “Yeah,” he breathes. “Thanks to you.”

Geralt's face pinches and Jaskier can see the refutation forming, so he distracts Geralt by taking his chin in his hand. The golden shield holds, keeping the world at bay for a few precious moments.

“My hero,” he says, and means it.

“You don’t have to -” Geralt says, turning his face away, but Jaskier keeps a hold of his chin and turns it back.

“I know I don’t have to,” he says, sliding his hand around to cradle the back of Geralt’s neck. He leans in until there’s nothing more than a breath between their lips. “I want to.”

#geraskier #the witcher #my writing #love those signs baby #prayer circle for geralt to use igni in s2

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stellocchia · 3 years

Text

Since I really enjoyed yesterday's stream I decided to do one of my overly long analysis on it

So, here's my analysis of (DSMP LORE) Healthy Competition

Dialogues will be color-coded as usual, so here's what I used: Phil, Wilbur, Ranboo

As always I am incapable of brevity, so everything's under the cut

The stream starts with a conversation between Phil and Wilbur in which Wilbur admits that he hasn't been to visit Phil in a while, which makes Phil's later threat about throwing him out feel that much more ridiculous since Wilbur clearly doesn't really live with him either way...

"Alright, it's got one for Phil, one for Ranboo, and one for Techno. Is that all that live here? Just you three?" "Yep, just us three, just chilling"

The only reason why I'm singling this out is that it was right after the mention of Techno's birthday and Wilbur was pointing at the seats occupied by the 4 members of the Syndicate so it feels slightly weird that Niki wasn't mentioned at all. But also it's technically not a lie, she doesn't live there and she only comes around for the Syndicate meetings.

Another thing to add is that Wilbur did notice the chest Ranboo left for him and consciously decided to ignore it.

"I must admit I've come to you with a bit of a- a bit of a proposition. You're into propositions Phil? Are you a bit of a 'propositions' kinda guy?" "Oh, depends, depends. You- you've had some pretty... let- let's just say, uh- not- not a great track record on propositions that you've had in the past" "Alright... I mean, I'm trying to move past that"

I wonder what exactly Phil is referring to here. Because, like, Wilbur did bad things, don't get me wrong, but what's his track record with "propositions" in particular? Because he isn't talking about "Tommy, let's be the bad guys" here since he doesn't know about that. Is he talking about Wilbur founding L'Manburg? But then again, I don't think Wilbur interpreted it that way. I think that, from Wilbur's reaction, he clearly interpreted it as a jab at him exploding L'Manburg (which is the one thing he's trying to move past) which would be extremely hypocritical from Phil since he did the exact same thing but worse.

Also, I really do think that Wilbur is trying to move forward. He's lonely and he has the lowest possible opinion of himself so it doesn't feel weird that he'd want to move on. He isn't putting the work in it right now and he hasn't really changed, but he does seem to want to (though I think he may not know how).

"He [Quackity] didn't seem afraid of me, which is cool. Not many people- I mean you don't seem afraid of me. You aren't afraid of me, are you Phil?" (little look into Wilbur's mind and his fear of isolation once again. And this is fear of isolation, he's worried that other people are afraid of him and therefore are only waiting for him to step out of line so that all their fears would be confirmed)

"'Cause I'm not afraid of you [Phil]" (bold words for someone who spent who knows how long lying to his dad because of a crippling fear of disappointment...)

"Technoblade spent his entire time taking down the establishments, what he left is, as predicted, a power vacuum for a new establishment to come in" (in case it wasn't obvious, Wilbur is not the biggest fan of anarchy. And he actually got this one criticism spot on, indeed all taking down L'Manburg did was getting 4 new governmental-like structures to sprout in its place)

"Phil, I want to make a burger van" *Phil sighs and walks away* (I'm more sure now that Phil really meant "creating L'Manburg" as Wilbur's bad track record with propositions)

Wilbur repeating 4 times that he has no ulterior motive with the burger van managed to make me think the exact opposite. That said that ulterior motive may just be to create a safe little home for himself and Tommy for all we know honestly. Also, the whole thing with Phil trying to convince his grown-ass kid to go play with the neighbor kid and Wilbur throwing a tantrum in response was hilarious...

"If he's [Ranboo] shit you gotta come help me okay? If he's shit you've gotta come be burger boy with me, okay?" (he still is mistrustful to an extreme and pretty childish admittedly)

"Why is he [Phil] treating me like a kid?! Why is he treating me like a little baby?" (remembering how Wilbur treated Fundy I think it may be a family problem)

Another interesting thing to point out is that Wilbur was openly scared of the spider attacking him here, and fights it off, but he doesn't move away from the explosion later on and he didn't move away from the exploding creepers last stream. Other people already made this connection, but I do think it may be a sort of way to punish himself. Specifically, it's brought up later on that he thinks he got off easy for what he did, so he's using what he hurt others with (explosions) to hurt himself now as a sort of punishment for that. Which is another indication of just how much his stay in Limbo didn't help with his mental health.

"Am I being- is this [Ranboo having both cows and wheat] a setup?" (the paranoia never left)

"Ranboo I'm gonna go out on a limb here: do- do you wanna be friends?" "Su-sure yeah, I don't see why not" (I think that at this point it was still just Wilbur following along with what his dad told him to do and trying to find out more about Ranboo. That does seem to change later down the line)

"And then we decided that it [the 'cookie' outpost] was too much trouble so we kinda just left it" (So we have confirmation that the cookie outpost was abandoned)

"We're not gonna annoy Quackity" "That's good" "We can't annoy- we can't annoy him because we're simply put- we're simply put gonna be making...- I got the real estate! He's giving me the area and we're gonna be making a competing business"

Wilbur says this as if he wasn't perfectly aware that this would annoy the sh*t out of Quackity. As if the point of it wasn't exactly to annoy Quackity. Or well, annoying him isn't the end goal, it's just the means to an end. We don't know the actual end goal (though I think Wilbur still wants to either be let into Las Nevadas or actually instate a rivalry between them as he said, one of the two).

"We [he and Quackity] were a part of the same cabinet during New L'Manburg or whatever" "Cabinet?" "Yeah a cabinet is like-" "Was this- was this with Tubbo?" "Yeah yeah" (...) "So you were part of the old L'Manburg? I didn't know that actually, I thought you were a bit of an independent"

Once again: Wilbur is missing A LOT of knowledge. He wasn't aware that New L'Manburg had a cabinet and he wasn't aware that Ranboo was ever part of the country either. He has a lot of misconceptions about what happened during the time he was dead so it really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that his views on a lot of things are as warped as they are. Wilbur is getting to his conclusions with an incomplete and sometimes wrong set of data.

"Do you dislike anyone Ranboo?" "Not too much I don't think. I mean there are other people I don't, like, agree with what they've done of course, but I think that everyone is just a product of what they've gone through and everything so if you understand that then you understand the person!"

There is nothing inherently wrong with Ranboo's reasoning here. It's true that most people are a result of their environment and, once you understand what they've been through you can understand them better as a person. It's also fine that he personally doesn't want to hold grudges. But that way of thinking isn't applicable to those who have been hurt by others, sure they can reach an understanding, but an understanding of a person doesn't justify shit and doesn't change shit unless that person works towards repairing old broken relationships. It just all sounds like a nice way of thinking about things in theory, but in practice, it just takes away responsibility from those who have wronged others to fix things and moves it to those who have been wronged. (Ranboo isn't advocating for everyone to think that way though, but I know the fandom will).

Either way, they arrive in Las Nevadas and Wilbur talks about how their place doesn't benefit the consumer and puts down 3 signs.

"I've been trying to think of a name for it [his and Tommy's area], I'm thinking about 'Paradise'"

There are two possible reasons for the name that I can think of:

1) It's in reference to Las Nevadas itself and how Las Nevadas is based on Las Vegas, the famous city of sin

2) It could be a reference to Tommy insistently calling Las Nevadas Paradise in the last stream and Wilbur trying to convince him that their place is the true Paradise

Wilbur does decide to make the Burger Van right at the border which really feels like a very obvious provocation. The other thing is that he makes it clear that he wants the van to be red and white which could be a random choice, but really feels like a reference to Tommy (since they are famously his colors) or an imitation of their opposition. Or both considering how much Tommy liked the restaurant of the opposition and the fact that Wilbur is still trying to convince him to stay.

"I'm not very fond of blue" (at this point it's obvious that Wilbur has quite a bit of pent-up animosity against Ghostbur. I wonder if it is because it still feels like people liked the ghost more than him...)

"Like, the Cookie Shop, I don't even know if it was a cookie shop, to begin with, because it was a little... fortified if I'm entirely honest, I realize that now" "Really?" "Yeah did you not see- oh wait- that giant stone structure?" (Ranboo really did fail to realize that the cookie shop was actually a military outpost, huh?)

"See, I like Tubbo. He's strong-headed, he doesn't let people push him around, you know?" (this is both an interesting change in what he thinks of Tubbo if he actually thinks that and further confirmation that Wilbur isn't a fan of people he considers to be 'followers')

"Why do you claim that you're so 'peaceful' and 'neutral' and yet somehow appear in almost every conflict this server's had since I died?" (since I saw people claiming this is manipulation already, just know that it isn't. He's just confused because, admittedly, Ranboo is a confusing guy and Wilbur doesn't really know him at all)

"Ranboo, why did you come to help me?" (...) "And then also I just think, you know... you can, you know- I think- I think you're an alright person, you know? So I wanna- I did kinda wanna get off on a better foot with you then what happened-" "Why?" "Just because I don't really like having the thought that people don't really like me" "Nonononono not the bit about the right foot, the 'why don't you think I'm a bad person'" "Well I mean, I think that you did bad things, but like, I think that you also went through things that made you that way and then I also think that you've changed now (...) but I think that now you've- apparently you've been away long enough that I think that if anyone goes away for that long eventually they'll have a thought about their morality and everything and maybe become a better person because of it"

I know this quote was absurdly long, but it is one of the most interesting conversations of the whole stream and it is really important and it tells us quite a bit as well. For one thing Wilbur was left quite emotional from someone simply admitting that he's an "alright person" and that they think he's capable of changing and this does bring him to open up to Ranboo right after. What Ranboo says to be exact is that anyone would have changed after going through what Wilbur went through and that change could be positive and while I completely disagree with it, it's clearly something that Wilbur needed to hear.

Now as to why I disagree with the notion that 13 years of semi-complete isolation could change anyone for the better should be rather obvious. But if it isn't, well, that's torture to put it simply. Psychological torture. Just like abuse it's one of those things that only cause trauma and a worsening mental health state and we see this with Wilbur because he didn't change, he only became more self-deprecating. Hurting someone doesn't make them become a better person all of a sudden, that's really not how it works. Hurting someone makes them become more traumatized.

"I think I scare people" ( as I said, immediately opening up about his insecurities)

"I think that a lot of people share your idea, but they share your idea in trying to- trying to keep me from hurting them" (for a bit here Wilbur talks about how he feels like everyone else is just waiting for him to step a foot out of line, which does really show that he's still interpreting all his interactions with people through the lens of his paranoia and self-deprecation, because no one is really interacting with him with that objective in mind)

"Dream's had his comeuppance and I've not" (this seems to be the crux of Wilbur's insecurity. This idea that he got off scot-free for his crimes, the idea that the only difference between him and Dream is the punishment that's been bestowed upon them which, of course, is wrong, but he doesn't know this, because he doesn't actually know why Dream's in prison)

"I've been investing into the wrong areas Ranboo, I've been investing into the wrong people" (This is either a reference to Tommy, to Phil, to Quackity, or to all of them)

"We're kindred man, we get each other" (the reason why he thinks that is because he seems to think that Ranboo has a similar type of paranoia to what Wilbur experience himself and he's not entirely wrong. Ranboo is deathly afraid of conflict and of being disliked so much so that he never stands up for anything in fear of angering others)

Little definition of "neuroticism" for you all since Wilbur kept mentioning it: neuroticism, one of the Big 5 personality traits, is typically defined as a tendency toward anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and other negative feelings.

I'd say it's quite fitting for both characters...

"I feel like life dealt us the same cards and the difference is that you built your trust by showing people your cards whilst I- I keep them close to my chest and I feel like that may be the big difference" (I felt like this was interesting. Especially knowing how much Ranboo actually doesn't share and how much he actually also keeps close to his chest)

They talk about tubbo in general for a bit and about what's been going on the server in general. Ranboo also that he's part of both Snowchester and the arctic commune (mostly the latter though).

"This has been chill, this has been good, I'm excited to show Tommy. What's your opinion on Tommy?" "Oh, he's- he's great. Tommy's awesome" "I agree I agree" "Definitely gone through a lot but I think that it's made him a good person" "Well you seem to think that everyone going through something at least gives them some merit you said" "I mean, yeah. I mean if- if no one- the only really bad people are the ones who are just evil because- just because and they don't have any reason why"

Included the whole thing here because if I stopped at Ranboo saying that Tommy going through trauma is what made him a good person it would have sounded really bad. As things are I think that that was just poor wording on his part and that this mostly goes back to the mentality he expressed before about how people sometimes do bad things because of the environment they're in pushing them and this idea he seems to have that actual hardships (like 13 years in Limbo or whatever he knows about what Tommy has been through) can encourage people to be better which is... sort of naive honestly. Again, trauma isn't a catalyst for the betterment of a person, and any improvement Tommy has made came from his self-reflection, not what he's been through.

After they're done with the van Wilbur brings Ranboo to their competing establishment and asks him to smash the windows, which Ranboo does with no hesitation whatsoever. After that Wilbur proceeds to place down one single block of TNT in a corner and Ranboo starts being a little more hesitant.

"You trust me right?" (I feel like that was a trick question considering how their common paranoia is the thing that Wilbur praised in Ranboo before)

Wilbur hands Ranboo the flint and steel to detonate the piece of TNT which Ranboo does, albeit with some hesitation.

"You passed the test, good job man, you go back to the van (...) Ranboo- Ranboo... I'm proud of you man. You've taken a side, you've proven that you can choose a side"

Quite a few people have already pointed out how similar this scene was to the time Wilbur tested Tommy in season 1 to decide if he was fit to be his right-hand man. In both situations, Wilbur gave someone a chance to cause some destruction against someone on the opposite side. Tommy passed the test by refusing to do so and showing that he was willing to uphold his morals and what he believed in. Ranboo passed the test by doing the exact opposite, by showing that, as much as he talks about how he chooses people and not sides, he's not willing to prove that even when all he would need to do to do so is doing nothing.

And it's an interesting scene to analyze as a parallel to that, but it's also interesting to note that Wilbur knows about Ranboo and Tommy griefing George together. He knows that Tommy was the only one to face any consequences for it (not that exile was actually the consequence for the griefing, but this is from Wilbur's point of view). Now putting this in the context of Wilbur seeing himself in Ranboo and thinking that he himself got off scot-free explains this next part perfectly in my opinion.

It explains why he made sure to leave this sign:

To me at least. This is only a theory honestly, we don't have an actual full explanation. But I do think that Wilbur may feel like the both of them never got the comeuppance they deserved, which is why he did something that's sure to get a reaction from one of the most powerful people on the server. Though considering that he also left 2 diamonds as retribution + a chest with all the materials he picked up it could have also been Wilbur's idea of a bonding moment and he could actually really be proud of Ranboo.

#long post #dream smp #wilbur soot #philza #ranboo #c!wilbur #c!ranboo #dream smp analysis #character analysis #stream analysis #tw self-harm #tw self-deprecation #tw torture mention #tw abuse mention #I'm sure there are plenty of things I missed #but this was all for now

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