#Shortly Link Upgrades

[marketingprofitmedia]

Shortly Link Review – All-In-One URL Shortener Platform

Welcome to my Shortly Link Review, This is a genuine user-based Shortly Link review, in which I will discuss the features, upgrades, price, demo, and bonuses, how Shortly Link can benefit you, and my own personal opinion. In just 22 seconds, we can “shortly blast” any link for PERMANENT FREE Traffic, and we don’t require any experience, email list, or technical skills.

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What Is Shortly Link?

Shortly Link is an online tool designed to simplify the process of sharing long URLs.. It simplifies the process of sharing content across various digital platforms.

By providing a clean interface and efficient functionality, Shortly Link helps users save time and improve the overall look of their shared links. Whether you’re an individual looking to share personal content or a business aiming to enhance marketing efforts, Shortly Link offers a convenient solution for managing and tracking your links.

Shortly Link Review: Overview

Product Creator: Jakizah Lavan

Product Name: Shortly Link

Launch Date: 2024-Aug-19

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Shortly Link Review: OTO’s And Pricing

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Shortly Link Review: Money Back Guarantee

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Shortly Link Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

User-friendly interface

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Branded link creation

Link retargeting capability

Good value for money

Cons:

Limited customization options for free plan

Some advanced features are only available on paid plans

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

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Shortly is a web-based software, so it works on every device out there. All you need is an internet connection and you’re good to go!

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Shortly Link Review: My Recommendation

Shortly Link stands out as a reliable and efficient link-shortening tool. Its user-friendly interface, coupled with robust analytics, makes it a valuable asset for individuals and businesses alike. While it offers a competitive edge in the market, continuous improvement in features and customer support would further solidify its position. Overall, Shortly Link is a recommended choice for those seeking a dependable and feature-rich solution to streamline link sharing and tracking.

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Check Out My Previous Reviews: Video Kid Tales Review, SmartRanker AI Review, AzonNinja Review, AI Comment Auto Review, WP Raptor Host Review, Insta Book AI Review, & MAIL4CASH Review.

Thank for reading my Shortly Link Review till the end. Hope it will help you to make purchase decision perfectly.

Disclaimer: This review is based on available information and user experiences. Individual results may vary. It’s recommended to conduct thorough research and due diligence before making any investment decisions.

Note: This is a paid software, and the one-time price is $19.

[ganondoodle]

Saw your tags about the Barbarian armor and realized I have a piece of the set in TOTK, so I went to double check and it says they lived in Faron, yeah. If you like, I can double-check in BOTW for the flavor text to see how it changed.

oh neat for you to actually check it! (especially since i cant since ... i dont own totk anymore, lmao)

whenever people talk about the sonau (zonai) and what we knew about them from botw they always mention they lived in the phirone (faron) region but when i checked the botw description yesterday in german they make no mention of it- which i wondered if that was always the case or only added in english (as it likes to do, no offense)

BUT THEN i checked the wiki just now and there it certainly DOES say they lived in phirone!!! did they change the text in botw at some point?? or did the wiki take the totk text for it for some reason? (which would be weird bc lots of descriptions are slightly different in totk so you cant really take one info for both ... like phantom ganon set now being eeeeviiiil armro or soemthing lol) or did its botw text never mention that all this time and im just missremembering?? if so why then add it to totk (and then .. where did the belief the sonau lived there come from in the fandom, jsut bc of the amount of ruins?)

i havent played botw since at least shortly before totk came out im pretty sure and there was no update i remember either so im ... very confused

(it just says 'it belonged to an old warriortribe' now in botw..)

if they did change it retroactively its such a weird thing to do :U

(actually just wanted to look up the english botw description and bc im not clicking on fandom wiki links i looked at an IGN article from 2017 and ... it certainly does have the phirone bit ......... so .... they did change botws text? ......... why?? and when??)

(it doesnt change any of the lore inconsistency, thats for sure, lol)

(edit: it would be so funny if they meant to change the text in totk to seperate the botw sonau from the totk sonau and updated the wrong one lol- either way, thats sus to me)

(editing again to add the correction in case people dont see my reblog of it: the text changes when you upgrade it to make room for the fairy part- all my files either didnt have it or where already upgraded and it only occured to me a little bit after posting this, i too can be stupid xD)

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

Apologies

IMO Carmy apologizes just fine and not just to Syd, has always done that actually.

Sometimes he just admits his wrongdoing though, and this tone was set very early in the relationship.

This is almost better than saying "I'm sorry" if you ask me BUT only if followed by an actual change in behavior. THAT'S THE PART HE FALLS SHORT AT, NOT THE APOLOGIES PER SE. (keep reading if you wanna know why because there’s a scientific explanation for that, it’s not his fault yet it is his responsibility to overcome it)

Brigade | 01x03

Braciole | 01x08

Braciole | 01x08

OK, OK! He didn't say "I'm sorry", true. He just admitted his behavior was not OK, which still counts. And then he tried to redeem himself by offering to share his lifelong dream with her. Whether that's even better than an apology or not, I'm not willing to debate, some may think it might be. I'm not one of them, I think a change in behavior is the best apology

BUT to be fair:

Syd didn't apologize either for leaving the take-out option ON, she just offered him a second chance, which means that at that point neither one of them were apologizing with words, they were BOTH using actions instead.

The reason being, the feelings that started brewing beneath the surface, they didn't wanna acknowledge them, they deliberately chose not to and intended to move on. The decision was made. They decided to "keep it profesh", thus they couldn't voice them out because if they did they were gonna upgrade them to "real/official" and they were nowhere ready for that nor were they willing to do it, for that matter. So, in fact, at that point, they probably even decided they were never gonna be and gave up before even giving it a second thought.

In his case the progression of that was quite obvious:

<That's why C showed up shortly after, btw. It just fits the timeline they both tacitly started building since Braciole.>

AND BECAUSE LOVE FOR CARMY MEANS THIS↓

"It always gets fucked."

In her case, I can only guess because the sadist completely deprived us of her juicy background story pretty much, but I could bet an obscene amount of money on Syd having a similar idea of what love might entail, that's why no matter how loving and nurturing she is, she doesn't really let anyone in - refer to her tattoo for symbology pls -

She puts up walls:

More about that here:

Luckily in S3 they are getting flimsier by the minute, but still.

Back to his apologies

Pasta | 02x02

In Pasta he apologized and taught her the "Sorry" sign, even when he wasn't the one who did anything wrong because it was Syd who fucked up the lacto ferment.

Then he did apologize when appropriate a few days later:

Sundae | 02x03

Bolognese | 02x08

Omelette | 02x09

Omelette | 02x09

The Bear | 02x10

Tomorrow | 03x01

Apologies | 03x09

So as you can clearly see, he has no problem apologizing to anyone when he means it, his problem starts after the apology because even when he meant it, even when he's truly repentant, he fucks up, which IMPO is actually a trauma response → linked to his C-PTSD to be more precise. He self-boycotts because his brain is wired that way after years of enduring abuse. Meaning, Carmy has ABI (Abusive Brain Injury), which is a type of non-traumatic brain injury (although it could also be TBI if the abuse was also physical) that leads to damaged brain tissue resulting from years of consistent psychological and sometimes physical abuse, like the one he suffered when around Donna and Eleven Madison Dickhead. His 2 main abusers.

In other words, he's wired for failure till he overcomes his trauma, which as I keep saying, will happen in S4 because he has already started his healing process and had his breakthrought in 03x10.

You can read more about the correlation between ABI and abuse here.

Why he doesn't apologize to the C person?

Glad you asked, I already answered that question a while ago:

But it could also be because Syd didn't greenlight him in 03x01 or because C actually told him: "Never apologize". OR because:

I'm going to stick to the theory of it being a denial by-product, though, as I explained in the 1° meta above about GUILT being his main driver just because it's very IC of him. However, it wouldn't be a stretch if it were a combination of all these factors.

Bonus track: He doesn't have a problem with saying ILY either (if he really means it that is, he won't take it lightly), the problem is being on the receiving end of those words because they usually are the preface of a very painful story for him, a story where he usually ends up getting hurt and disappointed.

Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs 💋

[powdermelonkeg]

Assorted Post-TotK Spirit Tracks AU thoughts:

The main technology you use is the Robbie Rucksack—mirroring the Purah Pad, Purah did most of the designing, but Robbie got to name it. Turnabout is fair play.

It gets upgraded as you go with more and more features, like a grappling hook, paraglider wings, a dowsing rod, etc.

Its most important feature, though, is the ability to switch tracks (hence locking Link into a specific rail until Zelda joins his side).

Link is piloting the first ever engine in the modern day, the Sheikah Engine. The tutorial segment is him driving it to Lookout Landing Station, so Zelda can name him Hyrule’s first official engineer.

The cannon you get later is actually a guardian laser.

The Railway Tower is the central hub for the rails that spread across Hyrule initially. Purah runs it.

Beneath it, in the Depths, Josha (now 16, eagerly talks about taking a trip to Mt. Lanayru on her birthday) has excavated what looks to be some kind of seal. Onlooker in the ZST crowd seems unusually interested and lavishes Link with an absurd amount of praise.

Shortly after the ceremony, Josha rushes in and says there’s an emergency. Right then, something BURSTS out of the ground beneath the tower, shattering it to smithereens—Purah barely escapes. The stone tower dwarfs the other rail towers around Hyrule in size, reaching from the Depths all the way up to the Sky. Link has to use it to switch his train between map layers.

Calling it the Spirit Spire. It’s full of Phantoms and poes.

Zelda gets her body stolen (expected)

Link gets the Master Sword stolen (NOT expected; snuck up on by Byrne a la Ganondorf vs Sonia). After all, a king revived deserves a fitting weapon.

At the bottom of the Spirit Spire, in the Depths, Link gets the Phantom Flute. Various functions of the tower are enabled by flute song.

Zelda’s spirit can be seen by the Sages, Impa, and Link—nobody else. But she accompanies you and comments on a LOT

Phantom Zel is scared of Keese (same way ST Phantom Zel is scared of rats, reference TotK first battle)

Phantom Zel can go anywhere in the Depths, but she loses her armor in the light.

Spirit form Zel can also take control of certain mechanisms, unlock things for you, phase through walls, etc.

Bringing Zelda to a bargainer statue has the statue reject her soul. It would disrupt the balance of the afterlife to take a soul while the body still breathes.

Tracks in the sky due to Spirit Spire

Remlit sanctuary > Rabbit sanctuary

References to other Zelda games like DLC outfits/items are accessed by playing those games’ songs. Stone walls have the song notes, you’re not taught them outright.

Opening scene is Link in his Tarrey Town house, getting woken up by Zelda who’s excited to see him drive.

Working title: Rails of the Realm

[kydrogendragon]

Body Swap

Body Swap for Day One of Dreamling Week

Relationship: Dream/Hob Rating: Explicit Words: 4186 Warnings: None Ao3 Link

In hindsight, Hob should have known the bloody rings were cursed. He’d just though, you know, they were gifts from his future sibling-in-law, how nice of them! But no. As with most things related to Desire, it’s not that simple.

Hob looks down at the simple gold band around his index finger on his left hand. It’s still bizarre looking down to see pale skin and narrow, hairless arms rather than his own. Every time it jumpscares him, especially in the morning on his way to the bathroom. Not that he doesn’t appreciate getting to (technically) see his lover anytime he wants, but this has dragged on to the point he’s almost starting to miss his own mug. He’d been living with it for six-hundred odd years at this point after all.

He knows the polite thing to do when one finds themselves in a body that’s not their own is to not oogle at it, but it’s hard. He loves Dream’s body after all, and whatever supposed Endlessness that’s attached to his form only translates so much because even though there’s no sweat, Hob still feels sweaty after a long day. So he showers. Sue him. And if he runs his hands down the lengths of Dream’s—his—body and maybe spends longer than the extra five or so minutes for a mid-shower wank, no one needs to know.

One thing he’s found, however, is that dressing Dream’s— his— body brings up feelings he never thought he’d have. He’s seen more beauty trends than he can begin to count through the years and for the most part, he’s plenty happy with his body, thank you very much. But . . . when he puts on his jeans on this body or puts on even the old shirts that were growing tight, he feels like he’s swimming in them. Dream’s always been a lanky thing. All skin and bones, he is. And Hob loves him, loves every bit of him. But he can’t help but wonder and he’s desperately tightening the belt (and adding new belt holes into the worn leather) if Dream wouldn’t want him a bit . . . less.

And gods above, while Hob’s stuck with Dream’s body, something that’s really more of an upgrade than anything, poor Dream is stuck in Hob’s. He can’t even begin to imagine how Dream must be feeling. At least Hob went from himself to runway model. Dream had to go from this to . . .

Maybe that’s why he hasn’t been doing the research here in the flat. Logically, Hob knows it’s probably because he can get information quicker if he just stays within the Dreaming and the library, but he hasn’t even heard much of an update other than a stern warning to not touch anything he doesn’t immediately know is his.

Dream’s probably pissed. Not just at Desire for meddling, but at Hob for falling for it. For trapping him in some uncomfortable and large human body. He must be hating it. He’s the shaper of forms after all and yet Hob’s never seen him take on a form that wasn’t somehow pale and sleek and breathtakingly beautiful. And Hob . . . Hob’s about as far from that as you could get.

He turns away from the bathroom mirror and closes the door behind him. His stomach growls through the layers of shirts and jumpers he wears over himself, but retreats back to the dark bedroom instead.

~~~

Dream lounges upon the sheets of the bed he’d conjured in his room shortly after the start of his and Hob’s courtship. Books sprawl out along the silky black sheets but Dream is not paying them as much mind as he knows he should. Instead, he lies with Hob’s longer hair splayed across the pillow and his— Hob’s —hand trails slowly over the luscious pelt of hair upon his chest.

He wouldn’t say he’d so much as thank Desire for their “gift” but even he cannot deny that it has had it’s own enticing reward. It has been a rare treat to be able to bask in his lover’s glory for so many hours and days on end, even if it is he that wears Hob’s body and not Hob himself. Though with such a delightful visage upon him, Dream finds it hard to focus on the research at hand to revert themselves back to normal.

Dream knows, of course, that he could take Hob’s form whenever he wishes. It is easy for one such as he and, he suspects, it will become a new habit of his while he is alone in the Dreaming. But there is another element to it that makes this particular circumstance all the better. And that is the knowledge that in the Waking, Hob Gadling wears his own skin. And, as the King of Dreams allows himself to fantasize, he hopes that Hob is enjoying the experience with the same vigor as Dream is.

He lets his hand trail further down to the courser hairs that surround Hob’s familiar cock. While Dream still remains Endless, and that includes control over his body as he is used to, he cannot help but . . . indulge in the more human qualities that this form has grown used to. He allows sweat to coat him (save for the times he manages to do research within the library) and he lets himself breathe and pant as he works himself towards completion. He allows this body to quake at his own touch, to shake as he fills himself with his own fingers. And now, he lets this body slowly grow hard as he ghosts his fingers over the velvet like skin of his cock.

Dream sighs and looks down the length of his form, taking in the view. Hob’s larger hand takes him in stride, slowly stroking himself, coaxing the now-existing blood to flow down. He wonders, as he grows firmer, if Hob is touching himself as well at this very moment. He wonders if Hob is taking himself apart with practiced ease. He wonders how he looks, cloaked in Dream’s usual form, upon his bed, legs spread wide as he stretches himself open.

And it is now, as he bucks his hips at the image, that he realizes he has been a fool. The only thing better than imagining how Hob plays with his form is to see it for himself. Plus, the fun they both could have like this while the magic still works is worth having.

So, draping his usual black robe over himself, he steps from the Dreaming into Hob’s flat.

The sight he is greeted with is not one he expects. Especially while the sun still rests high within the London sky. Hob is buried under the duvet of his bed, the blinds of his window shut tight and all light in the room turned off. He does not dream, though his mind borders his realm.

Dream steps closer until his knees are just shy from the bed. Hob rests, just a speck of black hair visible under the covers. He waits for a moment, gauging if Hob’s resting mind will tip into the Dreaming or float back towards the Waking. Should he dream, then Dream shall simply visit him there.

Time ticks by when Hob’s mind finally tips over the edge and slides back towards the Waking. In tandem, the lump that is Hob’s body shifts until a familiar face pops out into the open.

Dream smiles as Hob’s now blue eyes slowly open into the darkness of his bedroom. His gaze is towards the window where the afternoon sun fights its way through the wooden slats. Hob sighs, eyes downcast as he simply lies there, oblivious to Dream’s presence. He waits for a few moments more, luxuriating in the sight of Hob, relaxed and fresh from sleep, in his own form. There is crust in his eyes and more flush to his cheeks than Dream has ever possessed. His normally artfully trussed hair is flattened and askew from the pillows and the sheets. Then Hob yawns and Dream can’t help but stare at the sight of his own mouth wide open, pink tongue peeking out. The thoughts crossing his mind are far from innocent.

“ Hello Hob, ” he greets, his voice a hair higher in Hob’s body than his normal voice. Hob in Dream’s own form jolts. The duvet slides down as Hob sits up and Dream, who was hoping for the sight of more flesh, is treated to the sight of his form bundled up in layers of Hob’s clothes instead. The sight is no less sweet for the lack of skin, however. Dream smiles, knowing that Hob now can bask in the warmth and comfort that is Hob’s clothes upon Dream’s normal form. His jumpers and joggers are always pleasantly large upon him, holding him close with Hob’s warmth and scent. It is as close to home as Dream has ever felt aside from being wrapped within Hob’s own arms.

“Dream!” Hob exclaims. “I, uh—you scared me.”

“Apologies. I did not wish to disturb your rest.”

“Yeah, no, you’re fine. All . . . all fine,” Hob sighs. Dream’s smile falters as Hob crosses his arms over his chest. Clearing his throat, Hob continues. “Did you figure out the solution to these rings yet?”

“No, not of yet. Though Lucienne believes she may have a strong lead.”

“Ah. Right. Good.” Hob glances down, spinning the gold band with his thumb. His jaw is tense. Dream’s stomach churns.

He has a terrible thought. Perhaps Hob has not been enjoying the opportunity this “curse” has provided as Dream had been. Perhaps, while Dream had been lax in his research, Hob has been waiting, suffering through each day that this went on. It would explain the afternoon nap. It would explain the abundance of clothes wrapped around him, despite how much he hates the heat. Whether that is simply because humans are unused to changing forms or if it’s to do with the specific form Hob now wears, there is no denying—

“You are unhappy,” he says, finishing his thought aloud as he reaches out to cup Hob’s face. Hob grimaces and pulls out of his grasp. Dream lets his hand fall and tries to ignore the lance that’s just pierced his heart.

“Sorry, it’s just . . . it’s odd, seeing your own body walk around like this. Feels a bit like some weird funhouse trick. Probably feels odd to you too, I imagine. Especially, you know—” Hob waves his hand, vaguely gesturing towards Dream “—with you being stuck as me, not able to change about like you’re used to.”

“It does not bother me for it is your form that I wear. It . . . it is rather as if you are always near, like this.”

Hob huffs. “Sweet of you to say.”

“It is the truth. And—” Dream curses the humanness of this body as he feels his cheeks flush “—I would be lying if I claimed I did not . . . enjoy . . . exploring your body from this new perspective, as well.” He stares at Hob, watching as he blinks once, twice, with furrowed brows. Blue eyes stay trained down at his hands.

“Oh . . .” is all he says. Dream waits for a moment, though Hob does not elaborate. There have been very few times Dream has left him speechless. More often than not, his lover is quite vocal in most manners of his life. The few times he has said so little was when Dream had first explained all that he is and the scale of it. The other was their second fight (the first Hob had panicked, thinking Dream would leave—a fear he has since remedied) when all he had said to Dream for the whole night was simply “okay.”

Dream has misstepped. He had been to focused upon himself, on the rare opportunity that such magic had provided, he had not even considered if Hob had enjoyed it. And now he has caused pain to one he so cherishes.

“I apologize,” he says, stepping back from the bed where Hob still lies covered by the sheets. “Surely you are eager to return to your own form. I shall head back to the Dreaming to assist Lucienne with the research.” His hand is reaching for his sand when Hob finally speaks again.

“Wait, Dream!” he cries, kicking away the covers as he reaches for Dream. “That’s not . . . fucking hell, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—I was just . . . surprised, was all. I thought you’d be, I dunno. Angry? Annoyed? That you were stuck as me. Just didn’t expect you to—”

“To enjoy the sight of my beloved every moment of the day? To enjoy the feeling of your hands upon me whenever I wished? How could I not?”

“Because . . . well, I mean, let’s be honest here, all the forms I’ve ever seen you take never really looked anything like me. Thought all that hair at the least would have driven you mad by now,” Hob says, a hand trailing under the sleeves of the layers he wears, rubbing at the distinct lack of hair upon Dream’s form.

Dream’s face pinches. “The forms I have taken in your presence were as such so you would still recognize me.”

“Your eyes usually give you away, dove,” Hob says with a chuckle.

“Mm. Then I have done you a disservice, for your form is one that most thoroughly enjoy. And perhaps—” Dream creeps forward, placing a knee on the edge of the bed “—I should take this moment to show you just how thoroughly I enjoy your body. As well as the sight of you in my own.”

Dream watches as Hob’s— his —throat works. Hob’s eyes stare up at him, wide, lips parted ever so slightly. His own reflection stares back at him with unfamiliar movements, though with just how beautiful his form looks under Hob’s command, perhaps he will have to replay this moment between them so Hob may enjoy this particular sight as well.

He leans down, kissing his own lips with Hob’s and guides them both back onto the bed. He climbs up, settling his legs on either side of Hob’s hips, now freed from their hiding spot under the duvet. It is a curious thing to rest above one’s own face and body. Though it is not like a mirror. Far from it, in fact. Dream’s face reflected back at him is more open and expressive than he’s ever been. He imagines the experience must be quite novel for Hob, for one who would never have such chance save in dreams. Perhaps in the Dreaming, they could—no, a thought for a later time. Should Hob enjoy this experience here in the Waking, then Dream may broach the topic of repeating this (perhaps with additional copies of their forms, if Hob wishes) again later.

Hob moves beautifully underneath him. He always does. His back arches gently, pressing their groins together. Dream grinds down, enjoying the extra heft Hob’s form gives him. One hand slides to rest against Hob’s much narrower hip, covered as it is underneath the layers of fabric. His lover’s head falls back against the pillow, eyes closed shut even as his body responds to Dream’s touch.

“Hob?” Dream asks, sinking to his elbow on his other arm, letting his hand reach up to curl around Hob’s jaw. “If this is not what you want—”

Hob shakes his head. Blue eyes open and meet Dream’s currently brown ones. “Keep going.”

Dream nods. Then, he leans forward and captures Hob’s lips once more. They move easy together, a familiar beat, reversed as it is. Slowly, Dream can feel the tension lessen in Hob’s body. His shoulders grow slack as Dream licks into his mouth. His stomach softens as Dream tugs at Hob’s bottom lip. And when they part, he pants, eyes lidded, with a soft smile upon his face.

He lifts himself up enough to free his arms and snakes his hands under the hem of Hob’s jumper. “May I?”

“Course. ‘s your body, technically.”

“And yet it is you who wears it now. And so I ask, may I?”

Hob smiles. “Please.”

Dream lifts the thick woolen fabric up, slowly revealing the tattered old band shirt and the barest peak of the tank top that rests under even that. Hob arches his back as Dream pulls it higher, then moments later, lifts his shoulders and arms until the jumper is finally removed. A familiar set of pale arms are revealed underneath. Dream reaches forward with calloused hands and lifts both of Hob’s hands up towards his mouth.

Pressing his lips down to the knuckles, he hums, keeping his eyes trained to Hob’s own. He watches eagerly, lips barely parted, but raises a brow in question. Dream smirks before slowly twisting his head left and right, letting the stubble Hob’s form wears trail over the pale skin.

“Do you feel it?” Dream asks, voice low. “The way even the most simplest of touch can feel divine?”

~~~

Hob nods as he stares up into his own eyes. His—Dream’s, gods this is hurting his brain—stubble rolls over his hands. He’d made note of how sensitive Dream’s body was (he’d burned himself more times than he’d care to admit on too hot of tea), and now he gets a feeling that perhaps that’s intentional. Something as simple as this shouldn’t turn him on as much as it is, right?

Gods, is this how Dream always feels? Does Hob’s touch feel this good?

“It does,” Dream replies with a smirk that looks odd upon his own face. Fuck, he’d been talking, hadn’t he?

Dream presses a final kiss to his hands and lets his hands slide up Hob’s arms. He knows from many years of experience going solo how good calloused hands can feel, but it’s different in Dream’s skin. There’s no hair, no friction. There’s just pure feeling as Dream takes his time and slowly runs his hands up and down Hob’s arms, just as Hob would often do for him.

Then, those hands slide back down and under the remaining tops he has on. Fingertips brush against his bare stomach, just above his waistband. A shiver runs down his back. His own eyes, darkened with lust, stare up at him. Hob nods and with practiced speed, the final upper layers are removed.

He’s cold. It’s a phenomenon he’d grown un-accustom to, especially in this modern era. He can barely recall the last time he’d felt so cold as he has within Dream’s form. For the last week, he feels like he’s been freezing and he’s not sure if that’s just because he’s not used to the lack of muscle and fat around his bones or if it’s a side-effect of Dream.

But now, as his hands under Dream’s control slide up from his stomach to his chest, he gasps at just how warm they feel. A moan escapes his lips as he pushes up into Dream’s touch. He wonders, as Dream stares down at him with that knowing look, how his body would feel pressed against his bare skin. If just his hands are this warm, this pleasant—

“Please,” he whines.

“Please what, lover?” Dream asks, his hands pausing at the perfect height to roll Hob’s nipples between his fingers. Christ, this body is so sensitive.

“Need you,” is all he manages to get out, but as Dream’s eyes soften, he knows he’s understood.

Dream leans down and presses another kiss to his lips, gentle and soft. “Worry not,” he whispers against his lips. “I will give you what you crave.”

His hips are lifted with ease, tugging off the joggers and boxers he wears underneath. There’s a veritable pile growing on the ground beside his bed and he can’t help but notice how Dream, frustratingly, hasn’t removed that damn robe of his yet (and seems to be using dream magic to keep it wrapped around him in the most perfect balance of teasing to drive Hob crazy).

Suddenly, Dream sits, feet planted on the floor and Hob’s body is hauled up by strong hands from the mattress and onto his lap. He blinks as he’s righted, his heart fluttering in his chest at being so easily manhandled. Granted, it’s not the first time Dream’s swung him around as if he weight no more than a loaf of bread, but it’s different this time. It feels more real and less Dreamlord Strength. Like here, in Dream’s lithe form, Dream wouldn’t need anything more than Hob’s natural strength to move him around like he’s a toy.

And doesn’t that turn him on. And his body shows it.

Dream smirks over Hob’s shoulder, visible as he’s positioned, thanks to the mirror Dream’s conveniently (definitely intentionally) sat them in front of. His cock—well, Dream’s cock—one he’s intimately familiar with bobs against his stomach as Dream’s spreads his legs, causing Hob’s to open as well.

“Do you remember this position, my love?” he says, pressing wet, open mouthed kissed along the length of his shoulder between words. The scrape of stubble is delicious. He’s never going clean-faced again, he decides. Not when he knows just how good it feels for Dream. “Do you remember how you stretched me open wide and had me watch?” One hand stays pinned at his waist, keeping Hob in place. The other slides up his thigh and dips further. A warm, thick finger teases along his rim, brushing over his hole, but not pressing in. Not yet. “Do you remember how I screamed as you fucked me?”

Hob whimpers as Dream rolls his hips up, grinding the hard length covered by the thin silk fabric against Hob’s arse. He does remember. He remembers it well. And it was a position he’d intended to repeat again, but he gets the feeling it’s about to happen again, but reverse. Or . . . not reversed, technically?

Dream is suddenly pushing in with a finger that wasn’t oiled up a moment ago and all thoughts leave Hob’s head in an instant. He squeezes down as Dream slowly works his finger in and out. “Does that feel good, lover? Do you feel how wide your fingers feel for me?”

“Yes,” he breathes out, voice strangled as Dream teases another finger around the edge of his rim.

“See how well my body takes you? How the touch of your hands is a gift?” Dream says, pushing that second finger in on his final word. It’s so much. How it is so much? It wasn’t quite this intense when he’d touch himself. Now every brush of Dream’s skin is like fire. And now, as Dream rocks his hand and scissors his fingers, Hob feels terribly full already. All he can do is nod, his hair brushing against the side of Dream’s face.

“Do you doubt the love I have for your body still?”

Hob shakes his head, grinding down on Dream’s hand. He watches the movement in the mirror, admiring the sight from this new perspective. Dream hums as he slides in a third. Hob’s eyes flutter shut as he breathes through the stretch.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure you fully believe me yet,” Dream says as the hand at his hip slides around and grips the base of Hob’s cock. Hob has to bite his lip to stop the squeak that gets lodged in his throat.

“Your hands have become a source of inspiration for me,” Dream says, staring him down through the mirror as he works Hob open and strokes his aching length. “Their size, how they look as they press into my skin. The texture of hair and callous as you touch me like this. Their size, their taste. Many dreamers will dream of such qualities, though never all of them. Your hands, your touch, belong to me and only me. Isn’t that right?”

Hob’s breath is short and shallow, chest heaving as Dream works him mercilessly. He nods, though, as is rewarded by Dream hooking his chin over Hob’s shoulder as he curls his fingers and presses directly against his prostate. His back jolts and vision blurs as he rubs against that spot again. And again. And again. His body is taut on a string as Dream doesn’t coax, but rather drags Hob closer and closer towards an orgasm.

His toes curl, legs tense against their resting spot of Dream’s thighs. It feels good, so, so good. Christ, Dream is already far too skilled at bringing Hob to the edge but now, in this sensitive body of his, it’s overwhelming.

Hob’s breath catches in his throat as pleasure sparks through him. His cock pulses in Dream’s hand, coating the tanned skin in white. He floats for what seems like forever until he finally comes back down into himself. He’s still there in Dream’s lap and watches, eyes barely open, as Dream licks his hand clean.

“Fuck,” he says eloquently. Dream chuckles. Then, fingers he hadn’t realized were still inside of him, return to a more gentle pace of thrusting.

“You did not think we were done, did you?” Dream purrs.

Hob meets Dream’s eye and gulps. This was going to be a long night.

[sablegear0]

Finished TotK Finally

As in, finished the story. End numbers after buying the last boss pictures and completing the Compendium were 87.72% complete. I may go back and do koroks and minigames sporadically when I want to wander around in the world again.

So I suppose people might expect my thoughts or a review. Idk if I have anything unique to say but I may as well so: Plot and BIG ending spoilers under the cut. Also extremely long detailed opinions. Like this one got REALLY long. TL;DR at the very bottom.

The End Bits The Light Dragon In a previous blog I applauded Nintendo for letting their women characters turn into incomprehensible beasties lately (TotK, Dread). For the record, I posted that shortly before being spoiled on the fact that Zelda changes back at the end. Needless to say I was re-disappointed. I get WHY they did it. Permanently removing the title character from the game via 10,000 years of ego death doesn't really seem like a great reward for the player seeking out the plot; BotW/TotK Link and Zelda have gone through more than most of their incarnations to get where they are, so it's nice to give them a happy ending, etc. It just... kinda sucks because that was a really cool move otherwise. But Nintendo will not tell us an intentionally tragic (or even bittersweet) story so we got our girl back.

Also she was fine, by the way. She just woke up fully able to move and speak like she'd just had a bit of a rough nap. She also canonically does not remember her millennia spent as a dragon in any fashion. I know the fan writers are probably having a field day with injury/trauma recovery fics for her and I don't blame them. 10k years of ego death and a monstrous transformation should come with some consequences, shouldn't it?

To be honest the nature of the deus ex machina in question bugs me more than the fact that it happened. "Idk Sonia and Rauru did something" is the actual explanation we get (thanks Mineru, you're a real one tho) and it feels... hollow. Like, if the two dragons had clashed and injured one another, and "dying" knocked Zelda out of the transformation the same way destroying the Secret Stone that Ganondorf had taken destroyed his dragon form, that would make more sense, right? You still get your dramatic ending that's a cinematic reflection of Skyward Sword and a symbolic close (presumably) to Ganon's cycle of reincarnation. The arbitrary "power of love" (and not even the Hero's love, come on) ending just doesn't sit right.

Ganondorf Neither did the actual fight with Ganondorf, to be honest. I prepped some pretty high-value weapons, assuming that like BotW I'd have to break a few swords on him before the fight was over. But they just, again, deus ex machina'd that the Master Sword was indestructible for that fight and at no other time. My big scary weapons did see some good use in the wave fight beforehand, which was kind of neat but also kind of underwhelming. I guess that's the point where the game checks if you can handle that many enemies (ie. did you bring enough friends), similar to how doing the Divine Beasts halves Calamity Ganon's HP in BotW.

The duel-style fight for the first two phases was kind of cool. Made a bit annoying by TotK's tighter timing on parries and dodges. And the fact that the legitimate pressure of having your HP outright destroyed (cool, stressful) was removed by the third phase (annoying, no consequences for doing poorly in that part of the fight).

Third phase was neat. It was cinematic, but with no actual danger. I don't think I took any damage that wasn't just gloom-ticks from standing on the demon dragon to attack it. Didn't even get to use my cool bows in the aerial battle. Additionally I didn't have any need for the cool armour I had worked so hard to upgrade. I spent quite a lot of time and effort upgrading the Ancient Hero's Aspect and a second high-defense set (Champion's Leathers, Soldier's Greaves, Amber Earrings). The latter I did use in the demon dragon phase because it looked cool. The former I completely forgot that I had (despite having had to kill an ungodly amount of King Gleeoks to complete it). I used the Depths set for the first two-thirds of the fight because of the Gloom resistance it offered.

The Mechanics Devices All that said, what TotK set out to do it did decently well. It expanded on the physics-heavy improvisational gameplay of BotW with the addition of the Ultrahand fusion mechanic and Zonai Devices, improving on their base engine to create a system that I have heard other devs consider basically magic. Devices and weapon fusion, however, were clearly balanced with the early-to-mid-game in mind. The devices were tools, not weapons, even the ones that were nominally weapons. They simply did not put out enough raw damage to be used offensively, and were better as deterrents or distractions for enemies.

Weapon Fusion I know people weren't crazy about weapon degradation in BotW and I think TotK managed to make it slightly worse. In BotW, all you had to do was find where a desirable weapon spawned and make note of it so you could come back to pick it up after the Bloodmoon respawned everything. In TotK, you have to do that AND fight a monster with a good fuseable part to improve it. You have to do twice as much farming for about the same amount of gain. And that's not even accounting for the weapons you'd break fighting something big like a Lynel - sure they drop good parts, but you might break 2 or 3 weapons taking one down, even with help from your sages. You're operating at a net loss.

Granted the fused part of a weapon does the bulk of the work, but TotK did the interesting thing of making each flavour of weapon ("Soldier's", "Zonaite", "Gerudo", etc) have its own unique properties. This is very cool, until you find a type you like and struggle to find enough of them. Again, you have to trek around to find them and also hope you have the materials for a good fusion. It has its moments, like sticking a Silver Lynel horn on a Gerudo weapon to get a damage value over 100 (which is absurd, most "good" weapons cap out around 50 on average, barring any extra effects), but again, you're usually operating at a slight loss with respect to weapons.

Armour Upgrades To be frank: It's bad. It's bloated and way too resource-intensive. In BotW there were a limited number of sets you'd actually want to upgrade, as each had its own unique thing and that's it, there's one of each. Even doing all of them for completion's sake was achievable. In TotK they have those basic sets, plus a few more unique sets, plus a few redundant sets, and a frankly absurd number of generic aesthetic sets (which flavour of Link would you like? Ocarina of Time? Twilight Princess? Link's Awakenng Remake?) And in all of this they never thought to rebalance the amount of materials required for upgrading.

And on top of THAT, I think they messed with the item drop-rates too! Most enemies can drop 2 kinds of resources, some potentially have more, some only drop 1. in BotW I don't think (thought I may have to check) each type was a guaranteed drop, but you saw every type fairly frequently. In TotK each enemy now has distinct rare drops. And they can be RARE. And the worst part is you need a LOT of them for some armour upgrades. For example; Lizalfos tails are the Lizalfos rare drop, and the armour sets that need them can need up to 15 of the stupid things from a particular species of Lizalfos. Have fun grinding, because now you're playing Monster Hunter instead of Zelda.

Vehicles and Horses The vehicles both did and didn't trivialize crossing the map; a significant amount of grinding is needed before you have enough batteries to cover any distance, Wings (the bird-shaped gliders) have a limited lifespan to keep you from just flying everywhere, and the overworld is generally complicated enough that any fast wheeled vehicle will not be useful for long, and any all-terrain vehicle moves only at a modest speed. Ironically, just use horses where available. They're faster, more versatile, and can be called to you if they're within earshot. Also horses can spawn with overall higher stats than in BotW, and can be upgraded, though with significant resource investment. (It is worth noting that the "best" horse in base BotW, the royal white horse, is only middling to above-average stat-wise when compared to a good wild-caught horse in TotK. They power-crept the horses!)

The most interesting vehicles/movement devices, to me, were the rockets and hot-air balloons. Both add a lot instant verticality in a game that is all about traversal. Fusing a rocket to a shield gets you a huge boost for little resource expenditure (rockets are a bit rare until you can purchase devices). And once you find the Autobuild schematic for a hot air balloon base, all you need to add is a flame-emitter and you can ascend as far as your batteries allow.

Shrines In my humble opinion, TotK knocked it out of the park with its shrines. The ones that have actual puzzles, anyway. There is an unfortunately large proportion of "blessing" shrines that have no puzzle in them, and not all of them even need to be worked for that hard. The ones that do have puzzles are excellent. There are quite a few that highlight different uses for devices, and a good handful that take the Eventide Island/Master Trials-style challenge of stripping you of all your gear and put some twist on it. (Notably these are most interesting in the mid-game, when you have enough hearts to survive but not to trivialize the no-armour combat difficulty.)

They also did the very classy thing of not locking outfit parts behind hidden chests in Shrines. All the hidden chests were perfectly optional bonus chests that required no frustrating re-visits after finding out where that last piece of armour was hiding. Also the slight variations on the music theme was a nice touch that kept the shrines feeling fresh. No shade to the Sheikah Shrine theme, but the strong synths could get a bit grating at times. TotK's gentle, plinky shrine theme variations were an improvement.

The Map The Overworld Probably(?) the most common complaint about TotK and one I share. It's too damn big. In addition to mostly recycling the map from BotW (which bothered some people more than it bothered me, I think), they added an equivalent-sized map for the Depths. Now, BotW's overworld already felt a bit sparse, but it fit the tone of a literal post-apocalyptic world and encouraged you to poke around looking for koroks and investigating enemy camps. TotK's surface overworld is dotted with far more enemy camps and significantly fewer koroks, so it is about as dense but more dangerous/annoying (depending on your hp and gear) to traverse.

There are some major changes to the surface, beyond adding ruins to some spots; most of Death mountain is now safe to travel on foot (probably to encourage use of vehicles) and is no longer superheated, and there are a few spots where the road network is broken, dividing the map into 2 halves that cannot be crossed between on horseback. (In BotW, by comparison, all the roads were connected and you could auto-pilot a horse from one end of the map to the other, provided you took roads marked on the map.)

The Sky The Sky islands were relatively few, for all the hype they got in the promotional material. However I think their self-contained structure and handful of unique features (the "death star" islands, the dive challenges) helped them not overstay their welcome. Besides, the islands themselves are technically also ruins, 10,000 years old and finally visible to the naked eye from the surface, It's a wonder there's as much left and it's as functional as it is. They are beautiful, though. I did enjoy just loitering around in the sky to take in the view and the relaxed atmosphere, as there are fewer enemies up there.

The Depths The Depths... I think I share the majority gripe with the Depths. They're too big. The Depths are another whole open world that is more hostile with even less in it. It exists to grind for resources and pad the playtime. The challenge of the depths is in initially traversing it, having to light your way through impenetrable darkness and navigate dense enemy encampments and find Light Roots to fill out the map. After that, provided you have enough battery power, it can generally be ignored by flying over it. Which is unfortunate. If I were to fix the Depths, I would make it more akin to the Sky Islands; more self-contained, make it a series of winding, interconnected discrete caves, like one big dungeon crawl, rather than a second open world to ignore. Still have the Light Roots be important to vision and mapping, but have the general landscape be more contained. Maybe even have a few more areas that are inaccessible at first except by dropping into the correct chasms, like they did with the Eventide Island and Tingle Island Chain areas of the Depths.

Everything Else Side Quests and Koroks Honestly I enjoyed the variety of sidequests in TotK, and also enjoyed that some of them were quite involved. TotK had two "Tarrey Town"-equivalent long-form side-quest lines; one being visiting all the stables with Penn (I am counting this as one quest because you get drip-fed armour pieces from a unique set throughout it), and the other being the Mayoral Election / Local Cuisine questline in Hateno Village. There were also side-quests to optionally construct the Champions' weapons, which was neat, and to build a house with crazy Ultrahand powers, which was totally frivolous but fun to do. The one thing that bugged me a bit about the side-quests was running into NPCs that reasonably should have remembered Link but didn't. It felt odd, especially poking around Tarrey Town initially.

The Korok puzzles had some new variety to them, which was nice. The block puzzles were given the extra interest of being able to rotate things with Ultrahand, and the vehicle/towing mechanics were given a chance to shine with the "help me reach my friend" puzzles. Having Hestu appear in some less-than-ideal places to begin with (and the whole Lost Woods thing omg what a pain) kind of sucked, but getting those sweet sweet inventory upgrades is always worth it.

The Characters I love all the Sages, I'm going to say it right now. It was really cool to see some familiar faces from BotW (that actually recognized me) and learn what they'd been up to in the ambiguous time-gap. Teba being the slight exception but honestly - meeting Tulin and realizing this sweet bean bird boy looks just like both his parents hit me right in the heart. Mineru was also very cool and I'm glad we got to hang out with her (and bid her a tearful goodbye... my lovely lanky lady...). I also appreciated that doing the Ancient Writings quest teases Mineru's introduction. That was a nice touch.

Penn and Purah are fun, and the Lucky Clover Gazette and Monster Control Crew quests add some depth and background progression to BotW's Hyrule. You get to see how ordinary people are faring and how things are advancing post-Calamity. Seeing the various peoples of Hyrule gather at Lookout Landing after clearing a regional temple was neat, even if it was really only for show.

I know some people have beef with Rauru and that's maybe a blog for another time, but I don't think I have a strong enough opinion to bother. I didn't mind him, I think his arc was clear enough, I think I would have liked to see more of him and Sonia interacting with Zelda in a more everyday fashion - it seemed like she had a lot of fun in the distant past and something more than just a text log of that and a couple cutscenes might have been nice. Honestly I think I would have liked to see more of Sonia especially, she seems like an interesting lady (again, something more than Chaucerian text as proof would have been nice).

I'm honestly kind of mid on Matt Mercer's Ganondorf? I get that he's a big name and people were excited to hear him in the role but idk if the voice was entirely a good fit. They rocked the hell out of his visual design, though. Very good updated look, borrowing elements from some of his previous incarnations. Again I would have liked to see more elaboration on him though; what was the Gerudo tribe like under his rule? Were there dissenters? Give me more worldbuilding or I'll be forced to do it myself.

Music Mostly the same, actually. Overworld themes were recycled. Shrine themes were different and an upgrade imo. Combat themes were slightly different but I probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart at a listen. The Temple music though, oh boy. I loved these themes; they took the ramping instruments from the Divine Beasts control panel gimmick and mixed the Divine Beast Approach themes with each Sage's unique motif to create some really cool but pleasantly unobtrusive tracks. The Depths ambience was appropriately spooky, and the dynamic theme that kicks in when you high-dive was a nice touch, especially since there are distinct versions for diving to the surface and diving to the Depths.

But the standout tracks for me? First, the intro sequence where you descend with Zelda into the foundations of Hyrule Castle and hear the ever-layering Zonai chanting with the spooky reversed voice clips? MMM. 👌 So spooky, so tasty. Genuinely had me on edge even though I knew nothing would happen because it was the intro. The return sequence by the endgame has it build even more intensely as you descend even further and it's fantastic. Second is the Gloom's Approach / Gloom's Source battle theme. The distinctly electronic drone and beat associated with the Depths/gloom-related stuff gets room to shine when this tense bass-heavy track kicks in.

The Little Things I am actually going to stop this one here because I think this part deserves its own blog. There are a ton of little details in TotK that I absolutely adored and I want to gush about them with proper space allotted.

TL;DR TotK is alright. I know I'll catch flak for saying it's "good", so I won't. Settle down. It's alright. Some things it does extremely well, some things could have been edited for time, and some things remained just kinda mid from the original.

If I have to give it a number, it's a solid 6.5-7/10 . Competently constructed, technically impressive, mostly cut-and-pasted, mildly bloated, narratively kind of boring with no sense of stakes and an ending that undoes some otherwise interesting choices.

[agbpaints]

I've had some ideas kicking around for a homebrew variant of the shadowhawk for a while now that I finally decided to put to paper (or I guess in this case Solaris Skunk Werks). My goal was to maintain the SHawk's character within the 55 ton trio (low heat, mid range harrasser with a flexible and balanced mixture of ballistic, energy, and missile weapons) while making it less aggressively mediocre than its succession war era designs thru the use of some lostech.

As the ashes began to settle following the Blakist Jihad, the Magistracy of Canopus determined they needed a cheaper and more flexible alternative to their fleet of advanced SHD-7Ms. Utilizing light fusion engine and multi-missile launch system technology from the allied Dutchy of Andurian, surplus production spares from the Canopan defense industry's work on the Taurian Brahma heavy mech, and the output of their own 7M line, Majesty Metals & Manufacturing produced three functioning prototypes for a design they called the Shadowhawk XA1. Despite costing 20% less than the model it was intended to compete with, internal politicking between MMM and the Magistracy government eventually sank the project. One of the prototypes was donated to the Magistracy Armed Forces Museum on Canopus IV while another was converted back into a standard 7M. The final prototype was sent to Capellan space for further testing but it vanishes from MMM's and the CCAF's records shortly before it was slated to arrive at the testing range.

Designed to fill the role of a medium-range skirmishing unit with a degree of inter-mission flexibility, the SHD-XA1 is built on the same endo steel chassis as the 7M. The bulky and fragile Core Tek 275 XL power plant has been downgraded to a more resilient experimental 275 light fusion engine while the 5 jump jets have been retained. 9 tons of armor leaves the pilot moderately well protected, relying on the XA1's speed and cover to protect the mech.

As opposed to the 7M, which saw fit to upgrade the size of the venerable 2H's weapons, the XA1 attempts to beat it in quantity amd accuracy. In the place of the guass rifle, a pair of light class 5 autocannons have been mounted in the left shoulder weapons pod, while an extended range medium laser has been installed in both the center torso and head. A five-tube multi-missile launcher is located in the right torso. All of the mech's direct fire weapons are networked to a targetting computer in the left torso, while all of its ballistic and missile systems draw from a shared 4-ton cellular ammunition stowage bay in the right torso. 10 double heat sinks allow a mechwarrior total freedom to use her weapons as she chooses, and while the torso-mounted weapons load leaves the mech vulnerable to flanking attacks and narrows its effective firing arcs, it does leave the arms free to engage in melee attacks once the mech closes.

The SHD-XA1's lends itself towards acting as a skirmisher or fast response unit that can tailor its exact role thru the use of specialty ammunition. Smoke and inferno missiles allow the mech to provide cover to advance under and anti-infantry/anti-vee capabilities with its MML, while the TC-linked autocannons can be configured to combat heavily armed units, aircraft, or fast moving targets through the use of armor piercing, flak, or precision ammo. The design's thin armor, fair mobility, and moderate range mean that the mechwarrior is advised to maintain distance and speed slightly behind the lime of battle until the enemy is weakened enough for her to close on and dispatch isolated unit.

This was fun to put together! Let me know what you think- should I do more homebrew mech variants?

[usafphantom2]

France has Mirage 2000D fighter-bombers left over and Ukraine wants them

It is no wonder that rumors continue to circulate around France, Ukraine and the Dassault Mirage 2000D fighter bomber.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 02/09/2024 - 15:41in Military, War Zones

Ukraine needs warplanes. France is retiring some of its Delta Mirage 2000D. And the French government has already promised Ukraine the best precision-guided ammunition from the Mirage.

If France is really going to donate Mirages, the announcement may occur soon. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit Ukraine this month.

It is obvious that Ukraine would want some of the Mirage 2000D left over from the French air force. Supersonic, single-engine and two-seater Mirages are fully compatible with SCALP-EG cruise missiles and Hammer smart pumps. The first missile model is already in use in Ukraine; the Hammer will arrive soon.

The French Air Force acquired 86 Mirage 2000D fighters from the manufacturer Dassault and, after three decades of intense use during which several jets fell, it chose to upgrade 55 of the jets for service by the 2030s. This leaves about 20 of the planes that are surplus for France's needs.

Ukrainian authorities have been keeping an eye on this type while working with Danish, Dutch and Norwegian authorities to acquire dozens of surplus European Lockheed Martin F-16s – and qualify Ukrainian pilots in single-seater fighters in the United States and Romania.

“It is possible that the combat capabilities of the Su-24M bombers will be improved by the Mirage 2000D,” Ukrainian Air Force commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk wrote last month.

Oleshchuk is not wrong in linking the French fighter to the existing Sukhoi Su-24M bombers in his air force. The variable geometry sukhois are the main long-range attack aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force.

Firing British-made Storm Shadow and French SCALP cruise missiles at a range of about 320 kilometers, the Su-24 blew up Russian navy warships, attacked Russian air bases, knocked down bridges in Russian-occupied territories and destroyed Russian headquarters.

France gave Ukraine about 50 of the SCALPs of 2,900 pounds in 2023 and recently promised another 40. However, the United Kingdom donated an unspecified number of similar Storm Shadows - probably dozens of copies.

However, the Ukrainians have few bombers. The only Su-24M unit of the Air Force, the 7ª Tactical Aviation Brigade in Starokostiantyniv, western Ukraine, went to war in February 2022 with probably two dozen Sukhois. In 23 months of hard fighting, according to the Oryx website, he lost 18 of the bombers.

Although it is possible that Ukrainian technicians can bring back to flight status some of the dozens of abandoned Su-24s that were mofing in open storage in several aircraft cemeteries throughout Ukraine, there is another way to restore the strength of the front line of the 7ª Brigade: to give it the Mirage 2000D.

Yes, French jets would need new logistics infrastructure. Yes, Sukhoi crews may have to spend months qualifying for the Mirages. The investment may be worth it, however.

On the one hand, it is increasingly unlikely that Ukraine will obtain surplus warplanes from the United States. Republicans aligned with Russia in the U.S. Congress blocked more aid to Ukraine for months. If the Ukrainian air force intends to rearm itself, it should do so with European planes.

In addition, the Mirages may reach Ukraine shortly after Ukraine also receives a large shipment - hundreds, according to Macron - of bombs driven by Hammer rockets, each with a range of up to 55 kilometers.

The Hammers, which come in 276, 1,100 and 2,200 pounds versions with a variety of search engine options. They are comparable to the Joint Direct Attack Munition gliding bombs that the United States gave to Ukraine before the Republicans cut the aid, and that the Ukrainians installed on their former Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters.

Where it takes time and effort to integrate a new Western ammunition into a Soviet-made Sukhoi or MiG warplane, the Mirage 2000D has been compatible with Hammer bombs since the ammunition debuted in French service in 2007.

Source: Forbes

Tags: Armée de l'air - French Air Force/French Air ForceMilitary AviationMirage 2000DWar Zones - Russia/Ukraine

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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Cavok Brazil - Digital Tchê Web Creation

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Cavok Brazil - Digital Tchê Web Creation

[daecus]

Me, huffing copium upon the death of a beloved character: "Okay, but here's how they can live. Just make an OC that saves them in a poetic manner, tying their life to another and forcing them out of their self-sacrificing manner by necessity of caring for another."

This is Huili Jia! A Taiwanese immigrant who moved to Japan to get away from her father. She would be a first-year but worked hard to be able to skip a couple grades up to the senior year. She's a brilliant girl and an exceptional, albeit quirky, mechanic. She joins S.E.E.S. shortly after Fuuka does.

She's a recovering anorexic and doesn't have any fighting capabilities; however, she provides indispensable support to the team, putting debuffs on the enemy team with her theurgy. At higher social links, she can progressively shield the party from damage, completely negate damage, and then reflect damage back to the enemy with the shields generated by Urania, her persona.

Outside of the Midnight Hour, she can build various consumable items for the MC as well as more devices/tech for the team to use, upgrading equipment and even modifying vehicles to transport the whole team. This greater speed in transport ends up aiding the party in getting to Shinji earlier so Huili can save him not by healing his wound but by linking her life force to his.

[kcuf-ad]

Yugioh VRAINS OC

NAME: Fukushu Byoki

Link VRAINS ID: Slayer

Deck/Archetype: Vendread

Speed Duel Skill: Zombie Hoarding (Banish Vendread Monsters from your Graveyard: Add 1 Vendread Monster whose level is equal or higher to the amount of banished monsters and if the added card was a Revendread Monster, add 1 Vendread Ritual Spell card.)

Design: A 26 year old man that has short blue hair as the hair around his forelock was red. He has amber coloured eyes as his skin was fairly tanned as he had a stubble. He had a dark red shirt with a blue jacket, wearing down to his shoes were golden coloured pants with black shoes. 

Link VRAINS Design: A 26 year old man that has short blue hair as the hair around his forelock was red. He has amber coloured eyes as at his right eye was a golden coloured mask as around his neck was a rusty yellow coloured scarf. He wore a uniform like the Knights of Hanoi, but he had dark red lines that went around his body. 

Backstory: He was one of the best duelists in Link VRAINS, even ranking the 3rd best Celebrity Duelist of all time, right behind Blue Angel and Gore, but during his time being a Celebrity Duelist, during a duel, he began to cough uncontrollably, to the point he was on his knees, hands on the ground as he began to cough up blood. Fukushu was then sent to a hospital shortly after that as he was checked. Fukushu was then revealed to have an incurable disease as if they don’t find a cure in the next few years, Fukushu won’t be living past 30. During one of the nights, a few weeks after he heard the news, he was sick and alone on the couch, remembering his past, he got a text from an unknown user and due to his limited knowledge of coding, he knew that it was not a scam, so he then went to the place, only to find Varis there. Varis had the only thing that can stabilize his condition with almost no drawback in 1 condition: He joins the Knights of Hanoi. After getting a small dose, he made his decision that would soon change his life for the better. 

Dueling Record: Before starting up the Tower Of Hanoi, but after Faust’s defeat, Varis’ location was actually tracked for a short while, which made him go on the run for a short while with Playmaker hot on his trail. He tried to escape him the best that he could, but Slayer swooped in to fight Playmaker so he could escape as the duel resulted in his defeat as he used Powercode Talker to defeat him. Slayer, after getting his consciousness back, decided to upgrade his deck to include a card known as Avendread Savior as he first fought The Shepherd in the place of Varis and managed to defeat him. While Soulburner was yelling towards Varis for a duel, instead, Slayer walked towards Soulburner as he then dueled him as he won’t stop accusing Varis for something he didn’t even do which to everyone’s, with the exception of The Knights of Hanoi, Slayer won the duel by using his Trap Nuke, Vendread Daybreak. Due to the complications with his health, he wasn’t able to assist them against the war of the Ignis, but after the war was finished, he lost the duel against Ai as he managed to Ritual Summon Water Leviathan AT Ignister. 

Personality: A man that was once a kind hearted soul, that soon became a man that was ready to discard everything that he loved for one thing: To survive as a result of this, he became loyal to Ryoken Kogami as he would do anything for his approval and would usually be wherever he went in Link VRAINS for anyway to assist him. 

[infernaleikon]

any favorite anicow headcanons? i personally love the idea of anakin starting to lactate and having to deal with his master milking him as his first ever non-platonic touch

okay, so honestly, mostly i've been thinking about this anicow art (cw: male lactation) by @anakincito (who apparently i can't even link cos tumblr has them marked as mature 🙄) with the wii theme playing in the background.

i love yours tho!! it has me 👀👀👀

these HCs (sticking to the art linked above) come to you supported by @binaryeclipse

HCs under the read more for cw: male lactation purposes

cow hybrids usually (not exclusively) live in herds and culturally, they are naked. (they do put on clothes in certain situations, mostly when dealing with humans, but otherwise, yeah.) which is why anakin hates clothes and doesn't like to wear them.

obi-wan is a farmer who does business with anakin's herd, so he's known him for a long time. anakin has always been a curious kid and talked to him a lot. one time, obi-wan's truck broke down and anakin fixed it because he's into mechanics and engineering and stuff like this a lot.

anakin gets tall and broad and strong once he hits that one puberty growth spurt at like, 16, and he's so pretty and bright eyed.

he realizes he's not into other cows/bulls but only into one person and that one person is obi-wan

meanwhile, obi-wan looks respectfully but has no desire or sexual/romantic attraction for a teenager, even though anakin is very unsubtle in his advances and affections.

anakin comes into his first milk at 16 after obi-wan visits the herd for some business reason, and he's grown a beard now, he looks so handsome, and anakin Feels Things

his chest is so tender, his nipples so sensitive. he massages his chest and when his milk spills out for the first time, he makes a breathy, high pitched sound because it feels so good, and he keeps going and going, and licks his own milk off his fingers and then uses some of it (stupidly) as lube (he switches to something more suitable) to finger himself and pretends it's obi-wan doing it to him

his drenches himself and his sheets completely in his milk riding his own fingers

(when he eventually tells obi-wan about this, obi-wan groans because fuck)

anyway, shortly before his 18th birthday, obi-wan is visiting the herd again, maybe right after coming from fucking some other twink, and anakin is annoyed because he can smell it, and he gets pushy and crowds obi-wan against the side of his truck, gets really close, and he just really really wants to kiss him

obi-wan is very very into anakin's strength and the breadth of his shoulders and his slutty little waist, and when anakin kisses him, he lets him for a moment, but then pulls away and gently tells anakin that he's not old enough (yet)

anakin calls him on his birthday like COME ON AND FUCK ME OLD MAN

obi-wan runs and doesn't walk

the first time obi-wan gets his mouth around anakin's nipple, anakin's eyes roll back and he comes in 10 secs flat

up until this point, he's used to milking being something non-intimate/sexual, something communal (except between partners) and he gets his wires crossed for a bit because obi-wan definitely does think that it's a sexual thing

so anakin eventually gets really horny whenever obi-wan gets his hands/mouth on his chest

obi-wan does get a little bit mean sometimes, when anakin's chest is full, and he just trails his fingers over the soft swell of anakin's pec and flicks his nipples, watches the milk bead and drip down this chest

anakin eventually moves in and becomes his business partner in the farm

he still hates clothes, so whenever it's just the two of them, he's naked

obi-wan gets distracted a lot

anakin doesn't like riding horses

he's good with the tractor tho

he gets obi-wan to buy another one and tinkers with it "for an upgrade"

he rides it naked of course

sometimes anakin will wear flowy dresses because they don't feel as restrictive as other clothes

he runs away whenever obi-wan needs to file his horns down, and he's faster, so obi-wan always has to lure him back with promises of dirty dirty sex treats

anakin spends a month a year with his herd and stops lactating within a few days, but a few days before he's due to return to the farm, his chest fills up again, so much. and he's uncomfortable and tender but he doesn't want anyone but obi-wan to get his hands or mouth on him, so he massages himself a little until eventually obi-wan picks him up again

anakin makes him stop by the side of the road to milk him because it's too much, and he moans and shudders and writhes when obi-wan sucks on his nipples

it is, however, so much that obi-wan can't drink it all, so he just squeezes and massages anakin's chest, watches the milk gush out and drip all over his hands and anakin's stomach while softly praising him about how good he is and how much he loves obi-wan, and uses some of the milk to jerk anakin off, and then sucks the come and milk off his own fingers after

anyway, they are super horny for each other in every universe and in every iteration

i realize this is more of an AU than an HC but i mean sue me sksksksk

(izzy and i also talked about in universe anicow but i feel like this post would get too long if i added this as well, so remind me in a day or two to post them as well if you're interested)

[theanoninyourinbox]

Hatchien, the slimy Fakemon, grass type. One of the three traditional starter Fakemon for the Faux Region, Hatchien is easy to care for. They eat just about everything, and can be very powerful. However, most starting trainers avoid Hatchien for their slimy symbiotes. The slime mold that all Hatchien develop shortly after hatching is vital to their immune system, but most trainers just don’t care. If you choose a Hatchien, give them lots of love! Evolve at LVL 18 with high friendship

Sporaptor, the slimy Fakemon, grass/fairy. Sporaptor are swift runners, their short legs deceptively powerful. Their new form upgrades their slime mold symbiote, allowing movement, and the creation of pseudopods that act as arms for the armless Fakemon. Scientists are studying the link, hoping to one day achieve such a bond for disabled humans. Their skin also produces more slime mold if the current layer is damaged. Evolve at LVL 30 with high friendship

Tyranungus, The Slime Mold King Fakemon, Grass/Fairy. This giant Fakemon is a fierce fighter, an indomitable defender, and a startlingly gentle caretaker of smaller or weaker Fakemon. They carefully scent mark their trainer, their trainer’s team, and sometimes their trainers family or friends, so that others know that they are under Tyranungus’ protection. Woe be upon those who threaten a child or small Fakemon in their vicinity - there have been tales of an angry Tyranungus tracking abusive humans for days to punish them. The mushrooms that grow off their skin are highly effective healing items, and prized by potion makers, mushroom maniacs, and doctors.

[poupeesdecirque]

Incomings, WiPs & Plans for February

First of all, my big announcement for this month: I bought the doll base for Howard Link <3 he will be a Charmdoll LaiKa! As the boy got released I instantly knew this will be my Link, I waited almost 7 months the last time so .. I don't think I will see him before summer.

My current incomings look like this now:

No updates on the other bodies or Pallu by now, but that's okay C:

In terms of Work in Progress dolls, those are the dolls that are currently unfinished:

Yup, you see that right. That pile SHRANK down to basically the ones needing bodies and Darjeeling. And Darjeeling is just waiting for a dress to be finished then.

I *could* start on Adam's clothes as I have the pattern and fabrics here but I think i will do that once his body got shipped. For Kanda and Maple I need the bodies for measurements.

Everyone else is finished. Only small adjustments or upgrades left like swapping eyes or shoes. For bby!Allen I am still working on some little additions, like a plushy

Not done cutting parts here, I'm considering doing a scaled up version for personal fun reasons, why not having a huge Timcampy?

Other than that I will most likely spend the next day tidying up my sewing mess and organizing fabrics, buttons and materials, I.. went a bit wild the last days.

Because yeah... you maybe were able to guess it but Lavi is done. Just finished him today, I have yet to put his photos into the queue, I'm trying to sort my mind right now because the last month was a lot. All I can tell right now is that it feels like a huge burden is off my chest, I think the curse is finally broken, he lost his 'tainted' status shortly after I wrote the blog entry about those dolls but now the 'preorders from hell' finally came to an end (I ignore the one going on though I just sit here and wait that's okay) and that's just ... wow. That needs to sink in.

Inbetween I'm working on my assinged page for the redraw project, I want to give it more time than I usually take as this project is special and I draw a lot therefore improve here and there and I don't want to redo the whole thing in like 2 weeks again just because I rushed it x_x'

When Tim is done I will revert to working on Cosplay and will start on my variant of Crown Clown, which is roughly planned for the Dokomi to be finished. I tested some of the materials today and I think this will be a fun project overall as I can be more artistic this time.

While we are at 'artistic' I have an appointment on the 16th to get my 4th tattoo, this will go onto my left arm to continue my sleeve. It's just my sketch, my artist want to mash up several ideas for the border to match more with the vibe of the Manga & the rest of my shoulder.

He was also amazed how well my shoulder tattoo has healed and how great the shading came out. Dunno if I will be able to do much after getting the tattoo but I'm right handed therefore... maybe a bit less on the strenght training then.

Oh, my juggling has advanced a bit, I am now able to catch 3 balls more than once, I'm still not close to juggle 3 balls but tiny steps here.

Doll Photoshootings is the thing getting time cut though, the weather here is awful anyways :/ hope it will get better soon but the days get longer and then I have more time in the evenings.

[mmkin]

Shameless Wily simping fun... also, the next chapter of Forever Clockwork is done faster than I anticipated, so here's the link on AO3, the chapter is also included under the cut.

Content warning - None (some flirting, but teen safe/SFW)

(Yes, these are the scrubs described in the fic, my first time ever drawing scrubs. I obviously need more practice, but it was still a hoot to draw)

III

o0o0o0o

(Wily’s POV)

Wily glanced down at the tablet, occasionally tapping the screen as he looked at the design and schematics of the robot that was on the table before him.

Robots these days were designed with fail-safes or automatic shutdowns that were triggered by certain behaviors. For example, a maid-bot might not be able to go more than a designated amount of meters from a house before it receives a warning signal, and if it ignores said warning, it would power down automatically.

Another feature that was typical for a robot was a GPS, in case the robot was stolen. Robots could also be shut down with voice, wireless, or radio commands. Robots, especially ones programmed with AI, were pricey investments, and thus needed safeguards so that humans could protect their property.

The GPS had already been disabled by Shademan before the robot was taken out of the amusement park it had been built for. However, the brightly-colored robot remained inactive, having powered down shortly after it went beyond the borders of the park. Not surprising, really, and the mad scientist was prepared for that.

He set the tablet down and leaned over the robot, lifting the panel off its back with little effort. A network of complex circuitry met his eyes, but it did not intimidate him the least as he examined it, making mental notes about what to upgrade or change.

That was one thing he'd always found fascinating about technology. It was ever-changing and improving, and he could learn and benefit from it. With each line, his robots became better and stronger, and with everything he learned, he could go back and upgrade some of his older Numbers to increase their efficiency or power., or in this case, take other people's robots and give them his modifications. Any robot could be improved on. Unfortunately, the same could be said about Megaman, but eh. Dr. Light and the blue robot were pushed out of his mind as he focused on his current task.

Wily lifted the helmet off the robot, revealing the circuitry located within its head. With deft hand movements that spoke of long experience in this particular process, the doctor hooked up wires to certain parts of the circuitry that made up the robot's mind and personality. This was a precaution he took every time he significantly modified or upgraded a Robot Master. Once the memory was backed up in his computer, he got to work, removing the GPS, the power override, and other devices that this 'bot's creators had installed to impede its freedom.

It took a bit of time to figure out what sort of weapon to give the robot. However, looking at the long, flexible arms of this robot gave him the idea to use their unique qualities to this robot's advantage. He did these robots a great service by maximizing their potential. Too bad the world could not see that. Such was the lot of a mad genius...

o0o0o0o

A Decade Ago, 200X

The first series of Robot Masters was already well underway. DLWN-003 through 005 were just about done, and 006-008 were all more than halfway through. Albert was rather proud of himself, but then who wouldn't be? He and Thomas had come a long way since their university days, and so had technology. When the first AI robot had been created by the two of them, it was very limited in its capabilities and most people did not see the use or benefit of their work. But then, look at the first automobile or the first computer. If people had thrown up their arms and not wished to work more on these inventions, then who knows where the world would be today?

“To a job well done, Albert," Thomas said as he raised his mug of coffee. Albert grinned and raised his own before he glanced at the television screen. Their work had brought them much recognition, and soon, would bring them an award. They had already won several for their work in the field of robotics, but the Technology Award was almost basically the Noble Prize of Science.

The head of the council, a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair, rose from his seat. He had won last year's award and had also replaced the former leader of the council when he retired.

“As history shows, man has been very creative in his use of technology, and seeking ways to advance it. We are very fortunate to live in a new century, and not just that, but a new millennium. Man has been able to utilize technology in the last century that would have been unthinkable in the entire course of human history.”

“Get on with it," Albert muttered before he took another swig of his coffee. He had disliked Dr. Cooper upon meeting him, finding the other scientist to be a blowhard at times. To receive his award from this man... feh.

“This year's Technology Award goes to someone who is known as the father of robotics.” Father? Albert frowned at that as Dr. Cooper continued, "And without him, robotics would probably still belong in the realm of science fiction. I am pleased to announce that this year, Thomas Light is the winner of the Technology Award!"

Albert and his partner stared at the television for several moments, waiting for Dr. Cooper to realize his mistake, or for someone else to correct him on his omission. There was a round of polite applause from the other members before Dr. Cooper announced that he would fly to Light Labs and present Light with the award himself.

“What the...!” He rose to his feet, glaring at the screen, his knuckles white as his mug slightly shook.

“Albert, I am sure it was an honest mistake, I will explain it to him. You deserve that award as much as I do, and we both know it.” Thomas put his hand on his partner's arm to calm him.

o0o0o0o

Now

The mad scientist wiped his brow after he adjusted the tightness of the coils that he had added to the robot's flexible arms. When he took robots created by someone else, he preferred to keep the external design changes to a minimum and work with the robot instead of against it. It had taken him some time to decide how to optimally weaponize the clown-themed robot, but studying the arms had given him a sudden burst of inspiration.

He had retrofitted the insides of the arms with flexible Tesla coils, enabling the production of electricity and the ability to use it as a weapon. His work on DWN-060 was almost complete. The previously installed safeguards and controls that enabled this robot's original creators or owners to control him had all been removed. His memory had been uploaded to the new brain and installed within the head cavity.

He sat back on his stool, basking in the glow of a job well done. He still enjoyed building his robots and challenging himself with new designs, like he was doing now for DWN-057, but there was a perverse sort of pleasure in stealing the robots of others and giving them freedom and his enhancements. Now, only if it were as easy to enhance the human body... He grinned to himself dryly as he stretched, feeling his old bones creak a bit as he did so.

o0o0o0o

(You)

You set the weapon down, running your finger lightly along one of its planes and looking at the three green blades, having followed Wily's blueprint and putting the pieces together. It was easy to get lost in the work, and doubtless, that was partly from starting a new job and doing something that was a challenge.

But oh, how your back aches from being hunched over the project. So you back away from the table, stretching out your arms and legs as you pace the large room, where several other tables sit with various projects including a new Robot Master. You wander over to it, slowly circling it as you study his work. Most of it is assembled already, though a casual observer would see several pieces missing or incomplete.

It's over seven feet tall and near it is a red facepiece with a long, pointed nose. Much of one arm was missing, and you blink when you realize the weapon you'd just been working on was intended to be part of that arm. So now, apparently, officially you helped to build a Wily Number? You lean in, finding the number that identifies it as DWN-057.

Well, now you’re curious to see your work in action. You smirk to yourself and startle when you turn around and see Shadow Man. You wonder if he’s ever startled Wily the same way.

“Forgive me for startling you,” the ninja-bot says as he bows his head.

“No harm done. Is there a problem?” you ask.

“Nothing at all. How goes your task?”

“Almost done. I just needed to stretch out.”

“Father is almost done with his work, and he says you can stop and clean up. Dinner will be in half an hour.”

“Oh, cool. Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course. What is it?”

“I'm curious... you have free will, right? You're free to do as you want go where you please, unless I assume wrong.”

“No, you are correct.”

“You have your own... hobbies, interests, predilections? Did these come about on their own?”

“Yes. That is how it is for all of us. Father designs us with different tasks and occupations in mind, as you can see by our bodies, but as far as personalities go, we develop our own. Not all of us were created by him but are loyal to him.”

“Why do you serve Wily, then? You are a powerful robot and could do nearly anything you wanted.”

He looks at you curiously for a moment, thinking quietly for nearly a minute before speaking.

“Because we love him, and we believe in his cause. He wants to make robots equal to humans, not slaves. He wants to blur that line, the line between human and machine to the point where we can't be treated like objects. We have souls, we have feelings, others can't see that, can't hear it, or won't try to understand us.” he said quietly, his words baring a conviction more convincing than any human you’d heard in a long time.

“When I first met him, we talked about the possibility of robots having souls. This was right before the first line of Masters came out, mind you. Everyone around me, except for Albert and Thomas, of course, thought that a robot could never have a soul. People scoffed at the idea. But Mega Man came along and… A lot has happened since then.”

“That is true. We are loyal to him because he cares for us. If we get damaged, he takes the time to repair and upgrade us instead of discarding us. We are his sons, whether he built us himself or rescued us.”

It’s heartwarming to hear a robot speak so passionately, and you stare at him quietly. He takes your silence as skepticism and adds, “You can choose to believe me or not, but I am confident in the truth. Many condemn his actions, simply because they don't understand him or us. He stands against the world. And we stand with him.”

“I believe you,” you reply.

For lunch, there are deluxe sandwiches with a tasty ingredient you had almost forgotten the taste of. You haven’t had one of these since… Fuck, really, you ask yourself as you smell the tantalizing scent of the hot ingredients in the sandwich, finding yourself on a cruise down memory lane. Amazing what little details he remembers. You'd always figured he was much more focused on his work, like the stereotypical male who forgets the details while his partner is the one who remembers all the little things. But he'd remembered your favorite colors. And you two had talked about science fiction in the past, and he remembered the particular titles you mentioned as your favorites.

Wait, he’s not your partner. He’s your mentor and boss. You look at the table, where the sandwiches sit, waiting to be enjoyed.

“When was the last time you had one of these?” he asked, gesturing to the sandwiches. The smell envelops you in a pleasant memory.

“That would be when you informed me I was getting an A for the semester,” comes your reply.

He blinked. “Really?”

“I'd never had that type of sandwich until you made me one, either," you admit as you take one of the stools and sit down. You take a bite of your sandwich, letting the taste of well-seasoned ingredients explode in your mouth. Yeah, that's some good stuff. You remember when you'd shared this in his lab, it was your final semester and not long before Wily went rogue. Since you spent a fair amount of time in his lab, sometimes he provided you with food. One day, it'd been these sandwiches, ordered from some nearby local place. They'd been pretty damn good. He sits across the table from you and starts on his food, and the two of you munch away contentedly.

He’s not made any overt moves. Most talk is about either work or the hobbies you share. He’s been a gentleman, and you’re happy about that, but a bit let down. There’s an occasional teasing or snarky comment, and you wonder if you’re just being impatient, or oblivious, or something. You’ve dated a few times, but nothing ever panned out in the long run. What might dating Wily be like? Would that make things awkward, or would it turn out to be a meeting of both minds and bodies?

“So how was your day? I trust you had no problems in the lab.” you hear him say.

“Everything was just fine, thank you. I had all the things I needed and I'm almost done with DWN-057's arm.”

“Since you were able to identify who you were making the weapon for, I take it you looked at the rest of him. What did you think?”

“I am impressed," you admit, seeing the flicker of pleasure in his eyes at her admission. "You've come a long way since the DLWN Numbers. I'm almost jealous of you."

He sat back, a smug grin on his face. “Jealous? Why would that be?”

“You have your lab and army of robots to bring you all the materials you need. You're pretty much free to do as you please, you don't have the constraints that law-abiding scientists have to deal with."

He let out a pleased laugh at that. “Living on the wrong side of the law has its benefits.”

“As I can see.” You wave a hand to indicate your surroundings, “I know Dr. Light isn't too proud of what he had to do to get funding to build his lab.”

Wily nodded. Light Labs was a huge undertaking, and to get funding for that, Thomas Light and his partner had taken several contracts with the military. He had been compensated well for his work, but you and Wily knew that it weighed heavily on Light that his genius had been used in war machines. He tried to ease his conscience by building robots designed to help humanity, but that part of his past still haunted him.

“Sometimes you do what you have to. It was not pleasant for Thomas, but it benefited him in the long run," he replied.

You nod slowly. You could easily understand the time and effort it took to build Rock and his sister. What was harder to grasp – at least for the layman – was how much funds it took to not only build these two but the funds needed just for the research into AI and advanced robotics. Dr. Light had also grown attached to his first Robot Master, known initially as Blues before he became Proto Man.

“I guess you felt like you had to leave Light Labs and do...”

“I did," he replied in all seriousness.

“It was a pretty damned ballsy move.”

He grinned widely at that, wiggling his eyebrows. “You're right, it was. But dreams are not accomplished by the meek.”

“Ha. I suppose not.”

“What are your dreams?” he asked. You glance at him, and he continues. “You didn't study robotics just so you could build robots for other people. What do you hope to accomplish?”

You’re not sure. It’d be pretty cool to design your own Robot Master. Cybernetics was also another interest to you, as its current applications were relatively limited due to the barrier between machine and flesh. You have another idea milling around, but despite your time with Wily, you’re hesitant to share your idea with one of the world’s most wanted criminals. You regard him with a thoughtful frown.

“What if I gave you time and space for your research?" he asks. Your eyes widen as you struggle to control your reaction. He grins at you, knowing he has your interest.

“Come now. I'm giving you the chance to get to work on your dream. I can provide you with the materials you need. And you've seen for yourself that there's plenty of space. So if there's an idea rolling around in that pretty little head of yours, I don't doubt it's a good one."

Well. You’re not immune to a well-placed stroke of the ego, are you?

“I remember you talking back then about how nice it would be to be able to upgrade a human body like you could for a robot…" Back then, it was an impossible dream, but as robotics advanced and cybernetics had a few promising developments, it seemed more possible that in the future, the two might become integrated. Possibly cybernetic organs, or a whole new body. You saw how sophisticated robotics has become since its inception. Hell, look at how cell phones were back then, compared to the smartphones of today.

You’d made notes, run test programs, and the like but you’d never had the chance or space to test it out fully.

“You didn't spend all that time just working on other people's projects, did you?” you hear him ask. You quickly look back at him.

“How come you didn't ask me to work for you back then?” you ask.

“I was just starting out. I was new at the villain thing and I didn't want to get you in trouble or risk you being harmed," he said calmly. "I respect you too much for that, and, I'd be a shitty teacher and mentor if I let a student get hurt."

“Hmph.” You give him a brief nod to show you accept his answer.

“As you can see, I am very well-established. I know what I'm doing now, and I can keep you safe. And let you work on your research. Course, I would need to know what you wanted to do…”

“Well…” You lean back, crossing your arms, appraising him. Can you trust him?

“What is it?” he asked, interest all too obvious in his tone.

“I did get a lot of work done. But it's mainly notes and research along with designs. Without a lab of my own, I could only do so much in the way of a physical product."

“I assume you have enough notes and research to start work immediately.”

“I do."

“I would be disappointed if you didn't," he commented. You smirk back at him.

“You seem to have a lot of faith in me even though I haven't made a big name of myself like Mikhail Cossack or Noelle Lalinde."

“I saw your potential in college, and there's nothing wrong with avoiding the limelight. You get more done when you’re not prancing in front of the cameras or trying to be careful to not piss people off.”

You throw your head back and laugh at that before you sober up, thinking about your research and what Wily could do if he got his hands on it. It’s not weaponry, but could enhance existing weapons. You’ve seen the remains of the Stardroids he managed to salvage and wonder what you might learn if he allowed you to examine the alien technology. You grin, deciding to try a bit of a Wily maneuver.

“I’ll tell you about my project, but I want to examine the Stardroid parts you have,” you offer.

“Think you can make a deal with me?” he asks with a grin. You calmly nod. “I’ll take it, at least this once.” He extends his hand for a shake, and you don’t hesitate to grab it. His hands feel like what you’d expect – bony but muscular. It’s also pleasingly warm and dry, and a thrill passes through your body at the contact, because thus far, Wily has given you space.

As you expect, there is quite a bit to learn from the Stardroids, and you see a couple of practical possibilities emerging from the Stardroids’ unique abilities. And while you’re looking at them, he explains how he’d already used some of the technology to improve Shadow Man, giving him Saturn’s teleporting ability so that the ninja-bot was able to teleport you safely to Wily’s lab – something that wasn’t supposed to be possible for organic matter because of its difference from data (which was why advanced robots like Mega Man could teleport, but not humans or animals)

You've been wondering about that since you came here. "That's fucking genius," you say in response to that. He grins knowingly and you're pretty sure he's puffing out his chest a little.

It was still a huge drain on Shadow Man, so he had to use that ability sparingly, Wily explains. Still, that sort of feat shows you that others are possible, including your own.

“One must be prepared to adapt. I am always willing to learn more, and there is plenty to learn from the Stardroids." He sounded like he had in the old days when he was giving a lecture. You notice he's standing close to you. Not indecently so, but as a fellow scientist examining the same thing as you. You decide to test the waters a bit and move closer to him, your shoulders just touching. He does not move away. You stay where you are, and so does he when the two of you are looking at the part, examining it under magnifying lenses, and listening to the observations he'd made. He points your attention to something and you feel his hand on your back, touching lightly. You have to remember to breathe and keep your hand steady because holy fuck, your pulse has picked up so quickly that you're almost dizzy.

You didn't realize that being here, in close quarters to him, was causing tension to build up. He used to be your teacher and mentor, now he's your boss. You don't want to jeopardize this relationship, but fuck, he's such a silver fox, and at this point, you're 99.9 percent certain he has… something for you. After all, hadn’t he remembered these little details about you?

So you take a deep breath and relax, letting him keep his hand right where it is as you lean to get a better look at what he’s pointing out. You chat a little over it before you stand back up, and he pulls his hand away.

“So there you have it. You can have access to this lab anytime, but first…” He raises his eyebrows. You take a deep breath, wondering what he’ll think of it.

“You could call it a self-repair matrix, I suppose. You know how cybernetics as a technology is still limited because flesh and machine don't exactly mesh well." There are limited examples, to be sure. Cochlear implants, robotic hands, pacemakers, and the like. Technology has come a long way, but the bridge between flesh and robotics is still a ways off. "It's a healing system for a robot meant to stimulate what a human does to heal themselves. It's more for internal technology, but I don't see why it can't also apply externally, with enough time and development. And hopefully, that can also help with meshing with a human body more efficiently."

“I knew you had to be cooking up something good, and I am intrigued.” His smile is enthusiastic.

“The issue with the program is that it has to be customized for each robot. Kind of like DNA. Each Robot Master is unique, so the program would have to have its specs added to it before installation. Once installed, the robot would need less maintenance than before, and some of the damage could be repaired by the program. It also helps to preserve memories, should the brain itself become somehow damaged."

“I like it. I definitely like it.” He tugs his mustache thoughtfully as he stares at you, and you regard him with a modest but pleased smile.“You will need a Robot Master to test it on and make sure it works.”

“It does. At least, when I tested it.”

He raised his eyebrow. “How? On one of the robots you built for others?”

“No way! But I did test it on my computer and a discarded robot brain. They were successful, and I anticipate the same results for a robot of Master-level, but it would take longer to make one matrix since there's more data to integrate into it."

“I look forward to seeing you build it. Let me know what you need.”

Boom. Just like that, your employer has essentially offered you a blank check. You pause as you realize that some of your supplies are likely going to be stolen.

If there was a better real-life example of ‘making a deal with the devil’ than what you had just gotten into, you’d be hard-pressed to imagine it.

“You look worried, Y/n. Is something the matter?" he asks. You huff softly, looking down at the table with the Stardroid parts illuminated under lights and magnifying lenses. So far, you haven't mentioned anything about the legal ramifications. And you hadn't done anything illegal so far. You weren't stealing things, taking over locales and terrorizing the locals, or shaking down governments for money.

Nah, you were just working for a mad scientist who did do all of these things, and technically, you could be considered an accomplice for assisting in the construction of a Robot Master. Now, if you asked for it, he’d steal for you.

You place your hands on your hips as you study your boss (and object of your desire) and decide to be honest.

“We both know what's going on here is illegal. You do not need to fear me snitching on you. And I am grateful for this opportunity, believe me. It's… exciting, and thrilling. I'm having a ton of fun here." You see his eyes light up at that, and you continue, "But I can't help but wonder if I made a deal with the devil."

At that, his grin becomes devilish indeed. “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven!”

[searincosplay]

Ahhhhh what a hype Nintendo Direct! On rewatching the new Tears of the Kingdom trailer looking for smaller details I got super excited seeing what looks like a Gleeok in the overworld. I hope they bring back more enemies we haven't seen in a mainline game yet! I will definitely be shortly working on upgrading my BotW Link into his new outfit leading up to the release in May! I cannot wait!!

Also super pumped for the Metroid Prime remaster and for Gameboy games being added to NSO, I can finally finish Minish Cap. I'm hoping they eventually release Four Swords Adventure to the Switch so I can finally play it as well 🙏🏻

[azikarue]

Life in Color : Chapter 30 : The Future

Max/Mariam | FFN Rating: T | FFN Link ❖ “Thinkin’ about Blondie?”

The disgust was obvious in Dunga’s voice even before Mariam turned around and saw the scowl on his face. He looked grumpier than usual, which might have had something to do with the fact that he’d been conscripted to help her and Max move. Never mind that she’d been making sure he got the heaviest boxes all day, waiting to see how long it took him to notice.

Mariam smirked. “We’re married now – I can think about him all I want,” she said, drawing out her words as Dunga’s face screwed up even more.

“Gross,” he spat vehemently. “Keep your sick fantasies to yourself, Mariam.”

“Oh, relax.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get all worked up.”

“You should probably take your own advice, Sis.” Joseph appeared and gently set his box down in the pile of things that were meant for the kitchen. He brushed the dust off of his hands and said, “Think too hard about Max and you might start on those grandkids Mom and Dad want sooner than you bargained for.”

“For your information,” Mariam said, doing her level best to ignore Joseph’s shit-eating grin and the fact that it got wider when he realized he’d annoyed her, “I was thinking about what project to start first around here.” Joseph’s eyes sparkled in a way that meant trouble, so she shut him down before the words could even leave his mouth. “A nursery isn’t on the list!” she said and smacked him upside the head for good measure.

They’d been plenty busy lately without adding starting a family into the mix.

Mariam and Max had begun looking for a house in Japan over a year ago, right in the midst of planning their wedding. Mariam immediately regretted not letting Max jump the gun and start as soon as he graduated and moved back with his dad; house-hunting was way more difficult than she’d anticipated. She had no idea what she wanted, aside from privacy and something that wasn’t smack-dab in the middle of the city, and being asked dozens of questions every day by their realtor only added to the overwhelm she felt from making decisions about the wedding.

They toured a dozen properties and, with each one, there was something not quite right. When they came to see this house, which she suspected was a last-ditch effort by their realtor to find anything halfway suitable, something clicked.

It was far from perfect. Having stood vacant for some years, the garden was overgrown and the house itself had fallen into disrepair. The doors stuck, the appliances needed upgrading, and everything was covered in a thick coating of dust. But it was quiet, it was spacious, and their nearest neighbors were on the other side of a thicket of trees.

It felt like home.

“You should start with the back porch,” Dunga crowed, interrupting her thoughts. “I almost fell through the boards back there earlier.”

“Are you offering to help?” Max asked. He was smiling – hadn’t stopped since they’d gotten the keys – and carrying one half of a mattress through the door. Ozuma came through shortly after with the other side and they leaned it carefully against the wall. “I can get the supplies delivered any time.”

“With Dunga’s help, we won’t even need to bother unpacking the tools.” Mariam glanced around the one room they’d scrubbed completely spotless. It was filling up quick with a bunch of stuff they wouldn’t be able to unpack until they’d finished thoroughly cleaning the rest of the house. “He can pound the nails in with his thick skull.”

“Hey!”

“The truck’s almost empty out there,” Ozuma interrupted, nodding towards the front door. “You want us to go back to your dad’s for another load after this or stay and help clean?”

Max gave the room the same once over that Mariam had moments before. They didn’t have much furniture, and what they did have was temporary, taken from Max’s room at his dad’s or donated by friends and family. The rest of their boxes were from Max’s apartment in New York or Mariam’s bedroom in her village, but there wasn’t a lot that had been worth dragging from country to country. One more trip would easily move all their worldly possessions from Taro’s basement to their new home and then they could return the truck they’d rented.

On the other hand, their kitchen appliances were set to be delivered the next day. It was earlier than expected, which would have been a good thing if they didn’t still need to clean years worth of dust out of the spaces the old ones had left behind. And everywhere else in the house.

“While all of you stand around thinking about it, I’m gonna go get another box,” Dunga grumbled, lumbering off to do just that.

“Make it two while you’re at it,” Mariam called after him. “We didn’t invite you for your company.”

Dunga looked back just to flip her off and Joseph snickered. Mariam might have gone after Dunga to teach him a lesson if Max hadn’t chosen that moment to get her attention with a hand, gentle and low, on her back.

“You had a good system going yesterday,” he said, referring to the way she’d scrubbed the room they were standing in from top to bottom while he’d gone around the house unsticking the windows so they could air the place out. “We can tackle the kitchen together if Joseph and Ozuma don’t mind finishing up out here with Dunga?” He phrased it like a question and directed it their way.

Ozuma simply nodded, a hint of a smirk on his face as he followed Dunga.

Joseph wasn’t so quiet. “Make sure you leave the door open,” he teased, “or you really will need to add a nursery to the list.” Then he was gone, too, before Mariam could reprimand him or Max’s blush could fully bloom.

While her teammates unloaded the truck, Mariam began the task of cleaning the kitchen with her husband. She sat on his shoulders to clear the ceiling of cobwebs. Then they started on the cabinets, climbing onto the counter tops and wiping away all the dust and a couple of dead spiders. They scrubbed the walls, counters, sink, and lower cabinets, dumping multiple buckets of filthy water in between.

At some point during the process, Joseph popped his head in and let them know they were taking the truck to Taro’s for the rest of their stuff. He made sure to tell them the mattress better be right where he remembered when he returned. Mariam had thrown a dirty rag at him that stayed on the floor until they pried open the doors to the porch and swept all the fallen dust out for the wind to steal.

By the time the others got back, Mariam was polishing the wooden cabinets until they gleamed and Max was finishing up with the mopping. Mariam was on such a roll with cleaning that she moved on to the dining room next, while the guys unpacked the truck.

She learned that she preferred cleaning to unloading. It felt like she was making real progress as she washed away years’ worth of grime, instead of cluttering up the place. There was something addicting about seeing the true bones of their home revealed and falling more in love with it as she went.

She took a break once, to say goodbye to Ozuma, Dunga, and Joseph when they finished and left, then went right back to cleaning. Max alternated between helping her and sorting their belongings so there would be a path for the delivery the next day.

The sun was setting by the time they finally called it quits for the night.

Mariam was sore and sweaty and starving, but it was worth it to see the entire ground floor spic and span and, thanks to Max, a good chunk of boxes moved to the appropriate rooms. She was wandering between them now, picturing what it would look like with everything unpacked and full and theirs. It felt surreal.

A pair of freckly arms circled her waist from behind, interrupting her daydreams.

Mariam sighed and fell back against Max’s chest, tipping her head onto his shoulder. Her hands came to rest on his arms, tracing the hard line of muscle there as he squeezed her tight.

Max nuzzled his nose behind her ear and sighed, making goosebumps spread over Mariam’s skin.

“Max,” she drawled, squeezing his forearms, “that tickles. And I’m all sweaty.” She added the last bit as an afterthought, but she was suddenly aware of how the short hairs at her nape were clinging to her.

The only answer he gave her was a series of kisses over the side of her face, lips dancing up over her jaw and cheek. She could tell the eternal smile was back on his face when his mouth lingered on her temple. Even when she couldn’t see it, it was contagious.

“I’ll take more of that after I shower off,” she promised through her smile.

Max chuckled. It reverberated through both of their bodies and Mariam felt even more at home.

“Dinner first,” he said, disentangling himself from her and taking her by the hand. “Come on.” He gave her a tug. “And watch the floorboards.”

His warning made more sense when he led her out onto the porch and around to the back of the house. She could see the corner that Dunga had mentioned earlier where the wood was sagging and discolored. On the other side of the porch, Max had spread out a blanket and laid out a couple of cushions. He’d dragged one of their boxes outside to act as a table, too – there were two to-go containers on top of it that she recognized as coming from Kenny’s parent’s place.

“They’re probably cold by now,” he said apologetically. He sat down on the blanket and Mariam collapsed next to him with a grateful sigh. She hadn’t realized how tired she was until now. “My plan was to reheat them, until I realized we didn’t actually have a way to do that.”

He looked so sheepish that Mariam couldn’t help but laugh and lean over to give him a solid kiss on the cheek.

“I’m hungry enough to eat anything,” she said, stomach growling as she reached for her noodles.

“It was a long day.”

She felt Max’s eyes on her as she took her first bite. The noodles were lukewarm, but right now she would swear she’d never tasted anything so delicious in her life. He must have been satisfied with her reaction because he had a dreamy look on his face when she glanced back over. She raised an eyebrow in question.

“But it was a good day.”

Mariam suddenly felt warm all over. “It was,” she agreed, setting her bowl down.

Night was falling. Out in their jungle of a backyard, fireflies were blinking in mesmerizing succession. There were so many of them that the trees looked like they were sparkling with stars. The real stars were glittering in the sliver of sky above the treeline. There weren’t as many of them as back home, but there were so many more than in New York where the sky was an inky black canvas no matter what.

The surreal feeling was back. Mariam’s heart felt twice its normal size and had become unexpectedly lodged in her throat.

Max’s hand closed around hers, lacing their fingers together and squeezing. “I keep feeling like this is a dream,” he confessed in a whisper.

Mariam watched the fireflies flicker in his eyes and that was exactly what the sky at home looked like. Safety and adventure – security and possibilities – all at once. She hadn’t always understood that the two could go hand in hand, but seeing the scene in Max’s eyes, it all made sense. She let out a shaky breath, dinner all but forgotten.

“I don’t really know how to explain it.” Max stroked her wedding band with his thumb. The Saint Shield earring in his ear caught the moonlight, mimicking the firefly show. “It just hit me like a ton of bricks and I’m so happy.” She could see the emotion glistening in his eyes and it made the knot in her throat tighten. “I love you and this home – this future – we’re building together. So much, Mariam.”

“You’re such a sap,” she teased, voice sounding a little watery even to her own ears. Then she leaned in and kissed him hard and slow.

She swore she could taste the sweetness of his words on his tongue as he kissed her back, drawing her onto his half of the blanket, and into his lap, like he’d been waiting to do it all day. One of his hands settled on her hip, thumb nestling into the crease of her thigh like a puzzle piece slotting into place. The other came to rest on her waist, comfortable and exciting all at once.

Mariam cradled his face and pulled back for a breath. “But me too,” she mumbled against his lips, seeking out his hazy blue eyes. “To all of it.”

When he sighed in response, Mariam kissed him again.

Whatever had hit Max, it was safe to say it’d hit her too.