#ace dropping his gift for dramatic effect

[olivarryprompts]

Fanfic Friday #11

Welcome to Fanfic Friday! Each Friday I post a new here and on A03. Enjoy x

Read and save it on A03 here https://archiveofourown.org/works/33567529

{fancy suits from dad}

Ships: Peter Stark & Tony Stark, Pepper Pots/Tony Stark

Warnings: swearing, just fluff otherwise :)

Wc: 2,319

Here’s the thing, Peter Parker grew up in Stark Tower, which eventually became Avengers Tower of course. So whilst his whole class was buzzing about their field trip, all he could think was, “shit, shit shit.” His dad was going to embarrass the hell out of him. His Aunts and Uncles were going to endlessly tease him.

So, no Peter was not looking forward to the field trip. Not in the slightest. He still wanted to go, though. He knew that the rumors of his internship being fake were started by Flash, the annoying teen. He also knew that Flash had not once said his real name, preferring the name Penis Parker. It didn’t bother him as much as it used to. Also since highschool began, Flash had calmed down with his bullying. Well, maybe Flash hadn’t calmed down and high school was just bigger and he had thicker skin. And a new support system with plenty of people to go to.

Peter had been adopted by the Starks when he was a mere ten years old. At first, he was terrible at receiving any gifts or even too much attention. Slowly but surely, he got more and more used to it. Now, he wouldn’t not know what to do if any of that was taken away. Plus, he really did find a liking for expensive suits, however shallow. He looked good in them, and his father always insisted on buying him more and more. Tony would always find an excuse to spoil the kid a little more, however much Pepper tried to stop him.

“Peter, please see me after class regarding an urgent matter.”

Brough out of his thoughts, Peter swiftly nodded his head.

He looked at the board to see the words from before still written on them, “Field Trip to Stark Industries!” It might as well have said, “Dig Peter Stark’s Grave!”

“So, let’s get started with today’s lesson, graphing imaginary numbers on the complex plane!” He’d done this one a while back with his father. Something about not only learning applicable science and engineering. Peter tapped his glass, and the episode of Arrow he’d been watching on the car ride over began playing. He’d be ever grateful for his father’s gift of EDITH to him. Pepper had tried to ban him from wearing them to school, but hastily gave up when Peter pulled the spiderman danger card.

“Alright, class dismissed. Please remember to do this homework pages 11-18 on this unit’s homework handout.”

Peter, forgetting his teacher's previous request, was very glad to be on his way home. He was one foot out of the door when the teacher called his name. Now, his day had gone pretty well up to that point. Bucky made pancakes for breakfast, which were delicious. There was wayyy less traffic on the way to school. He’d aced an essay and a couple of quizzes, and then he even participated in PE effectively. But alas, all good things had to come to an end.

“Mr. Parker? The discussion.”

“Right,” Peter thought, joining the teacher at his desk.

“Peter, you are truly a great kid. I know you’ve been through a lot recently and in your life, but it is no excuse to make up an internship. We both know that it is not real. Now, acknowledging that you have a bright future, the administration and I have come forward with an offer. If you agree to write an apology, expressing that you understand what you did was wrong and immoral, you will both be allowed to come on the trip and no punishment will be given to you. If you choose to not take this opportunity, you will be banned from the trip and will be chastised.

Peter just stood there, not really comprehending. Apparently Flash’s little rumors were a lot bigger than he anticipated.

“I-i-I’m not lying,” was all he could manage. He had filed all the right paperwork and proved his internship.

“I’m sorry to hear that you will not come forward with the truth. You have up until the day before the trip to hand in the letter if you change your mind. Goodbye Peter.”

Peter just let his legs take him out of the classroom, then out of the school, and then to the road, a couple blocks away, where his dad picks him up from.

“Hello mini-me.”

“Hey,” Peter said, jumping into the passenger seat.

“‘Hi Dad, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to pick me up each and every day. Sick new car by the way! I’d love to drive it sometime!”

Peter just rolled his eyes with a smile, “Car looks great dad. McLarren’s are superior yet.”

“Ungrateful, so so ungrateful. What’s got you in a mood then?”

“Nothin,” Peter said, pulling out his phone.

“Oh come on, tell me. Tell me or I’ll call Ted.”

“Ned, Dad. We’ve been friends for like three years.”

“Not the point.”

“Just something at school.”

“Wow how very descriptive. You know I’m trying to do the whole feelings thing here, and you should appreciate that coming from my emotionally stunted self.”

“You’re so dramatic. Basically we’re having a field trip to your tower, and I’m not allowed to go because the teacher doesn’t think I really have an “internship.” Which, to be fair I don’t but that’s on you and not me.”

“Nah na na. I offered you an internship, and you said I’d be bored.”

“It would be. Doing a project for your company under strict supervision of some person would be sucky. I mean I can do anything I want from the lab you built me.”

“I know, but remember technically you are my intern. Remember we did that whole personal intern bullshit for the school.”

“Oh right. Is that why you keep harassing me about submitting all my completed projects.”

“No, that’s all your mother. Something about not wanting a lawsuit over a fake internship.”

“Make sense. She tends to be a lot smarter than you.”

“Ah, I feel so attacked. The abuse I suffer.”

“You’re terrible.”

“I am internally crying, kid. Sobbing.”

“Shut up,” we laughed.

“Who’s home?”

“You saw Buck and Sam this morning. Nat and Steve came back from their mission this afternoon. Thor and Loki are back for dinner tonight.. Strange might be coming round, not sure though. Cliff and the family aren’t back for at least a couple weeks. Oh and Bruce is wholed up in his lab as usual.”

“Shit. Everyone staying till the end of the week.”

“Yeah, oh the field trip. You’re screwed. You should have not told me.”

“Ughhhhh!!!”

“I love your life Petey.”

Peter walked into the kitchen and saw Steve reading a newspaper.

“Uncle Steve! Your back!” he smiled, dropping his bag off near the sofa. Steve got up to give the smaller boy a hug.

“Yep. Mission completed.”

“Nice. Can you tell me about it?”

“Yeah, it was nothing too interesting. We just needed some more intel into a terrorist organization stationed in the US. Most of the mission was recon. The next steps are being taken in a couple weeks.”

“Good to know there’s an active terrorist organization out there,” Peter said lightly.

Steve just smiled, not quite understanding the modern humor.

“Where is everyone else?” he said, realizing the living room was not in it’s normal chaotic state that he’d come to love. The chaos was his favorite reminder that he had so many people. He liked having lots of people, even after all this time.

“Nat and Buck are training, they invited you to join if you want. Bruce is in his lab, and dont worry he slept and ate last night. Not sure about the rest.”

“Right, thanks. I think I’m going to go train.”

Before he knew it, it was Friday morning, and his school was coming to his home. He was going to try very hard to ignore them. To do so, he asked his mum to let him sit in on some meetings. He had an easy in to the R&D and mechanical side of the company via the other interns. He was actually planning on hanging out with some of the “other” interns later that day. They were always happy to let Pete in on their projects and let him give them a hand. But he was always interested in getting more detail about the business side of the company, and he liked to get a window into it. Pepper was always happy to show her son the ropes. I mean he was heir to the company after all, even if he didn’t know yet.

He asked his mum to only schedule meetings after 12 as he requested a sleep in. Pepper was always happy when Peter slept as he was a little too much like his father. So, he woke bright and early at 11:00 o’clock.

After a scroll through his phone and a quick shower, he was ready to pull on his far too expensive Brunellio’s custom suit. It was one of his favorites. His father had got it custom made when he was in Italy, and told him he simply could not resist getting one for the kid. Pepper just smiled.

He had a large breakfast (enhanced metabolism) and headed towards the 34th floor where his first meeting was located. He’d been shadowing his mum for almost a year now whenever it was convenient, so he had the rointine down. He was almost sure he could take over a few of her meetings.

“Hi honey,” Pepper said, giving the boy a quick kiss on the cheek on the way to her own chair beside him. Peter blushed before resuming his professional posture and facial expression.

“Good morning everyone, as you can see Peter will be joining us today. I want to talk about some of the services we provide for our employees and their feedback. I’m aware we have a large portion to talk about so Kendra please take it away on that front.”

The first meeting went smoothly as planned. It was a discussion on the progress of the internal services, aka the IT department. Peter hadn’t learned much about their IT department, so it was good to listen in to. Pre these meetings, he, of course, does research into the background stuff, so he’s not completely lost. Pepper’s assistant usually provides him with a packet of info about the Stark Industries side of things. He is also given a list of key words and concepts he might want to make sure he understands. The research is fun for him, it makes him feel all professional.

Usually he spoke during the meetings, asking a couple questions and suggesting some ideas, but for this one he just learned and took in. The next meeting, however, was very much so his field. He’d spoken a lot with advertising, becoming very interested in the data analysis behind it. He even took a stats class so he could keep up. In that one he asked questions Pepper was on the verge of asking twice. He also contributed to the analysis of data once. Pepper usually liked him to participate as it was good for him, but he always felt bad suggesting stuff to the senior adults. He usually spoke to his mum or dad about projects for the company, preferring that.

They hung back in the room of the second meeting.

“Good job in this one Pete. Took two questions right off my tongue.”

“Thanks ma,” he said, always appreciating some approval.

“That’s all I’ve got for you today, kid. Rest of the stuff is, ya know.”

“Course. Thanks for these two. It was good to learn about internal affairs a bit more. Have a gap of knowledge there.”

“Yeah. Was that the first time meeting our CIT?”

“I believe so.”

“Well, next time we have a broader IA meeting, I’ll pull you outta school,” Pepper suggested.

“Really? That’d be epic.”

“Course, hun. Jarvis, sort that out please.”

“Of course Mrs. Potts.”

“Thanks J,” Peter yelled.

“Anytime mini-boss. No need to disturb the entire floor.”

“Are AI supposed to be so snarky?”

“Dad programmed it, what else would it be?”

“Valid point.”

“Right, got to run. See you later.”

“Bye, love you mum!”

“Love you too, Pete.”

“Jarvis, could you send me the tour plan for the visiting tour today?”

“Absolutely, sir. They’re on your phone now.”

“Thanks J.”

Looking at the plans Peter smiled. He had successfully avoided them the entire day. It said they were supposed to head back to school at 2:30, and it was about to be three. Smile on his face, he trotted down to the lobby to grab a coffee before going to meet Loki at the arcade. Don’t judge them, it was their thing. Taking the private lift down, and then walking straight to the coffee stand and ordering.

“Mr. Parker!” he heard the angry voice of his teacher, “How dare you show up here aft-”

Shit. shit. Shit.

“Edith, call dad, and tell him it’s urgent in the lobby.”

“Of course Peter.”

“Peter, are you listening to me! You are going to face extreme consequences for this.”

“Your coffee,” the man said, not realizing it was Peter, level ten personal of the tower, that was being yelled at.

“Thanks.”

“How dare you get coffee! In this building! Security!”

Tony arrived spotting his son instantly.

“Kid this best be impor- I see.”

“Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter said weakly.

“Mr. Harrington is it? Please stop harassing my intern.”

“H-he, he is y-your intern?”

“Yes. My favorite. Please exit the building and never question him again. You will be hearing from me.”

Let’s just say, Monday was an interesting day. At least Flash backed off, he was definitely an intern at SI, and no one embarrassed him on the trip.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #109: Emiya (Assassin)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re continuing our trek through Fate Zero with the assassin class Edgemiya, with the ability to alter his own time and everyone’s luck. Despite all his cool powers, he’s still pretty depressed. Oh well, it’s probably nothing a few more builds won’t fix.

Check out Emiya’s build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. I am large- I contain multitudes.” -Walt Whitman

Race and Background

Emiya made a deal with the spirit of humanity to protect the human race, which is exactly why he’d make a great Hobgoblin... I’m kidding, he’s a Variant Human, for +1 Dexterity and Charisma, Arcana proficiency (or whatever else a rocket launcher would fall under idk), and the Crossbow Expert feat, allowing you to ignore loading crossbows, fire well with enemies in melee range, and dual wield hand crossbows. You can control the flow of time, you should be able to fire more than once a round.

You’ve fought in plenty of wars, but it’s hard to call a professional assassin anything but a Criminal. This gives you Deception and Stealth proficiencies.

Ability Scores

This is a pretty mono-ability build- make your Charisma as high as possible. You’re a pretty scary guy, and you shoot good. That’s charisma. Somehow. After that is Dexterity- you’re really stealthy, and really, really fast. Your Intelligence isn’t half bad. You can use plenty of fancy modern weapons, and you can hunt down mages to use them on. Constitution doesn’t have to be that high, you don’t need health if you just don’t get hit. Your Strength isn’t great, but it’s enough to get the job done. We’re dumping Wisdom, though-your entire characterization is about how much you regret making that deal with Alaya. You’re not bad at noticing things though, we’ll just have to patch that up with skills.

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: You have a particular set of skills, and rogues start off with the most, so let’s spend a little time here for now. First level rogues get proficiency with Dexterity and Intelligence saving throws, as well as four rogue skills- Acrobatics to enhance your mobility, Intimidation for that no-nonsense attitude of yours, and Perception and Investigation to hunt down and destroy your enemies.

You also get Expertise, doubling your proficiency bonus for Stealth and Intimidation. Presence Concealment A+ is some good stuff.

You can also add a Sneak Attack bonus to damage done by attacks with advantage or directed at creatures who are occupied with other creatures. Right now, it’s just 1d6. You also learn Thieves’ Cant. It’s a language.

2. Warlock 1: Alaya’s kind of a lot of things to a lot of people, but Hexblades work best for us so a Hexblade it shall be here. As a hex warlock, you learn how to place a Hexblade’s Curse on a creature. It lasts one minute, or until one of you two dies, and you can use it once per short rest. While cursed, you can add your proficiency to damage against the target, all attacks made crit on 19s as well as 20s, and you gain hp when the cursed creature dies.

You also become a Hex Warrior, giving you proficiency with medium armor and martial weapons. You can also use charisma as your attack modifier for one weapon per long rest, as long as it isn’t two-handed. Right now, that means you’re using hand crossbows.

One last benefit of being a warlock is Pact Magic, spells you can cast using Charisma. Grab Eldritch Blast for more shooting and True Strike for more careful shots, Expeditious Retreat for some extra speed, and Cause Fear to drain the luck of one poor sap for up to a minute, rendering them unable to move closer and giving them disadvantage on attacks while you’re in sight for the duration. Sure, making yourself luckier would technically be more directly in line with canon, but it’s a “six in one hand, half a dozen in another” sort of situation.

3. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations, extra ways to customize the Selling Your Soul Experience! You get two right now, but we’re saving one for The Obvious next level. Grab Thief of Five Fates for yet another way to ruin someone’s day. You can cast Bane once per long rest by using a warlock spell slot. This reduces all the saves and attack rolls of three creatures who failed their charisma saves by 1d4 for up to a minute. The DC on those saves, by the by, is 8 plus your proficiency bonus plus your charisma modifier. You can also cast Hex now, in case your enemies weren’t unlucky enough. This makes your attacks deal extra necrotic damage, they get disadvantage on ability checks with one ability, and you can move the effect to another creature if the first drops to 0 hp, which is nice considering it lasts an hour.

4. Warlock 3: Pact of the Blade time! This level lets you summon a magical pact weapon as an action. This weapon always has the benefits of being a Hex Warrior, and thanks to Improved Pact Weapon it can also be a ranged weapon. Specifically, it has to be a Light Crossbow now, because weapon requirements in D&D are obtuse and terrifying.

On a lighter note, you get second level spells now! You can speed up enough to create a Mirror Image of yourself, creating three copies of yourself on the same square you’re standing. If you’d take a hit, there’s a 75% chance a copy will get hit instead and get destroyed, leaving you with only two, and so on.

5. Warlock 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Charisma for better... everything, really.

You can also cast Minor Illusion to leave afterimages further away from yourself, and Blur, which gives creatures attacking you disadvantage.

6. Rogue 2: Back in your other class, you learn how to make Cunning Actions, speeding up your Dash, Disengage, and Hide actions so they can fit in a bonus action instead. 

7. Rogue 3: It’s no surprise that you’re an Assassin. I mean, it’s your class, but it’s also your subclass. As an Assassin, you can Assassinate enemies that are surprised and/or slower than you are. You have advantage on creatures who haven’t taken a turn yet, and hits against surprised creatures are instant criticals. Speaking of advantage, you can use your Steady Aim as a bonus action to give your next attack advantage, at the cost of losing al your movement for the turn. Despite this, you’ll have plenty of ways to move in a pinch if you really have to.

Also, your sneak attack goes up to 2d6.

8. Fighter 1: Yes, it’s another 3-class build. Don’t worry though, this one’s just a splash. As a fighter, you get a fighting style- Archery will make your shots even more accurate than they were before. You can also use your Second Wind as a bonus action for a bit of healing. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding time for a breather, after all.

9. Fighter 2: Second level fighters can use an Action Surge once per short rest to add an extra action to a turn. Save up for a burst of gunfire, or cast Mirror Image and Blur at the same time to become almost invincible have fun with it!

10. Warlock 5: Speaking of doubling up on things, at fifth level warlocks get another Invocation. Thirsting Blade lets you attack twice per action. You can also move fast enough to Blink out of existence. On the end of each turn for a minute, you have a 50% chance to enter the ethereal plane until the start of your next turn.

11. Rogue 4: Use your next ASI to grab the Piercer feat, for +1 Dexterity, the ability to re-roll one die of piercing damage per turn, and an extra critical hit die when you shoot somebody. If you don’t plan on wearing medium armor, this will also increase your AC.

12. Rogue 5: Fifth level rogues gain an Uncanny Dodge, spending your reaction to halve the damage of a single attack. I’d think you wouldn’t get hit by this point, but nat 20s happen to everyone eventually. Also, your sneak attack is 3d6 now.

13. Rogue 6: Use your second round of Expertise to double down on Perception and Investigation. You’re a professional, you’ve got to get results.

14. Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues get Evasion, making you fast enough to outrun fireballs. If an effect makes you roll a dexterity save to halve damage, a failure makes you take half damage now, and a success completely negates it. Your sneak attack reaches its final form at 4d6.

15. Warlock 6: Sixth level hexlocks can make an Accursed Specter once per long rest out of humanoids you kill. They stick around until your next long rest. This is very not in character for you, but free help is free help.

To help with all that killing, you can also cast Spirit Shroud, adding extra damage to short-range combat, preventing healing, and slowing down nearby enemies.

16. Warlock 7: You can now burn spell slots to power gunshots thanks to Eldritch Smite, which adds a lot of force damage to a weapon attack. To help maneuver around the battlefield, you can also cast Dimension Door for a quick burst of speed.

17. Warlock 8: Use your last ASI to maximize your Charisma for stronger spells and weapons. You can also cast Shadow of Moil for that dramatic shadowy look you get at higher ascensions. It also works as yet another reason people really shouldn’t hit you.

18. Warlock 9: Ninth level warlocks max out their spell slots at fifth level, allowing you to cast Far Step for a longer speed-up session. While the spell lasts (it’s concentration, up to a minute) you can use your bonus action to teleport 60′. You also get the invocation Trickster’s Escape, which lets you cast Freedom of Movement for free once per long rest. While active, your latent timewarping prevents you from being slowed down by magical effects or difficult terrain. (At least that’s what it looks like from the outside. They don’t need to know you secretly spent two turns getting through those hedges.)

19. Warlock 10: Our final gift from Alaya is the Armor of Hexes. If you’re going to get hit by a hexcursed creature’s attack, you can use your reaction for a 50/50 chance of ignoring the attack completely.

You can also cast the cantrip Friends this level. You’re scary, this’ll make you scarier for a bit.

20. Warlock 11: Having sixth level spells on short rests would be busted, so instead of growing your spell slots warlocks get a Mystic Arcanum. This lets you cast one sixth level spell once per long rest, like those plebeians with spellbooks. Your spell is the Circle of Death, letting you go full on Reaper on a pretty large area, dealing 8d6 necrotic damage to every creature that fails a constitution save in a 60′ radius sphere. It’s not dexterity, purely because there’s that many bullets flying around.

Pros:

You are very, very good at critical hits. With a doubled chance of critical damage and guaranteed crits on surprised creatures, you’ll be rolling a lot of dice pretty often. Especially since you can take advantage of critical hits easily thanks to your smites and sneak attacks.

While you can dish out damage easily, you’re also great at avoiding damage entirely, with plenty of spells that make you harder to hit, teleportation to get out of tricky spots, and multiple ways to dodge attacks even if they’re critical hits. Your mobility also makes it a lot harder to escape from you.

Maxed out charisma, the archery fighting style, and free advantage from Steady Aim means even after the fight starts you can still deal consistent damage over long periods of time. Your shots are going to land more often than not, and they land pretty hard.

Cons:

While you can deal damage over time, your kit is definitely geared more towards short bursts, because most of your skills are on a strict cooldown, with one or two uses per short rest. This is especially true of your spell slots. Warlocks eat up spells fast, especially if you’re using them for offense and defense.

Your low wisdom means you’re going to be fooled by illusions and charmed pretty easily. As a precaution, it might be best to use up your burst damage skills as soon as possible. You really don’t want to have to turn 9d8 + 4d6 + 12 damage on your party members.

Your HP isn’t that high, barely scraping above 100 at higher levels. While you have a lot of ways to make that last a lot longer than you’d think, there’s always the chance your DM’s getting sick of you surviving everything and will just throw someone with Power Word Kill your way.

[snarkythewoecrow]

Sick Day

by: Snarkymuch

Word count: 3.5k

Rating: T

Summary: Peter gets a call from Tony that makes him believe something's seriously wrong. He rushes to the lake house to make sure Tony is okay, only to find an exhausted Pepper, and Morgan proclaiming that her daddy has the plague. Peter volunteers to watch over Tony so Pepper can have a break. Tony is needy and whiny, Peter is trying his best, but things work out okay in the end.

AN: This is meant to be fun. It’s not to be taken seriously. Honestly, it’s borderline crack.

Read on AO3

Peter lounged on the couch, watching TV. It was the tail end of spring break, and he was spending it home visiting May and his friends. Tony had offered to send him to some place in Mexico, but Peter declined, wanting to relax close to home instead. The chip bag crinkled as he grabbed another Dorito and popped it into his mouth, huffing a laugh at SpongeBob as he took his driving test on the screen.

Just as Peter was grabbing another chip, his phone, which was on the coffee table, began blaring AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. Tony’s ringtone. Wiping the orange residue from the chips off on his shirt, he stretched out an arm, snagging the phone. He swiped to answer and then brought it to his ear.

“Hey, Mr. Stark,” Peter greeted, still half-watching SpongeBob. “What’s up?”

There was a rustling sound and then a cough. “I’m sorry I couldn’t have been better for you.”

Peter’s heart skipped a beat, and he tensed, pushing the chips to the side and sitting up. “What’s going on?”

“Take care of Morgan for me. She looks up to you.”

“Mr. Stark—Tony—What’s wrong? Are you okay?” There was another round of coughing, and Peter was already on his feet. “Tell me where you are.”

“I don’t think I’m gonna make it, Pete. This is it.”

“Are you home? Where are you? I’ll come to you.”

“Home,” Tony said with a raspy voice, “but you don’t need to come.”

Peter grabbed his keys from the dish on the table and bolted out of the door.

xXx

The ride to the lake house felt never-ending. He was pushing the speed limit, but it still felt like he was in slow motion. His mind replayed the conversation he’d had with Tony over and over. He had no idea what could have happened, but it sounded bad. Tony seemed like he was barely hanging on. The man had retired from Iron Man after Thanos, after months of physical therapy and a prosthetic arm. Peter worried that maybe this was some kind of after effect. The universe was refusing to let Tony rest, refusing to give him his happily ever after.

It was just after one o’clock when Peter pulled into the driveway to the lake house. The gravel crunched under the tires as he came to a stop. His palms were sweaty as he got out of the car and looked around. The usual vehicles were in their regular spots. Nothing seemed out of place. It was quiet except for the buzzing sounds of nature and the water lapping the shore.

Avoiding the spring mud, he crossed the yard and went to the door. He brought a hesitant hand up to knock, but before his knuckles hit the wood, the door swung open, startling Peter. He looked down at the little girl who was wearing a surgical mask and oversized dish gloves.

“Petey, daddy has the plague!”

Peter’s mouth opened and then closed, his brows pinching together. He frowned. “He has the what?”

Just then, a very disheveled Pepper stepped behind Morgan. Her hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, stray hairs falling into her face. The only makeup she had on was mascara, and that looked a little smudged. She blew her bangs out of the way and dropped a hand on Morgan’s head, who looked up at her. A tired smile spread on Pepper’s face.

“Lunch is on the table. Why don’t you go eat while I talk to your brother?”

The mask didn’t hide her pout. “But I wanna see Petey.”

Pepper sighed. “Please? There will be time for Peter later.”

Morgan slumped. “Is he gonna fix daddy?”

That made Peter tense. He looked to Pepper, who smiled at him. She looked exhausted. “I don’t think there’s much he can do, but we’ll see.”

Morgan must have decided that was good enough because she spun, pushing past the door and heading into the house. Pepper sagged, tucking her hair behind her ear. Stepping to the side, she gestured for Peter to come inside.

He hesitated but complied.

“What’s going on?” Peter asked as he followed her to the kitchen where Morgan sat, eating her sandwich with rubber gloves still on and mask pushed up on her forehead. “Is Tony okay?”

Pepper grabbed her coffee cup and filled it. Turning back to him, she leaned against the counter. “Tony is—Tony is fine. He’s caught a flu bug from Morgan. She was sick last week.”

That didn’t make any sense, though. Tony had sounded awful. Peter was sure he had been dying from the way he spoke.

“I thought—he called me. He made it out like he was dying.”

Pepper rolled her eyes, huffing a little. “Of course he did, because he’s an overgrown child. Actually, no, a child handles being sick better than him. I’m sorry he made you come all the way out here, especially on your break.”

Peter frowned, looking to Morgan and then back to Pepper. “He’s really okay?”

“Yes, he’s just fine—well, as fine as you can be with the flu, but he’s definitely not dying.”

“Daddy said he has the plague,” Morgan said as she chewed. “That it mu—mut—”

“Mutated,” Pepper finished for her.

“Yeah, that. He said it was worse than the regular plague.”

“Oh, did he?” Peter asked, his nerves setting and feeling a little better. He had never seen Tony sick. Peter had seen him hurt, but in all the time he’d known him, he’d never been around him when he had the flu. Apparently, he wasn’t a very good patient.

“Yup,” Morgan said, going back to her lunch.

“So, you see, Peter, there isn’t an emergency. Just a big, sick baby and two very tired nurses.” Pepper looked at Morgan and smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes, though. She looked run down.

Peter cleared his throat. “If you want—I mean, I could look after him for the day, give you two a break. You could catch a movie or something. I can watch him.”

Pepper visibly sagged with relief. “You’d really be willing to do that?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s no big deal. He can’t be that bad.”

Morgan finished her sandwich, pulling her mask back down on her face. Pepper took her plate and placed it in the dishwasher. She looked over her shoulder at Peter as she spoke. “I know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. Thank you, Peter. We really do need a break.” She turned to Morgan. “Go get your shoes on, and maybe leave your mask and gloves here.”

Frown lines appeared on Morgan’s brow. “But I need them for protection. I don’t want to catch the plague.”

Pepper shook her head. “Go put on your shoes, little miss. We can talk about your need for protection in a minute.”

Morgan scampered off, leaving Peter alone with Pepper.

“You sure you’re okay with this? He really is quite a handful when he’s sick.”

Peter nodded a few times. “Yeah, yeah, I got this. Enjoy your movie, do some shopping. We’ll be fine.”

“Okay, well, juice boxes are in the fridge. He only likes the grape ones. Cold medicine is the bathroom cabinet. He had some about an hour ago, so don’t let him fool you, and try to keep him off WebMD. Trust me. He convinced himself he had malaria last year because of that site.”

Peter laughed. “Yeah, okay, I think I can do that.”

“Thank you,” she said, crossing over to him and drawing him into a hug. He melted into it, her hair tickling his ear. She pulled back, hands still on his arms. “Don’t let him run you ragged, okay?”

Peter lifted his brows. “Like he did you?”

She smiled. “Exactly. Take care of yourself.”

Pepper excused herself to go help get Morgan ready, and Peter began the journey up the stairs to Tony’s room.

He knocked on the door lightly, not wanting to wake him if he was asleep. A moment later, a strained voice called him into the room.

Peter opened the door and stepped into the room, nearly stumbling at the sight in front of him. Tony was lying down, propped up on a pile of pillows. There were books and magazines strewn on the bed, two boxes of Kleenex sat beside him. A trashcan overflowing with used tissues was on the floor. There was a leaning tower of juice boxes on the nightstand, surrounded by bottles of vitamins and herbs. Peter blinked at it all. Unsure where to start.

“You didn’t need to come to say goodbye, but I’m happy I got a chance to see you before I go,” Tony rasped. A round of coughing followed his dramatic declaration.

Peter sighed, closing the door and going to his side. He grabbed one of the juice boxes and stabbed in the straw, passing it to Tony. “Here, take a drink.”

Tony’s coughing fit tapered off, and he gratefully accepted the juice, the small straw pressed between his lips looking ridiculous. Peter held back a smile.

The juice box buckled, and the straw slurped air. Tony released it, leaning back into the pillows, and Peter tossed the empty box into the trash. Tony patted the bed beside him, and Peter took a seat.

“We need to talk,” Tony said, expression serious. “There are things we need to get in order. I’ve already called my lawyers, but you should know, I’m leaving you shares in Stark Industries.”

Peter sighed, already feeling exhausted. “Mr. Stark, that’s really not necessary.”

“Peter, we need plans in place. It’s no big deal, just a few signatures. I think—”

“Stop! You’re not dying, Mr. Stark, and honestly, this conversation is pretty damned upsetting after almost losing you once.”

The memory of Tony’s face as he lay slumped on the battlefield flashed through his mind. He sucked in a breath, trying to clear his mind.

Tony shifted, reaching over with his prosthetic arm, taking Peter’s hand. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, just no more death talk,” Peter said. “When was the last you’ve eaten?”

“Haven’t been able to, but I could use some more cold medicine.”  

Peter remembered what Pepper had said. “You aren’t due any for a few hours.”

Tony’s dramatic sigh made Peter startle. He blinked at the man as he visibly pouted.

“Those doses are for weaklings, regular people, not people like me. I’m a hero, Pete.”

Peter raised his brows. “Well, you’re actually a retired hero, so you are, in fact, one of those regular people.”

Tony scowled at him. “I knew retirement was going to bite me in the ass.” Then his expression softened, and he batted his eyes. “Please, Peter, you don’t know what this is like—how it feels.”

“I’ve had the flu,” Peter deadpanned. “I know exactly how it feels.”

“I have a fever. I’m chilled.” Tony grabbed Peter’s hand and pressed it to his forehead. His eyes shut, and he looked like he fainted. Peter sighed. He didn’t feel any warmer than usual. Tony’s eyes popped open and gave Peter a beseeching look. “See? I’m burning up.”

“I’ll find a thermometer,” Peter sighed, getting up and crossing over to the bathroom. He dug around in the cabinet for a moment until he found it.

Back at Tony’s side, he took the man’s temperature. After it beeped, he read the display. It was one degree above normal. Rolling his eyes, he set the thermometer on the nightstand and turned to Tony.

“You can break it to me. I can handle it,” Tony said. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“It’s barely over nighty-nine. I think you can handle it.”

Tony frowned. “When did you become so cruel—so coldhearted and jaded? I thought we had something special—a bond. I thought you understood me.”

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time, Peter relented. Tony had done a lot for him over the years, and he did owe him. It wouldn’t hurt to be a little kinder. “Tell you what,” Peter said. “How about I go make you something to eat?”

“Pizza?”

Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. “Soup. I can make you some chicken noodle soup. It might help you feel better. That’s what May does for me.”

After making sure Tony was comfortable, Peter went to the kitchen to make soup. There was a rotisserie chicken in the fridge he could use, along with some vegetables. He was chopping the carrots when he heard a choking cough come from the bedroom. He paused, knife held over the cutting board as he listened. There was a strangled noise followed by more coughing. Tossing the knife down, he bolted for the stairs, flying up them two at a time. He threw Tony’s door open and took in the scene.

Tony was hunched forward on the bed, face red as he strained to breathe. Peter ran to his side, patting him on the back. Tony couched again hard, grabbing a tissue and bringing it to his mouth. A second later, Tony looked at the napkin and panicked.

“I’m hemorrhaging!” Tony exclaimed, holding up the tissue for Peter’s inspection.

Peter was so worried that he wasn’t even grossed out. He looked at the tissue, seeing a splotch of phlegmy grape juice and a large pill. Tony had chocked on what looked like a vitamin.

“How did you manage to choke? You weren’t tossing them in the air and trying to catch them, were you?” Tony frowned, averting his gaze, making Peter sigh. “Why are you even taking vitamins?”

“So, it’s not a piece of lung?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “No, not lung.”

He grabbed the nearest bottle of vitamins and opened it, peering inside. It was a match. Putting the lid back on, he checked the label. It was Biotin for Hair and Nails. Peter closed his eyes and counted to ten, trying to center himself. When he agreed to watch Tony, he had no idea how ridiculous the man would be.

“Are these Pepper’s?” Peter asked.

Tony pursed his lips but reluctantly shrugged. “You wouldn’t give me more medicine.”

“Throw the tissue away and no more vitamins. I mean it.”

“But—”

“Nuh-uh, you’re lucky you haven’t overdosed, popping these things like candy.”

The corners of Tony’s mouth twitched downward. “You think I overdosed?”

“I doubt it, but I’m taking these bottles with me. You don’t need them anymore.” Peter collected the bottles in his arms and turned to Tony. “Just drink a juice box or something. I’ll be back with soup soon.”

The soup was bubbling away on the stove. He cheated and used some chicken stock he’d found in the cupboard, but he wanted it done sooner rather than later. The noodles were just cooking when his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the caller ID. It was Pepper’s cell. Swiping to the side, he answered.

“Hey, Pepper, how’s it going?”

“We just finished shopping, and now we’re thinking about a movie. There’s a double feature, but I wanted to check with you first. Do you think you can handle Tony that long?”

Peter stirred the soup. “Yeah, yeah, no problem, absolutely. Take your time. We’ll be fine.”

“Thank you for this, Peter. It’s really been good to get out.”

After brief goodbyes, they disconnected, and Peter stuffed the phone back in his pocket. The timer went off, and he checked the soup, ladling out a noodle and plucking from the spoon with his fingers. He blew on it a few times and then popped it in his mouth to check it. They were perfect. Shutting off the heat, he grabbed a bowl and spoon and got Tony some.

When he got to Tony’s room, he nudged the door open with his foot and carried the steaming soup to Tony, who was waiting impatiently. The remote was in pieces on the bed. It looked like he’d taken it apart to upgrade it. Peter didn’t comment on it. Instead, he crossed the room and passed Tony the bowl.

Peter waited, quietly biting his tongue while Tony poked at the contents. He spooned up a carrot, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

“I don’t like carrots.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I’ve literally watched you eat carrots and ranch while working in the lab.”

“These carrots are cooked—all squishy and soft.”

Peter sighed. “Then don’t eat them.”

Tony dropped the offending carrot in the trash and then began stirring his soup. A moment later, another followed the first and then another. Peter could feel his patience thinning.

Finally, with all the carrots fished out, Tony took a tentative sip from his spoon. He held it in his mouth a moment before swallowing and then looking at Peter. “It’s bland.”

“You’re sick. It’s supposed to be.”

Tony pouted. “Can I have some salt?”

Peter scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yes, I’ll go find you some salt.”

A quick trip to the kitchen found him the salt, and he was back in Tony’s room, passing it to him. Tony shook into the bowl.

“You’re putting too much,” Peter warned.

Tony scowled and shook it again a few more times.

“What do I know?” Peter mumbled.

Setting the saltshaker down on the nightstand, Tony stirred his soup and then took a sip of broth. His eye twitched, and he grimaced.

“You put too much. Just admit it.”

“Nope, it’s perfect,” Tony said, taking another grimace inducing bite. Peter rolled his eyes and plopped down in the chair near the bed. He watched a Tony choked down his salty soup. The man was stubborn. Peter would give him that.

Once most of the soup was gone, Tony set the bowl on the nightstand, avoiding his pile of juice boxes.

“Why don’t you try to get some sleep?” Peter suggested.

Tony frowned. “I’m not tired.”

“You know, I’m really seeing where Morgan gets her personality from.”

Tony ignored his comment, turning to the remote that is in pieces. With nimble fingers, Tony had it reassembled in minutes and flipping on the TV. “Let’s watch a movie. Maybe we can watch Back to the Future again, or Terminator. No, maybe something softer instead like Tangled or Frozen.”

“Aren’t those Morgan’s favorites?”

Tony shrugged as he selected Tangled and settled back against his pillows. Peter’s stomach took that moment to rumble, and he realized he hadn’t eaten anything since the Doritos that morning. Getting up, he told Tony he would be right back and went to the kitchen. He was just looking through the cabinets for a snack when he heard Tony whining his name from upstairs. Sighing, Peter snagged the box of Wheat Thins and trudged back to his room.

When he got back to the room, he found Tony sitting in bed, with the thermometer in his hand. He held it out for Peter. “My fever has gone up, and my pillow is lumpy, and is it time for more medicine yet?”

Peter sighed and got to work. It was going to be a long night.

xXx

Pepper unlocked the door, bags full of clothes and ice cream in her arms. It was late. They had stayed out longer than she had planned, going to dinner after the movie, but they’d stopped on the way home for ice cream. She’d even bought caramel sauce for the top because it was Tony’s favorite.

Despite the busy day, Morgan was still full of energy, helping her put away the ice cream. There was no sign of Peter, so she assumed he was upstairs with Tony. Together, she and Morgan headed to the room she shared with Tony.

When she opened the door, the sight that greeted her made her heart melt. Peter in curled up in the chair, hair sticking up at odd angles and a juice box clutched in his hands.

She stepped into the room, stopping beside the bed. “What did you do to him?”

Tony gave her an innocent expression. “I didn’t do anything. The kid just makes a great nurse. Did you know he can cook? He made me soup, Pep, soup! I’m feeling pretty good now.”

Pepper smiled softly, as Morgan climbed into the bed with her father, laying on his chest and hugging him.

“No more gloves and mask?” Tony asked.

Morgan shook her head. “They made my hands sweaty, and my nose itch.”

Tony laughed. “I think you’re safe anyway.”

“Mommy got us ice cream, with caramel.”

“Oh, did she? And why don’t I have a bowl then?”

Pepper gave him an assessing look. “Are you sure you’re well enough for a treat?”

“Everyone feels well enough for ice cream,” Tony said. “Seriously, I feel like a million bucks. Okay, maybe not a million but a solid thousand.”

Pepper laughed. “Okay, I’ll get you a bowl, but since you’re feeling better, I expect to see your ass out of bed tomorrow. I think we’re all feeling worn out.”

“Mommy said a bad word!”

Tony laughed, kissing Morgan’s head. “That she did. I promise, Pep. I’ll behave.”

Morgan squirmed in his arms. “Should I wake Petey up for ice cream?”

Tony shook his head, brushing the hair out of Morgan’s face. “Nah, let him sleep. He’s earned it.”

[jaybug-jabbers]

Bug Run 4: Final Comments & Movesets

(Apologies for Cleo barely being in frame there, I had to take screencaps crazy-fast)

This fourth bug run was interesting in a number of ways. For starters, I lacked a lot of moves I was used to getting extra help from on these types of runs. I didn’t have any Sleep Powers or paralyzing moves, I didn’t have any confusion-causing moves; no accuracy-dropping moves save for a quick, dirty affair with Double Team; I didn’t have Swords Dance or other buffing moves, and I had very few stats-dropping moves (Scary Face and Screech, the exceptions, were often essential).What’s more, many of the movepools of my pokemon were incredibly shallow when it came to coverage moves.

In addition to all of that, half of my team was Bug/Flying. This is not so surprising; Bug/Flying is an incredibly common combination. Still, it certainly adds to the difficulty. As a result of all of this, I sometimes had to be very creative with the limited options I had available to me.

However, this run was also surprising to me. In particular, bugs I had underestimated in the past really managed to impress me again and again.

Mothim: Air Slash/Psychic/Bug Buzz/Hidden Power Ground - Razor Claw

Mothim, which I had always assumed had terribly pitiful performance when compared to his fellow butterflies and moths of other gens, actually performed pretty damn admirably. Sparkler often somehow survived hits I assumed would slaughter him, and he actually packed quite a punch with his attacks. In addition, his movepool, while not the biggest in the world, actually was really generous when compared to the rest of my team for most of the run. Being an early-game bug, he tended to earn the high-basepower moves sooner then the others, and so he often was a huge help; the fact he was blessed with Hidden Power ground also was an enormous boon in this run. For a very, very long time, he was my only defender against the ground and rock type pokemon with his HP ground, a very bizarre situation but one that worked out for us. His Psychic also helped out against the extremely, extremely common Zubat line endlessly. He more then pulled his weight on the team; he was essential for me.

Wormadam: Iron Head/Psychic/Protect/Stealth Rock - Shell Bell

Mothim’s counterpart, Wormadam, was another bug type that never interested me much before. And while Fiberglass’ attack was never hitting particularly hard, as a defensive poke, she was my rock. She formed an essential part of my defense core in a team that consisted mostly of attackers and pokemon with low defenses, and allowed me to grit and stall things out when stall was what I needed. While I may not be able to reccomend using Wormadam in all settings, in this particular setting, she filled her role on the team admirably.

Vespiquen: Attack Order/Heal Order/Toxic/Power Gem - Quick Claw

Cleopatra had an interesting journey in this game. When she joined the team, at the time she was the strongest teammember. For a while, her power in both attack and in defensive bulk made her the ace of my team. She felt a lot like the mother bee watching over the rest of the team, somebody to run to when I was in deep shit so she could take care of things. Gradually, over time, her status as the ace faded. Eventually, the other pokemon she had watched over began to even outpace her; Mothim often was fast enough and hit hard enough– and had the coverage– to take care of foes that would otherwise fell Cleo, and the same could be said of the others. Cleo was slow, was the thing; terribly slow, and at times, that worked heavily against her. She still retained a vital role on the team, though, even in the late game, and despite her extremely shallow coverage moves. She held my Toxic and she had excellent recovery and very good bulk. Toxic stall was simply a vital tactic on my team that often had limited options available to them. Many foes I didn’t have super-effective moves for just wouldn’t go down any other way.

Yanmega: Air Slash/Ancient Power/Giga Drain/Hyper Beam - Wise Glasses

ROFLCOPTER sat in an often very frustrating position on my team. There is something deeply cruel about the movepool that Gamefreak gave Yanmega when they first introduced it. It does not get proper special attacks until extremely late into its life. The poor bug had to limp by with some truly shitty attacks for most of his time, never reaching his true potential until very late on. Once properly used, though, ROFL’s speed and special attack are practically unparalleled for bugs. His speed was my saving grace when squaring off against the tougher teams that had pokes in very high tiers. He is, of course, a glass cannon, but without that glass cannon, I would not have been able to punch through a number of the scarier obstacles.

Drapion: Poison Jab/Rock Slide/Earthquake/Scary Face - Soft Sand

Black Fang started out as an almost purely support pokemon. With Scary Face and Toxic Spikes and a very late-level evolution, he was the last unevolved poke on my team for a while, and just wasn’t hitting hard enough to score kills on his own at first. Despite that fact, he often played an important team role anyway. I had played without a speed-dropping move for most of the game. His Scary Face was insanely helpful. Getting off toxic damage was just a wonderful added bonus. Of course, once Fang picked up some proper attacking moves and I got access to some TMs, his utility increased dramatically. He could learn vital coverage moves nobody else could, filling in some very major gaps in my ability to hit things. Dig and then, eventually, Earthquake were essential. Rock Slide was also very important  to hit Flying types, though I did already have a few special rock moves with my other pokes. And when Fang finally evolved, of course it helped that he lost his bug typing and offered a slightly wider range of defensive possibilities on my mono-team. I won’t lie about that. He did a lot of work late-game, and carried a lot of weight. Would we have managed without him, and with somebody else on the team? No way of knowing for certain, but I like to think yes. I don’t think his usefulness meant we were utterly dependent upon him late-game; we would have found a way. Still, it was fun having him around– even if I never really could get used to his strange design.

Kricketune: X-Scissor/Natural Gift/Brick Break/Screech - Black Belt

Then there is Maestro.

I am so damn proud of my Kricketune. I remember when I first played Diamond/Pearl and ran across Kricketot and was so happy, but once I tried him out I was disappointed. Ever since then, I learned what a huge reputation the line had for being weak. As my starter, I didn’t hold out very high hopes of him accomplishing too much.

And yet, somehow, he accomplished so much. There came a point around mid-game when I assumed his usefulness had reached the point of diminished returns, and he would rapidly become the deadweight on the team used as death fodder and nothing more. It saddened me, but I thought it inevitable. But it was not. He kept going and kept surprising me. Screech became a crucial asset. When I taught him Brick Break, it opened so many doors for him. He often ended up felling foes I never would have dreamed he could. Far from deadweight, he was an important teammember who took care of us.

He even defeated Cynthia’s ace. While the rematch had Cleo win with tox-stall, if she had full restored, I still would have used Kricketune to deliver the finishing blow again. Because the strange fact of the matter was– Kricketune had the highest base Attack of my entire team. His speed was middling and his defenses were pretty squishy, but he actually could pack a punch. And when the chips were down, he was there for me.

If there’s anything this run has taught me, it’s not to underestimate the dele-dele-whoop.

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Dec 14, 2018.

[bornhybrid]

@hellfireprince we talked about it, and I needed it

For once, there’d been a surprising lack of stress at work that day for Aryan. His first meeting, talk for finalizing the takeover of a minor company, had gone off without a hitch. After that it had been mostly responding to emails and setting up meetings for later that week. In fact, his day had gone so smoothly that he was strongly thinking about taking Hope to one of those lower-star restaurants she enjoyed so much (for what ungodly reason, he wasn’t sure) and even put on jeans for the occasion. “Hope, you home?” he called out as he walked through the door. 

“Upstairs,” she called down from their bedroom. 

Aryan smiled at the sound of her voice and dropped his keys in the bowl by the front door. He loosened his tie as he walked up the stairs. “How was your afternoon with your family?” he asked casually. She’d been nervous about it that morning, he knew. 

“Oh, you know, the usual. . . We all acted like we were the perfect family, Uncle Kol drank more than he should, Uncle Elijah somehow managed to keep him from causing a scene, and my grandfather took every chance he got to quietly berate me for every life choice I’ve made since birth.” Despite what she was saying, Hope’s tone was quite lighthearted; Aryan had begun suspecting that he should be concerned whenever she did that. “What about you? How was work?” 

“Fine. . Actually, it was almost enjoyable,” Aryan replied as he pulled off his tie entirely and set it on the dresser. “What are you doing in there?” he asked when he noted the light on in the walk-in closet.

Hope’s head stuck out from behind the door. “Changing,” she informed him with a cheeky grin. “I only got home a few minutes before you. This dress is terribly uncomfortable, but it was a gift from Mikael, so--” 

“So you had to wear it, or risk incurring his wrath,” Aryan finished for her. “Do you need help getting out of it?” he asked playfully even as he walked towards her. There was a strange look in her eyes for just a moment that set off a warning in his brain.

“No, thank you, I think I can manage.” Her smile was a little too tight as she retreated back into the closet. “We still on for date night?” Her tone was so casual, Aryan almost dismissed the feeling of unease until he stepped around the door and saw the dark bruising along her back.

She’d only just started turning around, surely to ask why he wasn’t answering her, as he reached her in three strides and firmly grabbed her by her waist. “What the hell?” he demanded. He’d only meant to hold her still so he could get a better look, but Hope’s fearful gasp and the way she tensed under his touch told him she was taking it in a different way entirely. Aryan didn’t move, not even to let her go or step out of her personal space. He stood there and patiently waited for her to relax a little. “Hope,” he started, consciously making his tone gentler than before. “What happened?” 

“It’s noth--” 

“Don’t.” Aryan gently brushed his fingers over the bruises and frowned when Hope arched her back to get away from the touch. “I need you to tell me what happened.” He made sure not to raise his voice even a little, to not startle his wife any further. “Hope, please. If someone hurt you--” 

Hope turned quickly to face him and winced. “It’s nothing like that. It was an accident. I tripped and--” Aryan opened his mouth to cut her off, but she pressed on. “I took a step back, my shoe got stuck, and I fell into the railing outside. I even have the broken shoe to prove it.” She bent over and picked up said shoe with the heel barely hanging on.

“Breaking like that, you must’ve twisted. . .” As he spoke he noticed not only the tense way Hope held herself, no doubt to keep from aggravating her bruised back, but that she seemed to be leaning a bit to the side. He looked down and saw one ankle was double the size of the other. You’ve got to be kidding me. She was really just going to keep walking on it, wasn’t she? Of course she was. His wife was the single most stubborn person he knew when it came to admitting (or rather, denying) that she was ever in pain. One of these days he intended to find out why, but now was not the time. Without another word, Aryan stooped down and scooped her up in his arms, then carried her over to their bed.

“Aryan, what are you--?” 

“Stay there. I’ll be back.” He walked out of the room swiftly and was soon back with ice packs and the first aid kit. Apparently the few minutes it took for him to gather what he needed were a few minutes too long; Hope was off the bed going through her dresser drawer when he walked in. “What did I say?” 

“You said you’d be back,” Hope answered innocently, not even bothering to look up. “And here you are.” 

Aryan groaned and set his supplies down on the bed before going over to her. “Hope--”

“I’m just getting some comfortable clothes, Aryan,” she said patiently, as if he were being the unreasonable one right now. “Did you expect me to sit around in my underwear?” She finally looked up at him once she found what she was looking for. 

“I was hoping you would at least wait for me to come back,” he huffed. “I could have gotten what you needed for you.” 

“I can manage,” she said for the second time in the last ten minutes before walking back to the bed. She sat down on the end before slipping loose pants up her legs.

Once she was settled again, Aryan knelt in front of her. “Let me take a look.” He didn’t wait for her to answer or even raise her leg accordingly; he reached for the swollen limb and gently propped it up on his thigh. “How bad is it?” 

“One to ten? Three, maybe three and a half.” 

Aryan looked at her pointedly before probing the ankle with his fingers, checking to see if anything was broken. Hope yelped and tried to pull her leg out of his grasp, but he quickly caught her calf to hold it steady. “A three, you said? I’d hate to see what you think rates a four or five.” He flipped open the first aid kid and pulled out an Ace bandage, then began expertly wrapping her ankle. Hope hissed and tried to pull away again, and he caught her leg, just like before, but didn’t look up. “I know, I’m sorry.” And he was. “It’ll feel better in a minute, I promise.” 

Hope stopped pulling away and let him continue wrapping her ankle. “How do you know how to do this?” she asked quietly.

Aryan shook his head and looked up at her with something between amusement and exasperation. “I was in the army, Hope, a knowledge of basic first aid is sort of required.” When he was done, he helped her slide back on the bed and grabbed the ice packs. He grabbed a pillow from his side of the bed and stuck it under her foot before putting two of the ice packs on, which he had to hold on when Hope jerked away from the cold. “Easy,” he said quietly. She relaxed after a moment and he grabbed the third ice pack. 

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Hope informed him, looking almost. . guilty, and Aryan hated it. “It’s really not that bad, you don’t have to make such a fuss.” 

“I know I don’t have to make a fuss, but if you’re in pain, if you’re hurt, I want to make it better. . Please let me.” Hope nodded slowly and he smiled. Aryan slid a hand behind her shoulders and pulled her forward a bit so he could fit it between her back and the pillows she was leaning against. 

“So. . About going out--” 

“If you think I’m letting you go anywhere farther than the bathroom on that ankle, you must have a head injury as well. Should I be checking for a concussion?” Aryan’s teasing was pointed and effective. Hope huffed in defeat. “I’ll have something delivered, whatever you’d like. We can have a quiet night in.” 

Hope sighed dramatically and looked toward the ceiling as she sank further back in her pillows. “Fine.” Aryan pulled his phone to start scrolling through his list of delivery places when Hope caught his wrist. “Hey.” He looked up and saw her looking. . extremely vulnerable, more than he’d ever seen her. “Thank you. . for taking care of me.” 

Why are you thanking me? Why is this such a surprise to you? he wanted to scream. Instead, he smiled, leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Always. . I will always take care of you,” he promised her. And he promised himself that one day he’d figure out why it was so hard for her to accept that.

[boneconstruct]

Just need to have a bit of a ramble about mass effect 3 after watching some YouTube videos today, sorry this is so long!

___

I saw a video on YouTube by Revan 100 showing their mod that replaces Kai Leng with Kaidan/Ashley in mass effect 3. They use whichever one was left on Virmire. I'm gonna refer to the virmire casualty as 'K/A' and the one who didn't get blown up as the virmire survivor/ VS.

K/A are masked up and completely silent at first in the mod, then I think they get unmasked in the Thessia fight and I was like damn, that's actually genius!

On a first playthrough the reveal of the virmire casualty to the player would have been so jaw dropping. In-universe to Shepard it would be an absolute kick in the teeth, another decision that's come back to literally haunt him when they're already having guilt-ridden nightmares about all the people they've lost because of their decisions.

The shock of the unmasking could absolutely give K/A an opening in a cutscene to take down Shepard while they're in shock and that's how they win on Thessia without seeming too plot-armoured.

This is an improvement on Kai Leng in every way, not just in being less annoying in personality, but also thematically. The whole thing with mass effect is that the choices you make have consequences for the characters and the universe.

This decision you made 2 whole games ago has completely changed the course of K/A's life -and their relationship to you - so dramatically. I know it would lose some of its impact after the first playthrough but you'll also have the tragedy in future playthroughs of knowing what could have been. This person who's your most bitter rival and enemy in this playthrough...was your loyal teammate or even lover the last time you played (and they even criticised you for working with Cerberus in ME2 & 3 when they lived! Definitely some fun dramatic irony or meme potential there).

It does seem out of character for Kaidan in particular to join Cerberus, but Miranda talks about wanting in the past to put a control chip in Shepard. We know from me2 Cerberus can rebuild people who are just meat and tubes, and we know from citadel dlc they can clone, so Bioware could have even gone down the route of "they were rebuilt (or cloned from multiple DNA samples on virmire and the SR1 wreckage) and then cerberus had a control chip implanted."

For the illusive man it absolutely makes sense he'd have an ace up his sleeve to drop on you, maybe he'd even originally planned to 'gift' the rebuilt K/A to Shepard for their team in ME2 but they weren't ready yet, or they were too unstable so they had to put in the control chip and TIM was like "yeah they're probably not gonna be cool with us presenting them with a brainwashed clone of their dead friend" or maybe TIM just kept K/A as a secret weapon.

And the drama! Imagine if you'd started romancing Kaidan/Ash before you left them behind on Virmire! Or if earlier in ME3 you had to kill the virmire survivor and K/A had additional dialogue for that! What if you could disable the control chip if you were an Engineer (or fulfilled some very specific requirements - like how you could save Mordin or make peace between geth & quarians, but a little harder to do) and there was a secret alternative where after you beat them at Cerberus HQ you could actually recruit them again as a war asset?

Maybe you could even have them as a teammate??? They'd only need unique dialogue for the earth mission since Cerberus HQ is the lock in point of no return, and their powers and teammate AI are already in the game for if they're the VS and on your team in ME3.

I also think the catalyst should have taken the form of either K/A or whoever you romanced rather than some random kid... but let's not open that can of worms.

[gochigalore]

Seven Days - A GoChi Fanfic Series for GoChi Week.

Day Five: Envy

Poor Gohan.

He was part humiliated and part furious. It must have been such a traumatic experience for him to come home to see his parents naked on the couch where they all sat after many hours of their fornication. Not to mention that the living room was covered with Goku’s um... “mess”.

Goku Immediately offered to clean it up since it was his doing...well his and Chichi’s doing. And Gohan happily obliged. Of course their biggest mistake was leaving then alone again to clean it...before they heard more cries of their carnal pleasure. Bulma sent them to their room to let them folic in the bedroom as much as they pleased which she admitted she should’ve done in the first place. Their own condition is that they must do it quietly since Goten was home. And to everyone’s surprise the were quiet for the most part. Aside for the occasional moan every now and then or the occasional pounding of bodies slapping against each other that was heard at certain points. Thankfully, Bulma had brought over one of her cleaning inventions to help clean away all of the cum and sanitize the entire room. And even then nobody wanted to sit on anything. The room may be clean the sins of Gohan’s parents will never wash away.

The Fifth Day.

To everyone’s relief, the Lust Day Phase was finally over and they no longer had to witness Goku or ChiChi fooling around like horny teenagers or hear them either. Videl was helping Gohan cool in the kitchen trying to prepare pancakes for everyone while Bulma was reading in at the kitchen table. Pan was cooing gleefully in her high chair with Goten playing with her. It all seemed like of everything was almost normal again...that is until Goku and Chichi came limping into the kitchen, their bodies sore from their countless hours of steamy love-making. Both were groaning In agony as they took their seats. ChiChi had it the worse; she was walking bowlegged while limping and holding her aching back. Goku was a bit better shape, but he still had a pretty bad limp and his pelvis was extremely sore.

“Woah...you guys look terrible!” Bulma commented on her friend’s physical state all while having a coy smirk on her face. “You guys have a rough night?”

ChiChi and Goku blushed horribly at Bulma’s teasing.  ChiChi was especially embarrassed by this. She was always raised as a pure heated girl who wouldn’t do the types of naughty things she did with Goku that day. Her face would grow as red as a tomatoes each time she thought about it. When they were told how they soiled the living room it went a little like this:

“W-We...we did that!?!? Oh Kami I’m soembarrassed! I wasn’t raised like this! Oh what will father say?”

“You mean I made that mess with ChiChi?Cool!”

“Goku!”

“Very funny...” ChiChi sneered painfully. Adjusting herself in her hair. “Ow ow ow ow.” Bulma gave a small chuckle. “See I’d told you, you guys would bang yourselves dry.”

“We...we’ve should’ve listened to you...” Goku leaned over the table. “I never lasted that long before. It was fun but I feel like I’m paying the price for it now.”

“Can we please change the subject please?” Gohan impatiently jumped in. Talking about his parents sexual adventures was more than he could bare right now.

“Right. Right. So what’s for breakfast?” Goku’s mood instantly improves despite him still being in a lot of pain. Videl arrives at the table with the the frying pan in hand and delivers a couple of her fluffy homemade pancakes onto his plate. “We’re having pancakes!” She smiled. “And don’t worry there’s enough for your hearty appetite. Thanks to Bulma’s multiplier machine.”

Breakfast much like the earlier part of the morning played out just as normally. Nothing was too out of the ordinary or too odd. It was like the perfect family dinner ChiChi was striving for the first night of Gohan’s arrival. Everyone’s got along fine and had a pleasant chat among one another. After Goku finished this 20th helping of Videl’s pancakes he officially declared himself stuffed.

“That was great Videl! Thanks!” Goku tried to stand but the sharp pain hit his lower back and which causes him so sore back down. “Be carful honey!” ChiChi warned sweetly, rubbing his back softly. Goku tiles his head and smiled back.

“I’ll be fine sweetheart don’t worry. Anyway I really need to head back to work. With our little...incident. A couple of things got ruined so we’re going to need a some money to replace it.” Gohan raised an eyebrow at his father. “You really think you should be working in this condition right now? He asked skeptically.

“Oh there’s isn’t anything to worry about. Just need to take a Senzu bean and the pain will be all-“

Goku stopped when Gohan interrupted. “That’s not what I meant. I meant with the Cardinal Fruit side effects stuff. We’re still on the fifth day.” Bulma sat up in her chair and joined in. “Actually, Gohan. Maybe today is a good day for your father to work?”

“Where are you going with this, Bulma?” ChiChi quizzed. Bulma gave a small nod in her head preparing the words she wanted to say. “I’m thinking if Goku is out farming and away from you and everyone else maybe the effects wouldn’t be so strong. Plus the effects only seems to be extra strong whenever he’s around you, ChiChi. Day Five is the Envy Phase Day. And I don’t think there is much is going to happen today. Thank Kami for that!  I...don’t even know what is here for you to be envious of.  But we’ll just have to wait and see.” ChiChi and Goku looked at each with worried expressions. They wasn’t entirely sure if this was a good idea. But they decided to give a try. They both nodded in unison and in agreement.

Later that day.

Goku, who was feeling much better thanks to the Senzu bean and was about to head of to work when Bulma screeched his name across the hall. “I have a bone to pick with you!” She yelled. Goku turned around and faced her. In her hand was a pink and white scarf that she was waving in his face furiously. “Is something wrong I was about to head off to work.”

“Yes there is! You ruined my favorite scarf with your filth the other day! Now I can’t get your nasty love stains out of it!” Goku scratches the side of his face with his finger nervously. It didn’t really occur to him just how damage he and ChiChi caused with heir love fest.. “Wow I’m sorry, Bulma.” He said meekly with a anxious smile.

“Oh you should be sorry. This was a gift my sister brought me two years ago. Now I can’t wear It anymore!” Bulma stomped her foot as she threw the scarf down on the ground in her anger but then Goku rested a hand in her shoulder and gave her a look of sincerity. Just then ChiChi, who was also feeling better thanks to the Senzu bean decided to actually start the laundry this time. She was walking past the living room doorway, her ears perked when she hears Goku’s voice.

“I didn’t know okay? I’m really really sorry. Tell you what I’ll buy you a new one!”

ChiChi walked back into living room and sees Goku touching Bulma’s shoulder and giving her a sincere look. Then...

Flash! The effects began to kick in.

Curious to where this would lead she stood there and watched them. “I mean it’s not the same but I guess I can accept it.” Bulma mumbled as Goku pulled her into a hug. “I’ll make it up to you I promise. We go way back and we’ve known each other a long time. It’s the least I can do!”

ChiCh was grinding her teeth and tightened her grip on the laundry basket in her hands, witnessing her husband for over 20 years in the arms of another woman, one of her closest friends no less. She had seen enough. Enraged, she stormed off with neither Goku or Bulma noticing her as they released from their hug.

Meanwhile at work, Goku was doing his usual tractor work. Everything was going smoothly until ChiChi pops in front of his drops of view, with her arms crossed. In a panic, Goku slams on the breaks immediately causing the tractor to have a studded stop that it almost shook him out of it. He jumped out of the car to go see her but her death stare instantly made him regret leaving the safety of his tractor. He gulps as he approached her slowly. He knew he did something wrong but he had no clue what it was.

“Hey ChiChi? You’re at my job again?” He asked, his voice trembling. “Let’s just cut to the chase, Goku!” ChiChi barked “i want to know what where you doing with Bulma this morning.” Goku blinked in confusion.

“What do you mean?” He asked innocently. “I mean I saw you all over her before you left for work this morning.” ChiChi dramatic pointed her finger at him. “No I wasn’t” he protested desperately. “I’m not even sure what your talking about.”

“Maybe this will jog your memory: ‘We’ve known each other for a long time. It’s the least I could do’.” ChiChi mocked Goku in his voice in an insulting manner. The insult rolled off him however as he began to ponder on what she was saying. “Oh you mean when I hugged Bulma this morning? That was because we ruined her scarf her sister gave her when we spoiled it with our love and she was super angry about it.”

“Sure. Likely story.” ChiChi turned away rolling her eyes. “I’m telling the truth ChiChi!” Goku innocent face was all that ChiChi usually needed to see he was telling the truth but with her under the spell of the Cardinal Fruit it was no use. She just stood there pouting as Goku took his box of produce for the day and head off to town to deliver them. “I’m about to go drop these off. I’ll see you later I guess.”

“Oh no you don’t! I’m coming with you just so I can keep my eye on you!” ChiChi ran beside him. “

You don’t have to do that, ChiChi.”

“Why? Are you too embarrassed to be seen with your wife?”

“No it’s not that at all. Why are you acting like this?

“There’s someone in town you don’t want me to see, isn’t there? Possible another woman? You’re having an affair, aren’t you!”

“ChiChi! What are you talking about!?!!”

The conversation when on like his the entire time they walked into town to the produce store. ChiChi soar out accusation after accusation while poor Goku was clueless to what was talking about. Once they got there ChiChi stood idly by as Goku handed off his box over to the proud store owner staring daggers at him. Goku shelf a chill as he could feel her leering at him from behind his back. ChiChi also had other things in her mind. On top of worrying that Goku was cheating she began to think about all the accomplishments he has done in the span on their life together. All the good he’s done. All the places he got to go. And now that he has a more successful job then her. And that one time he brought home an astonishing amount of Zeni.

Why couldn’t that be her?

Why must he be the successful one when he didn’t even want that in the first place? If he had his way he’d be off in a far off land training again. Her watching him just made her envy fester. She knew she shouldn’t be jealous of her husband, but she couldn’t help it. Her instincts too over and she marched up to the two who was making small talk.

“Hey are you two done? I want to go home how?” ChiChi spoken icily before walking away. Goku sighed as he said his goodbyes to his employer and ran to catch up with is wife. “Listen Cheech I don’t know what I did to make you so mad at me, but I want to make it up to you.” Goku said.

“Oh like you want to make it up to Bulma.” ChiChi remarked rudely just as her eyes landed in a small perfume booth. Her face scowl lessened as she made her way over there with Goku behind her. “Oh you want want of these smelly things? I can do that.” Goku eagerly beamed.

ChiChi ignored him and turned to the clerk. The clerk smiled at ChiChi and spoke in a tone as your typical entrepreneur. “And What brings such a lovely lady like yourself here in this fine day?”Goku face fell flat at his remark then....

Flash!

“What did you just say to my wife?” Goku towers of the stand threateningly. ChiChi cut her eyes at his sudden display of masculinity. “Oh please Goku the man didn’t mean it.”

“Yes I didn’t know you two were married. My apologies.” The perfume clerk bowed as a form of his sincerity. Goku watched intently as the salesman was showing ChiChi various perfumes. He felt himself fuming at the way he grabbed wrist and sprayed some of the samples on the back of it. His jealousy grew as ChiChi laughed every time he spray tickles her skin or whoever she laughed at one of his bad jokes. It was to the point where Goku was fed up.

“Alright time to go!” He gritted his treeth as he yanked on his wife’s arm but ChiChi stiffest against him. “No! I’m not finished yet.”

“Yes you are!” Goku’s voice was beginning to raise but ChiChi finally piled her hand from his grasp. Goku realized that he didn’t have a good grip on her. “Look main if the lady doesn’t want to go, you shouldn’t make her.” The salesman came in rather peacefully but Goku wasn’t having any of it.

“I think you should mind your own damn business.” Goku snapped. “This doesn’t concern you!”

“Goku!” ChiChi yelled in surprise.

“Don’t you have some other’s man’s wife to hit on?” Goku continued.

“I swear that’s wasn’t what I was doing at all.” The salesman spoke up in defense at first but then he got bold. “But I’m pretty sure your wife wouldn’t mind a more gentler fella coming onto her then a barbaric control freak like you.”

Big mistake.

Goku, in a fit of rage raised both of his fists and slams it down into the table braking it in half and breaking all of the glass bottles that was filled with perfume. The man fell on his news morning the loss. of all his profits. Next, he throws ChiChi over his shoulder while she protested aggressively and flew back home away from any other guy that could possibly hit on his woman.

But things only got worse when they got home...

[mythologygirlfanfic]

Phoenix Down: Chapter One

Summary: Her parents must have really wanted a son if they named their only child - a girl at that - Marco. (OC Reincarnation/Rebirth story) OrAn obsessive gamer girl is reborn and now has to navigate the world of One Piece as a female version of Marco the Phoenix. Shenanigans ensue as she drags everyone around her into her delusions do to the trauma caused by the loss of her precious games. So what if she gives her so called brothers a few heart attacks when she pretends to be dead until one of them yells, if not a little dramatically, “PHOENIX DOWN” with an accompanying eye roll, before ‘reviving’ along the way. That's just part of the fun. The poor Whitebeard Pirates are in near constant exasperation with their sister’s sure, but that doesn’t mean they love her any less. Now, if only she could convince Ace that MMOs were a real thing.

Rating: T

She had been a gamer.

Had being the key word here. This crazy ass land she had been reborn into didn’t seem to have any games unless she wanted to play pirates and marines with the other island kids. Which she didn’t. She really, really didn’t.

Still, the look on her new mother’s face when she had asked for a Playstation 4 for her fifth birthday (because 5 was old enough in her last life to finally convince her parents video games weren’t poison sent by Satan) would have been hilarious, you know, if she hadn’t been holding back her own hysteric tears when she realized there was no such thing in this life. (Her new parents had thought she was suffering from delirium when she begged and screamed that it couldn’t be true. That particular trip to the village doctor hadn’t been fun.)

How the hell did these people live!?

She found out the answer to that desperate question the hard way. They farmed. No kidding. She was reborn into a family of farmers and let her tell you, real farming was not as fun as virtual farming. It couldn’t even hold a candle to the former's blazing inferno of hours spent cultivating crops bigger than her character’s head. Seriously, what the hell was this shit?

Not only did she have to wait months for any of the hard labor to bear fruit (literally), the food they cultivated only went for a few measly beri! (Which was apparently the name of the currency in this world.) How was she supposed to afford all the gifts for birthdays and such to give to everyone in the village in order to make them love her if her family was hardly making ends meet as it was? She had tried giving the Mayor a weed from the fields one, the sour look the old man gave her was enough to say he wasn’t pleased out all. Marco couldn’t help but think he should get inline with that displeasure though because she felt cheated too.

Very, very cheated.

Thank the lord that has otherwise forsaken her that she got her new mother’s normal shaped head instead of her new father’s egg shaped one. That would have been a particularly hard curse to break. She still got his droopy as fuck eyes though, which may have been more from her soul slowly shriveling and decaying from lack of any high graphic stimulation than it was hereditary.

Give her a break, she never said she wasn’t dramatic .

She also kept her light blonde hair long in this life, where in her last she had cropped it short. No matter what anyone in the village said about Mom 2.0 being a sweetheart could ever shake Marco’s feelings of fear when the woman brandished a pair of shears, threatening to cut off Marco’s fingers, if her daughter so much as even thought about cutting her locks any shorter then just below the shoulder. It was a pain, but Marco would suffer having to wash her hair more than once every three days if it meant the woman would would just put the shears down before she took out an eye. She liked her appendages where they were, thank you.

As Marco grew older in this new world, her wish that a restart button so she could remake her avatar existed grew with her. Sure, it wasn’t as if her avatar wasn’t cute - she was adorable, thank you! - but she wanted something more exciting, some sort of feature that would really make her stand out among the NPC villagers around her. She didn’t want to be just another two-bit character that was easily forgotten in this life - not again.

Problem was she didn’t know how to be anything but a side character here. In the last life she lived, that blissful technology induced wonderful life, she had been able curb her inadequacies and discontent with her games. She could be whomever she wanted whenever she wanted. Here she could only ever be Marco, the daughter and only child to a pair of farmers, and she wanted to make the best of that - would make the best of that.

The young girl nodded proudly to herself, possible crisis averted. She had a new life goal, a new mission: be the best damn girl named Marco that ever lived!

Mission title: Make the World a Game.

When she finally realized where she was, who she was, everything changed.

She was Marco the fucking Phoenix. Future 1st division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and overall fiery badass. She hadn’t been reborn as some random NPC with cognizant thoughts, that had been born purely to cause havoc upon her new home village. No, she had been reborn as a significant part of the Whitebread crew, she had been reborn a pirate. And, despite the fact she felt a little bad for taking Original Marco’s place, she was just as thrilled she had.

It had been her tenth birthday and her withdrawal from the world of 21st century geekary was starting to have adverse effects on her when she had finally figured that tiny piece of information out. She blamed her slow uptake on the fact that she didn’t follow the anime that closely, instead she mainly liked to play the games. Though, she does supposes that adorable verbal tick of ‘yoi’ she had randomly developed in this life should have been a major hint of just where and who she was.

After her discovery had actually sunk in, she did what anyone one would do when they found out they have taken over the life of a fictional character - she screamed like a fangirl. The loud shrieking - akin to a particularly annoying bird Dad 2.0 would grumble fondly - escaping from her tiny body had startled Mom 2.0 so much she had dropped the cake she had painstakingly baked. Marco did feel a little guilty about that, after all, the older woman’s cakes Marco was certain come from food heaven.

Wait. Stop.

New life goal: get the Whitebeard Pirates to play a live version of Plants vs. Zombies.

[airadam]

Episode 125 : The Audacity Of Dope

"In the land of the free, the slaves are still here."

- Jerry Beeks

The grind continues, and as the autumn starts to really draw in, the selection gets you prepared for full hoodie and boot season with some rugged sounds from the old to the new!

A couple of events for you...

The Flyest @ Klondyke Club, Manchester, November 15th - guest starring me on the turntables!

Artifacts ft. DJ Mr.Len @ Joshua Brooks, November 30th

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Royal Flush : Life Is Hard

Royal Flush is known to most for his debut "Ghetto Millionaire" album, but he definitely has had some other solid tracks over the years. While this is on the 2019 release "The Governor", it was first heard on the 2005 "Street Boss" album. The production (don't have credits for this one) is top-notch, with the eerie and dramatic instrumental sounding very noir - a perfect backdrop for Flush's grim Queens thug braggadocio.

[Maxmillion] Panda One : Elaborate (Touch You) (Instrumental)

There's another track on this 2002 12" that has been the favourite for me for a long time, but on a re-visit this month I had to give this beat a little bit of light! The sample it's based around has been used before, but not quite like this - good job by Maxmillion.

Phi Life Cypher : Earth Rulers

One of my favourite rhyme duos with a killer single! DJ Beware put me up on this one back in the day, but I only recently got my own vinyl copy. Si Phili and Life just firehose lyrics right down the DJ Nappa-produced track, in a way any fan of bars has to appreciate. The finishing touches are provided by the dancehall samples, which I think come from recordings of the veteran Earth Ruler sound system - the little one-bar sample that drops in in place of a hook is absolute fire! 

Redlight Boogie ft. DJ Chainsaw : Hands Down

Amsterdam's Redlight Boogie yells, snarls, and spits his way through this cut from the "Dirty Money, Clean Hands" album - abrasive like a sack of Brillo pads. DJ Chainsaw drops in for some cuts at the close, which end up blending over the scratches from... 

Gang Starr : Bad Name

Huge new single which the heavy Hip-Hop listeners will surely have had on repeat the last few weeks! Easily the biggest musical surprise of the last few years has been the news that a new Gang Starr album release is imminent, and that there have been unreleased Guru vocals in the vault all these years. The "Family & Loyalty" single stunned everyone, and this follow-up will keep the buzz going until the LP drops. DJ Premier on production, the late great Guru on the mic - it's what we've been missing.

Bronx Slang : More Grief

It's been great to see Bronx Slang getting momentum up this year off the back of their excellent debut album, and it just so happens that this track that I was planning to play anyway turns out to be their new single! Jerry Beeks gets busy on the mic with the kind of consciousness that a lot of people swear doesn't exist in music these days, while Jadell packs in the funk to complete the soulful stew. Don't sleep!

Jay Dee : Jay Dee #17

Big shout to Iain and Teresa for hooking up a release I needed in my collection - "King of the Beats" by J Dilla! Lots of unreleased beats on this one, as well as a few the hardcore listeners might know. This particular beat bounces along with that characteristic Dilla swing, focusing on the low end for a pleasing groove.

Skyzoo & Pete Rock : Ten Days

If you like Pete Rock beats, you want to get the new "Retropolitan" album - 100% Soul Brother #1, with Brooklyn's Skyzoo helming mic proceedings throughout. This isn't the kind of beat that you automatically associate with Rock, but it just goes to show he can be versatile with it. Skyzoo is on that "get money" talk here, with a hook that conjures up this scene from "Paid In Full". As an aside - I totally forgot that the closing track on this album shares the podcast title, which I've wanted to use with the cover photo for a while!

Black Moon : A Haaa

My goodness, what a wait - sixteen years since the "Total Eclipse" album (2006's "Alter the Chemistry" was dope, but essentially a remix project), but at last Black Moon are back in full effect on "Rise of da Moon"! One of the original Timbs and hoodies crews, this episode wouldn't have been right without them. This tune is short but a banger, with a heavy digital bassline anchoring things while Buckshot showcases the flow and flavour that made him famous. Also check that heavy boom that kicks in between the 1 and 2 beats of each bar!

Black Thought ft. Styles P : Making A Murderer

Devastation from last year's "Streams of Thought, Volume 1" EP. More bars than HMP, more bars than Temple Bar. Black Thought is one of the world's best MCs, who needs no hook and offers no reprieve on his fire first verse. It's a brave man who would get on the mic after him, but Styles P takes the challenge and does himself proud - rising to the occasion. 9th Wonder's instrumental beats you into submission in the best way with the heaviness of the drum track, but it's Thought that holds the murder weapon here.

Children of Zeus : Ghost

CoZ maintained their hot streak of great music with "The Winter Tape", and it's just about the season for those tunes to get a re-airing. Tyler Daly takes sole charge of the vocals for this haunting tale of lost love. 

Vanilla : Sweet Talk

The title track from the last of the soul-inspired beat tape trilogy by this UK producer is a smooth one. Vanilla works a melancholy 70s soul sample, and the drums are suitably subtle so as not to overpower it.

Professor Griff and the Last Asiatic Disciples : The Verdict

This is the first of two tracks from albums that opened up the nineties, just as we start to look towards a new decade. Professor Griff's solo debut album "Pawns in the Game" came during his initial suspension/expulsion, and found him on unfamiliar ground as he was not a rhyme writer by trade. Still, he delivered the rhymes with conviction (no pun intended) on a song that opens with a take on Louis Farrakhan's short play "The Trial", and the rest of the L.A.D come through too. Beat Master Clay D provides the beat, based on a familiar break that never gets old but packed with other samples in a way that is unaffordable in terms of clearance fees these days...

Master Ace : I Got Ta

When the Juice Crew veteran's name was still spelled this way, the year was 1990, haircuts were angular, and Ace was making his solo debut on the highly regarded "Take A Look Around", from which this track is taken! Mister Cee takes a classic James Brown sample and keeps the Godfather's voice in for Master Ace to work around lyrically as he states his intentions.

Joell Ortiz ft. Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, and Styles P : Put Some Money On It

Second straight tune working a vocal sample into the lyrics - this time, from the 2011 "Free Agent" mixtape with The LOX making a great guest appearance. Straight street bars all the way through, and Sean C and LV with the uptempo soul/funk production for a big win.

Sampa The Great ft. Krown : Time's Up

Massive thanks to Agent J for gifting me this LP! From Zambia via Botswana and Australia comes Sampa, whose new LP "The Return" jumps around stylistically but never lets you forget that this is an MC of quality. She and the featured guest Krown take the machinations of the record industry to task on this one and announce that the clock has run out on their BS. Silentjay's beat starts off centred around those stick hits to remind you of a clock, then brings those lows in to drive it forward. Definitely an album worth a listen!

Boogie Down Productions : Duck Down (Instrumental)

Early 90s ruggedness on this 12" release from the "Sex & Violence" LP. KRS and Pal Joey smack the beat into the drum sampler here, and right at the end you hear the sound effect that plays under one of Hip-Hop's best-remembered calls for a rewind!

Edgar Allen Floe : Arrest The President (Cypher God)

We played the original version of this track to open episode 90, almost three years ago, but I only recently learned that there was a remake! Edgar Allen Floe of the Justus League does a solid job with this, covering similar themes as the original and even borrowing some of the rhyme scheme while switching up the words themselves. The dope beat is pretty much the exact same as the Marley Marl-produced original, bringing that hectic 80s urgency and just begging to be cut up every time. Check out more of Floe's work on the rest of the album, "The Streetwise LP".

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

  Check out this episode!