#and the last one so close to unwinnable

[faceofpoe]

"Don't make the same mistake twice."

Because I am fully in camp 'Clone Operative dude is someone devastating under that helmet' do not clown us all on this writers and a spiteful at condescending assholes on Reddit hopeful part of me just really wants it to somehow be (saveable) Tech so we can have a reunited-for-one-last-fight-full-Batch-back-together finale-

The narrative argument for somehow-Tech-returned:

(also see: my (much shorter) narrative contemplation for Cody)

I have a sneaking suspicion that our character development focus is going to shift from Crosshair to Hunter for the back half of the season. Crosshair feels a bit... done? He chose Omega over the easy out on Lau, he's owned up to making mistakes, embraced his place among the squad again ("much worse" than Hunter - lol), he's had his faceoff/heart-to-heart/mutual saving each other rapid progression with Howzer - yeah I imagine there are still things we're going to learn about what he went through/possible ramifications therein, but as far as accepting who he is/his place/etc I think we're winding down on his focus.

Bringing our attention to the end of ep 7 and Rex & Hunter's convo about walking away, and his convo at the end of s2 with Echo about an unwinnable fight and so on. He just wants to protect his squad but the walls are closing in, and Omega won't be content just running and hiding.

And this brings me to the end of season 1 and Crosshair's rather lacking motivational speech about why they should join the Empire finally - they're meant for more than wandering aimlessly as fugitives, etc, and he tells Hunter - "Don't make the same mistake twice."

Now in s3e5, in what felt like the galaxy's most unfinished conversation ever, Hunter tells Crosshair he has "regrets" - but what exactly are they?

Fleeing Kamino in Aftermath, presumably not.

But the number of times in season 1 when he's given the opening to revisit the whole "leaving our own behind" thing and just - doesn't? Everyone else starts in on the "wait maybe the whole thing was the chip?' convo in ep 3 and he shuts it down to focus on the crisis at hand. He later says he's mad at himself for leaving Crosshair behind, and Omega says they'll find a way to get him back and he nods but - I don't think the notion is ever revisited?

Rex emphasizes how the chips are impossible to resist.

They *see* what it does to Wrecker.

Howzer refuses to flee Ryloth with them because he won't abandon his squad - knows they're good men, hopes he can convince them that they're not doing the right thing. We get a brief contemplative look at that, and the look back at Crosshair after they flee but.

After Kamino and after Bracca, sure, maybe the risk of even trying to get to him would seem too high - but we never even get a conversation about it, about finding a way to recover Crosshair and get the chip out now that they know how to do it.

He's also the most skeptical one about the Plan 88 message even after a presumably decent chunk of time has passed, after he knows the chip is gone, after Crosshair saved Omega on Kamino.

So - thesis, please - my narrative argument for wintersoldier'ified-Tech isn't about very mean visual teases callbacks, and it's not about undoing Tech's sacrifice or carving out room for a Tech redemption arc (because we wouldn't need it) (seriously this one baffles me, what?) -

It's about Hunter getting the chance to not make the same (actual) mistake twice, writing off one of his squad as a lost cause and leaving them behind.

(I'm also still really hung up on meeting Phee on the line "Better late than dead" but that's a different conversation)

Thank you for coming to my Tech talk.

[lichqueenlibrarian]

Time for Yesterday gave me so much to chew on.

I don’t really want to spoil it if anyone is intending to read it (or bore anyone if they don’t) so thoughts about the book under the cut.

From the book’s summary:

Time in the galaxy has stopped running its normal course. That can only mean one thing -- the Guardian of Forever is malfunctioning. To save the universe, Starfleet command reunites three of its most legendary figures -- Admiral James T. Kirk, Spock of Vulcan, and Dr. Leonard McCoy -- and sends them on a desperate mission to contact the Guardian, a journey that ultimately takes them 5,000 years into the past. They must find Spock's son Zar once again -- and bring him back to their time to telepathically communicate the Guardian.

But Zar is enmeshed in troubles of his own, and soon Kirk, Spock and McCoy find themselves in a desperate struggle to save both their world -- and his!

One of the things I did enjoy was the change in Spock’s characterisation; he was softer but not in a way that felt forced- the story takes place after The Motion Picture and Deep Domain (which put Jim back on Earth at Starfleet HQ at the book’s end) so not only is Spock older, you get the feeling that he’s been doing a lot of thinking since the last time he and Zar met. Spock outright says that the incident with Vejur caused him to reevaluate how he interacts with the universe, and with the people in it. He allows himself to connect a little more with others (he and D’berahan, the little esper they bring along to contact the Guardian get along quite well and have a very immediate friendship), and the book expands a bit on his friendship with Uhura, which I thought was lovely. The side plot with D’berahan, a member of a species that communicates solely through telepathy did make me wonder at the ease with which she and Spock spoke, it seemed much different than the way Spock uses words, and it occurred to me that you could probably consider telepathy Spock’s first language rather than Vulcan.

When they find that the world is in imminent danger of ending, Jim’s put into a conundrum- does he reach out to David knowing this could be his last chance, and in spite of what he promised Carol? Does he have the right to contact David, and does he chance causing David any distress? In the text it’s set up a bit as a counterpoint to Spock- they’re both estranged from their children for different reasons, and how do you cope with that? Jim’s also conflicted about having let Carol take sole responsibility for David, and his past willingness to accede to her desires. I think though, that Jim’s more in line with Zar than with Spock.

Zar has been leading his city, bringing them into prosperity with the help of the things he learned in the future. Unfortunately he’s on the brink of an unwinnable war that will wreck all that work, he’s not happy as the leader (preferring to teach), and having been widowed and lost his child twenty years prior hasn’t allowed himself to get close to anyone again. He’s also closer in age to Spock and Jim due to the vagaries of time travel. Zar wants to teach but can’t because of his responsibilities to the people and city. Jim would prefer to teach (he would see Spock more often, too and I’m sure that has nothing to do with anything) but can’t because he’s constantly getting bogged down in Starfleet business taking him over hill and dale. Zar is afraid to get close to anyone (including his new wife Wynn, high priestess of one of the clans allied against him) because he’s afraid of her possible death. However, he’s able to get over his fear and will be able to go back to teaching because Wynn is a capable and enthusiastic ruler herself, more than willing to take on ruling the city so that Zar can spend more time doing what he really loves.

I think the suggestion there is that what Jim’s really feeling the lack of is support and partnership. While Spock is able to meet Zar on a more even footing this time, able to express more of his honest feelings, and in the end to overcome his qualms and do something dramatic in order to save his son, Jim doesn’t really get the same payoff. Whether he goes to meet David isn’t resolved, and while the book ends with him resolving to be firm about taking on more teaching opportunities, there isn’t really a resolution for his emotional arc.

I really enjoyed Spock’s final trip into the past to help Zar. Prior to their marriage, Wynn prophesied that he would fall in battle and rise, and Spock saw in the Guardian’s records of the past that Zar sustains a brutal blow to the head that likely kills him. To prevent this, he takes off into the past with a lirpa and ahn-woon to try and save Zar. Along the way he encounters the hideousness of war in that era- there are some descriptions of the injured and dying that are kinda gross (viscera everywhere)- and I liked that this was shocking and nauseating to Spock. He also kills someone accidentally and feels guilt over it despite that person being the one who nearly murders Zar. At the end they pull off Wynn’s prophecy by using Spock’s resemblance to Zar and a bit of Jim’s dramatics to scare off the opposing armies.

The battle against the Originators was neat, mostly because McCoy gets harassed by an alien taking the form of his ex wife (despite knowing it’s not Jocelyn they immediately start bickering), while the one that targets Jim uses Winona’s recent death to try and hurt him. That Jim reacts to the alien’s taunting by saying his mother wouldn’t ever think those things and that he knows he did his best for her, while Spock reacts by getting angry and putting himself between Jim and the alien is�� fascinating.

There were a lot of references to other books (MR NARAHT MY SON!!) which I did like, it gave the world a bit of heft rather than introducing a whole bunch of new people again.

I think the change in Jim from the show to the movies is so damn interesting, it’s one of my favourite parts of these books despite the focus being mostly on Spock.

[autisticsupervillain]

Five Nights at the Archives

(A FNAF Fangame concept for The Magnus Archives)

You naturally play as Jonathan Sims. Not while he's working in the Archives mind you, but while he's asleep and trapped inside his own mind. Each of the Fourteen Fears is trying to make him their Avatar and the game play depicts you fighting them off. The game takes place in a facsimile of Jon's office at the Institute, with the monsters out to get you being representations of what Jon would look like as an Avatar of each of the individual Fears. There are four main gameplay areas. The front of your desk, behind your desk, under your desk, and the cameras. The cameras have two maps, the building itself and the vents.

The front of your desk is where you'll find Eye!Jon. The more you look at any of the Fears, the more he manifests into your office until he kills you. In order to drive him off, you have to push a button to close your eyes while, waiting for audio ques to signify that he's de-manifested a step. When he's about to kill you, you'll hear the noise of the tape recorder on your desk turning on and playing m, indicating that you need to deal with him now. This is the only Jon who is active on all the nights, so you'll always have to be checking the front of your desk periodically to know if you need to drive him back a step.

Dark!Jon is the other Jon who appears at the front of your office and he works the exact opposite way. The less you look at him, the darker your office gets and the more he manifests until he jumpscares you. Closing your eyes to drive back the Eye makes him speed up and he de-manifests the more you look at him. If you've been neglecting to deal with Dark and Eye too often, then you'll put yourself in an unwinnable situation where driving back one lets the other kill you. Your cues for when he's getting dangerously close to jumpscaring you are flickering lights.

Behind your desk is where you'll find Web!Jon and Corruption!Jon. On nights where they're active, they appear at first as cobwebs and beehives in the corner of your office, slowly spreading as they manifest in more and more. You drive them back by burning them with Jon's web lighter, but doing that feeds Desolation!Jon, as signified by the candle on the floor burning down. Desolation!Jon de-manifests the less you use the lighter, but the Web and Corruption come back faster the more you burn them. The trick is to try waiting for the last possible moment to burn away the Web and Corruption so as to not trap yourself in an unwinnable situation between them and the Desolation.

Hiding under your desk lets you avoid a select few Fears. On nights where Lonely!Jon is active, your office will gradually fill up with fog. To drive the Fog back, you hide under your desk and listen to a tape recording of Martin's poetry. The longer you listen, the further back the Lonely is driven, but obviously you can't be down there all night with the other Avatars after you. You also hide under the desk to avoid Stranger!Jon when you hear circus music outside your door. Stranger!Jon does appear on the cameras, but you likely won't use those to track him, as unlike the others, he has an audio tell for when he's near.

Hunt and Slaughter are the ones you'll likely track while on the cameras. If you can't find either of them on the cameras, that means they're outside your door, so you'll have to click on it at the front of your office to hold the door shut until they stop banging on it and reset their path. Slaughter has an audio cue for moving one camera closer to your office (an army trumpet jingle), while Hunt moves completely silently. And hiding in the desk doesn't work on either of them, they'll just stab you through it.

Flesh and Vast are what you need to check the vents for. You can seal off whatever vent they're in to either stunt Flesh's progress to your office or drive Vast back from manifesting inside your office. (As indicated by the subtle sound of rushing wind and thunderstorms getting ever louder.) However, doing so too often makes the Buried faster and more active as Jon struggles to breathe, even on nights when Buried isn't supposed to be active.

The Buried, when active, starts to fill your office with mud and dirt, forcing you to find its coffin on your cameras or in your office and close it to make the mud go away. If the vents are closed, Buried!Jon does this more frequently and fills your office much faster, getting faster and more frequent the longer its closed.

And Spiral and End are the ones that make you dread checking the cameras. Spiral and End will randomly appear on one of your cameras, forcing you to quickly exit that camera before they jumpscare you. If Spiral gets you, than your controls are completely randomized to make you look at different cameras or parts of your office. You need to quickly find the Distortion's door in either your office or cameras to deactivate the effect before he kills you. If End gets you, you get sent back one in-game hour, with everyone resetting back to where they were at that specific hour. If you survive back to the hour you first saw End, he appears in your office and you must quickly hide under your desk to avoid him. If you get under the desk too late, then, unlike Stranger who just kills you, End stares at you until you either leave the desk to get killed by him or die to something you couldn't prevent because you were stuck under the desk.

Some of these Jons can only be active on nights where the others are active and some can be active whenever. Desolation, Corruption, and Web will all be active on the same nights because their mechanic is so interconnected, for example, while Hunt or Dark can be active whenever. The game will inform you before the night begins which fears will be active and let you click on them to tutorialize their mechanics.

Extinction!Jon is the night six boss fight. He slowly approaches your office on the cameras and you have to find symbols of all the other Fears on the cameras and in your office so they can drive him back before he reaches you, with you occasionally having to close vents or block doors to keep him out after certain sound cues. Then, for the next in game hour, it's a normal night where all the Fears are active, with Extinction coming back every other hour and switching between the gameplay modes.

[starryevermore]

following orders: the goggles (1) ✧ tech

following orders ✧ a tech bad batch story | ao3 

inspired by: a conversation with @captainsbestgal​

pairing: tech x fem!reader

series summary: you don’t want to live in a galaxy where the love of your life, tech, does not exist. but, you can’t abandon your already grieving family. you devote all of your energy to helping hunter and wrecker save omega from the empire and, perhaps, save the wayward crosshair along the way. but the longer you look for the youngest member of the bad batch, the more you suspect that your lost love is not as lost as you once believed. 

chapter summary: the aftermath of plan 99.

word count: 7,223

series warnings?: spoilers for “plan 99”, plan 99, canon-typical violence, hurt tech, canon divergent, fix it fic, angst, grief/mourning, torture, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, relationship discussions, mutual pining, clone troopers speak mando’a, depression, suicide ideation, memory loss, brainwashing, jealousy, not proofread

chapter warnings?: mention of tech’s death, grief, mourning, suicide ideation, not proofread

“When have we ever followed orders?”

You cradled Omega in your arms as the Marauder traveled through hyperspace. You weren’t sure if you should still be holding her. She’d been gravely injured, and you have enough first aid training to know that it’s safer to let a person be stabilized than to constantly be adjusting them. But holding onto her, your pseudo-daughter, was the only thing grounding you in this moment. And, perhaps a bit delusional at the moment, you told yourself that, when traveling through hyperspace, maybe it was safer to hold onto her than to let her little body be whipped around the ship—not that her brothers would do that. Not now. Not after everything that’s happened. 

“When have we ever followed orders?”

A tear slipped down your cheek. You raised one hand, quick to wipe it away, before returning to holding Omega. You couldn’t cry. Not now. If you cried…That meant it was real. And it couldn’t be real. He couldn’t have…No. He was fine. He was okay. He piloting the ship, he was making last-second calculations to ensure a safe landing. He was…He was not with you. Not now. Not ever. Even if he had beat the odds, used that brilliant mind of his to calculate just the right way to fall…You all left him. You weren’t sure anyone could survive in the wilderness below, even someone as brilliant as him.

“When have we ever followed orders?”

Hunter walked up to you. His face was void of his emotion, save for his eyes. Hunter could play the stoic leader all he liked, but his eyes would always tell a different story. The man was barely holding it together. You could hardly blame him. Losing Tech…No one had seen that coming. No one saw him making the sacrifice play. He was supposed to be on the ship with you. How did he expect you to move on when he meant everything to you? When there was still so much left unsaid? 

“When have we ever followed orders?”

Hunter sat down beside you. Omega’s head rested in your lap. He reached down, stroking her blonde curls. He needed this, too. Everything that all of you did was to ensure that Omega would live, that she might one day get to see a peaceful galaxy. Or, when that was too large a task, at least that she would live a peaceful life. That she wouldn’t become a soldier in an unwinnable war. But what was the point in that when all she’d experienced since joining you and her brothers was unspeakable loss? No kid deserved that, especially not one as kind and innocent as her. 

“We’ll be landing soon,” Hunter said.

You swallowed, trying to choke down any sob that threatened to escape. “Are you sure this is a good idea? When we were…When we were on Safa Toma, Millegi told us that Cid can’t be trusted.”

Hunter kept his gaze focused on Omega. You weren’t sure, but you thought that he kept his head downturned so that you wouldn’t see any tears that were close to falling. “I don’t see how we have any choice. She needs proper medical treatment. AZI is the only one I trust to make sure…”

To make sure she didn’t die. He couldn’t finish the sentence, but you could feel the weight of it. It nearly suffocated you. You couldn’t lose anymore of your family. The galaxy could not be so cruel as to take another from you. You wouldn’t let it. 

“I just worry that Cid will do something. We cut off all communication with her. We may have once been in her good graces, but I don’t know what will happen if she sees us again.”

“I know. But, she has a soft spot for the kid,” Hunter said. His hand fell from Omega’s hair, stroking her cheek. Though still unconscious, she let out a whine. You weren’t sure if it was one of pain, or if she recognized that her father figure was present. “I can only hope that that will grant us some favor.”

“If it doesn’t?”

Hunter’s jaw clenched. He lifted his head, finally looking at you. His eyes were glassy, but hard. With a sort of ferocity you only ever heard from him on the battlefield, he said, “I won’t let anyone take her from us.” 

The Marauder jerked slightly as it entered Ord Mantell’s atmosphere. While Echo was more than a capable pilot, he lacked some of the finesse that Tech possessed. Or perhaps you were hyperaware now of every move, every jump, every jerk. It felt like your senses were on fire. Like you had to perceive everything so that you didn’t have to picture his face. 

Within minutes of entering the atmosphere, the Marauder landed. Hunter stood, then held out his arms to carry Omega. It was a kind gesture, and maybe he wanted to carry her because he also needed to be grounded. But you knew that if you let go of her, for even a second, you would collapse and never want to get up again. So, you shook your head, adjusting your grip on the young girl, so that you were cradling her in your arms as you stood. It was an effort, you had to admit. You were strong, but that did not compare to the strength of a genetically enhanced clone trooper. But the pain, the burn of your muscles, was one of the only things reminding you were alive, that Omega was alive. 

Echo and Wrecker were already waiting outside the ship when you and Hunter emerged. Echo looked much like you and Hunter—stoic, but barely holding it together. Wrecker, on the other hand…The poor guy must have spent the entire journey crying. Tear tracks stained his face, his eyes all red and puffy. Even the tip of his nose was a bright red. When he saw you carrying Omega, he immediately reached out. And, oh, he needed this much more than you. You let him take Omega from your arms, a sob escaping his lips as he held her. 

“I’m going to stick with the ship,” Echo said. “Make sure everything’s in working order for when we leave.”

You shared a glance with Hunter. You wanted to say, We might be here a while. Or, you should probably be checked out by AZI, too. We all need help right now. Perhaps even, Please don’t leave us now. But, everyone grieves in their own way. If this was Echo saying he needed to grieve alone, who were you to deny him that?

Hunter said, “Keep your comm on and close by. We might need a quick getaway.” 

Echo nodded, then turned back to the ship. You watched as his shoulders sagged as he walked back up. You and Echo were never the closest on the team, but you knew enough of his life before the Batch that losing a member of the team hit him hard. Perhaps when Omega was healed, when you all left this Maker-forsaken planet, you would talk to him. Maybe convince him to stick around a little while longer before rejoining Rex. You couldn’t make him stay forever, but you all were his family. This was not the time to be splitting up for an undetermined length of time. 

Hunter squeezed your shoulder, letting you know it was time to go to Cid’s. You let out a shuddering breath, kept your gaze focused on your feet, as you walked the streets to the oh-so-familiar parlor. The entire walk, you tried working on keeping a straight face. You knew you couldn’t hide what happened from Cid—she was far too perceptive to not notice you all were down a man—but you didn’t dare show weakness in front of her. You were already certain a betrayal was on the horizon. You refused to give her anymore ammunition to hurt you with. 

The parlor was empty when you arrived, save for Bolo and Ketch. Ketch’s eyes widened when he saw the four of you. You could only imagine how much of Cid’s wrath they had experienced when you all never returned. Bolo’s eyes flicked toward the bar, and you followed his gaze. Cid was wiping down the counter. It seemed like she hadn’t noticed you all yet, but you knew Cid well enough to know she was waiting for one of you to make the first move. 

“Is AZI around?” you asked as you approached the bar. 

Cid’s eyes flicked up, a snarky remark on the tip of her tongue. But then she saw Omega in Wrecker’s arms, the pained look on his face. Instead of her usual sarcasm, she asked, “What happened to Tiny?”

You looked at Hunter. You weren’t sure how much he wanted to reveal to the Trandoshan. If it was up to you, you would give her nothing. But he was calling the shots, and he might think it better to give something so that she would be more inclined to let the med droid tend to Omega. 

“Mission gone wrong,” was all he offered. “She needs to see AZI now.”

Cid nodded her head toward her office. “He’s in the back doing inventory. Do what you need to do. But when the kid’s taken care of, we need to have a talk about best communication practices.”

You narrowed your eyes at her, a snarky remark of your own on the tip of your tongue, but you held back. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, and all that. If Cid’s concern for Omega was the only thing keeping her from throwing you out, or worse, throwing you to the Empire, you could hold your tongue. For, at least, long enough to let AZI tend to Omega’s wounds. 

You started for the back, Wrecker and Hunter following close behind. But you didn’t make it far before Cid stopped you all again.

“Wait. One of youse is missing.” When you looked back at her, Cid’s eyes were flitting between the three of you. “Is Goggles on the ship or something?”

You decided to borrow Hunter’s words, and only offered her, “Mission gone wrong.”

Oh, what an understatement that was. But she didn’t deserve to be privy to the details. She didn’t have the right to know of the pain that stabbed at you, that bit and clawed at your heart, reminding you that you were alive instead of him. She was not a friend. She was hardly an acquaintance. If you couldn’t even talk to your own family about the ache you felt, why should she get to know? 

True to her word, though, AZI was flitting around the back, taking stock of the various liquors that Cid ordered for the parlor. He lifted his head when he heard you all approach. You might have been imagining things—and you surely were, because droids don’t express emotions in the same way as sentient beings—but the med droid almost looked happy to see you. Part of you had felt bad for leaving him behind with Cid. He had been Omega’s friend after all. But, Hunter wasn’t keen on returning to Ord Mantell back then. Not after the incident at the ipsium mines. You could hardly blame him, so you didn’t push. Now, you wish you had. If you had come back for AZI all those rotations ago, he would have already been on the ship or at least on the sanctuary that was Pabu. There would have been no need to come back here and endanger your family’s lives any further. 

“Oh! I was wondering when you were coming back!” AZI chirped, coming around the many boxes. “Cid had not been very happy when you all didn’t return. But I knew you would come back! And I was right! I knew that if you left, you wouldn’t leave me behind.”

“We need your help,” Hunter said, ignoring the droid’s words. He had previously been standing in front of Wrecker, shielding the droid’s view of the injured Omega. Now, he stepped out of the way. “Omega got hurt, and it’s gonna take more than a few bacta patches to fix her up.”

AZI stared. You could almost sense the hurt he could be feeling. Whether it was at the knowledge that you all weren’t there for him or that his friend was knocking on death’s door, you couldn’t be sure. “I see. I shall get started then.”

You reached out, your fingers grazing the droid. If he could have blinked at you in confusion, you were sure he would have. “Thank you. And…I’m sorry.”

“No need for apologies or gratitude. This is what I’m here for.”

You weren’t sure how long you watched AZI tend to Omega. It felt like days—long, agonizing days as he flitted around her—though you doubted it was any longer than a few hours. You had lost track of time. Between watching him fix up Omega and occasionally tending to you, Hunter, and Wrecker when he needed time for the medicine to work its magic on her, it all kind of felt like a dream. Or, really, a nightmare. The crushing weight of this reality was starting to settle on your chest. You didn’t like this. You didn’t like it at all. 

At some point, Hunter brought you some breads and a glass of water. “Eat,” he said, ordering you like you were a soldier. You and him both knew that you would ignore him if he asked. “He wouldn’t want you to starve.”

You let out a quiet huff of a laugh, if you could even call it that. “He would talk about the benefits of a well-balanced diet, go on about how the food here was hardly sustenance, but that fed is best.”

Hunter wiped away a tear that rolled down your cheek. You’d hardly noticed it. How long had you been crying? You’d been so sure that you were holding it together still. “We’ll get through this.” He nodded his head at the door, gesturing to where Wrecker had disappeared after AZI put his neck in a brace. Wrecker had been placing a huge amount of space between you and him. The guilt must have been hurting him, too—even if he had nothing to feel guilty for. “Wrecker and I were talking about staying on Pabu full time, after Omega is fixed up.”

“What about Crosshair?”

Hunter’s jaw clenched. “I can’t trust that his message wasn’t a trap. I’m not going to lose any more of my family on the chance that he’s switched sides. He’s given no indication that he wanted to join us before.”

“It’s not a trap. I know it’s not.” Perhaps it was a low blow, being so close to the incident, but you couldn’t stop yourself from saying, “Tech knew it wasn’t a trap.”

Hunter swallowed, hard. You watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed. Then— “Tech…died so his family could be safe. I’m honoring his wishes.”

“Crosshair is part of this family. His message, it was a sign that he still cared. That despite everything, he still cares.”

Hunter started to argue, but his mouth snapped shut when Omega groaned. He shot you a look—this wasn’t over. But the conversation would have to be tabled for another day. 

You squeezed his shoulder. “We can go to Pabu if that’s what Omega wants. Whatever she chooses, I’ll respect.”

“Hunter?” Omega managed to say. She said your name as she realized you sat beside him.

Hunter immediately leaned over her, stroking her hair. You reached out, taking one of her hands,  giving it a squeeze. Hunter offered her a small smile, and said, “Hiya, kid.”

“You gave us a right scare there,” you said. 

Omega let out a groan and started to sit up. “W-What happened?”

You and Hunter shared a glance. You could hardly put into words the ordeal you all just experienced. You weren’t sure you could explain it to her without crying, but you also didn’t want Hunter to shoulder that responsibility. He already carried too much weight on his shoulders. 

But before you could say anything, AZI entered the room. He chirped, “Hello, Omega. I am relieved you are awake.” He did a quick scan of her, the light blue light illuminating her face. “You each sustained multiple injuries. However, you all will make a full recovery with proper treatment and rest.”

Omega sat up, a hand clutching her head. Hunter reached around, helping her so that she didn’t make things too hard for herself. You gave her hand another squeeze. At this point, it was probably more for your comfort than hers. She was alive. She would be okay. That’s all that mattered right now. If you could focus on that, everything would be okay. Eventually. 

At the sound of Omega’s voice, Wrecker came into the room. He wouldn’t look at you, even when you tried to meet his gaze. You understood why—the guilt he must feel would be tremendous. He was the brawn on the operation. He was the muscles. It’s his job to make sure that no one in his family has to take the brunt of any injuries. In his eyes, he failed. In his eyes, he’s the reason your heart is broken. In his eyes, he’s the reason Tech died. 

You hadn’t been sure how to comfort him, so you let him go off on his own for a while. You weren’t quite sure how to comfort yourself. So, you let him sit in his misery and you in yours. Now, though, you wish you’d done something. It hurt, him not being able to look at you, even if he thought he was trying to spare you the pain. 

“You’re—You’re okay,” Wrecker said. He stumbled forward, kneeling in front of Omega, letting out a breath. He was the perfect picture of held-back panic. He held Omega in a quick hug, careful not to press on any of her injuries. “Don’t scare us like that again.”

Hunter offered her a drink. “How do you feel?”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled. Her face twisted, contorted into sadness. You’d almost hoped she hadn’t remembered. She doesn’t deserve this kind of pain. She shouldn’t have to know this kind of loss. “The last thing that I remember, we were in the railcar when…”

She gasped, her eyes going wide. Her eyes darted toward you, searching for an answer to the unsaid question. But you couldn’t meet her gaze. If you did, you would cry. And if you cried, you would confirm her worst fears. 

She looked to Hunter. “Where’s Tech?”

Hunter looked away, looked at you. You gave a nod. She had to know. “Omega, Tech didn’t make it.”

You dropped Omega’s hand, letting your hand come to rest on Hunter’s shoulder. You gave it a squeeze. You’d meant what you said, that he shouldn’t have to shoulder all this responsibility. You felt bad for making him say it, but you suppose she would only believe the news from him. 

“We have to go back!” Omega said. “What if he’s hurt? He—He needs us! Tell him, Wrecker! We can’t just leave him!”

You looked at Wrecker, seeing his eyes squeeze shut. Oh, that must have killed him. That must have confirmed every dark thought that swirled in his gentle mind. Was it too soon to force everyone into a group hug? 

“Omega,” you said, reaching out, stopping her from jumping out of the bed. “You saw him. He calculated the odds right before he did it. He knew his chances, and he’s seldom wrong.”

“NO!” Omega smacked your hand away. “Tech’s not gone! You know he’s not! He—He can’t be!”

Her face screwed up as the tears began to fall. Hunter took your place, wrapping his arms around her. She sobbed into his chest. Your heart clenched at the sight. She was alive, but she was hurting. And you weren’t sure what to do about that. Nothing that you said would help her. Nothing you said would bring him back. 

You rose to your feet, glancing between the members of your family. “I-I need to go,” you mumbled, stumbling out of the room.

You didn’t make it very far, nearly collapsing into a seat at the bar. Your shoulders trembled as you tried to keep your sobs at bay. Until that moment, it hadn’t quite hit you that he was gone. You knew he was. You were there when he fell. You saw the calmness in his eyes, his acceptance of his fate. You could feel the unspoken words on the tip of his tongue as he said his final words. You felt the tremble of the railcar, the panic in your chest as the line snapped, as he plummeted…Going, going, gone. 

You’d lived through all of that, but a naïve sort of part of you had hoped. Had prayed to the Maker, to the Force, to whatever cosmic being there was that controlled Tech’s fate that he had made it. But at that altitude? With a railcar plummeting with him? Even if he survived the fall, the railcar landing on him would surely do him in. Tech had accepted his death, but you couldn’t. 

How could you? He had meant everything to you. He was the air you breathed, the reason you stayed with the Batch for so long. When the war ended, you had no reason to stay. Your contract with the Republic ended the moment that battles stopped. But he…He gave you one look, one unspoken plea, and you stayed. 

What was the point now? 

You lifted your head as Wrecker collapsed into a seat next to you. He stared at the bar. Knowing that he wouldn’t make any move, you grabbed his hand, gave it a squeeze. “It’s not your fault,” you whispered. “There was nothing you could have done to change what happened.”

Maybe the words were partly said for your own peace of mind, but it brought neither you nor Wrecker any belief. “He was gonna ask ya out when we got back to Pabu,” he mumbled. “He knew you liked looking at tha stars, so he planned a midnight picnic. Was gonna tell you every fact he knew about every star, planet, comet in tha sky.”

“…Oh.” You weren’t sure what else to say. What could you say? How could express the remorse of never getting to experience a future you so badly craved?

“He wanted to come back to ya. He was supposed to come back to ya. And I’m the reason he didn’t. You should hate me.”

“I could never hate you, Wrecker,”  you said. You squeezed his hand. “I meant what I said. His fate was sealed when he went out with me to make repairs.”

“I saved you. I should have saved him, too. I could have saved him.”

Your bottom lip trembled. “He made you get me first. He made his choice. Wrecker, he knew his fate. You…You did everything he wanted you too. Okay? So don’t, don’t feel bad about what happened.”

The sound of two glasses hitting the bar pulled you from your conversation with Wrecker. When you looked up, Cid was sliding you and him a couple of drinks. Your stomach twisted. You didn’t like the look in her eyes. There was something she wasn’t telling you. “Here,” she said. “These are on the house.”

You pushed the glass in front of you away. “Nothing ever comes for free with you, Cid.”

Wrecker pushed his glass, too. “It won’t help.”

Cid was silent for a beat. “I’m sorry about Goggles. I always liked him.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Wrecker said. 

You watched Cid. She had her arms crossed over her chest, one of her clawed fingers tapping anxiously. You sat a little straighter, sniffed back a couple of your tears. No matter what grief you were experiencing, you needed to keep your mind sharp. You had walked right back into the lion’s den. You needn’t give Cid any opportunity to betray you. 

Wrecker noticed, too. “What’s with you?” he grunted. 

Cid wagged one finger at him. “You know, I tried to look out for you kids. But you got too much heat on you. And you brought it here, to my place of business! I had to make the best of a bad situation.”

You watched the rage contort on Wrecker’s face. Oh, you don’t know if you had ever seen him so mad before. You almost expected him to reach across the bar and kill Cid with his bare hands. Instead, he growled, “What did you do?”

“Sorry, Muscles. Sorry, Killer.”

The doors to the parlor slid open. You were immediately on your feet, shoved behind Wrecker as a group of commando clones entered the parlor, their blasters raised. One shot at Wrecker, and he charged, more stun bolts firing at him. One hit you, and you went down easily, not able to put the same kind of fight as Wrecker. As you fell, you prayed to the Maker that Hunter got away—or at least that he convinced Omega to leave you all behind if he wanted to play hero.

The commando clones had you and Wrecker kneeling with your hands bounds behind two of them, maybe another half dozen behind you, all of their blasters raised at the door, waiting for Hunter. Hemlock stood beside you, watching you curiously as you avoided his gaze. He knew something. He knew something about Tech. Your eyes fell to the case he was holding, wondering what its contents were. Was it Tech’s head? His helmet? Some other cruel piece of his life, of his memory to taunt the fact that you all lost?

Hunter emerged from the back, his blaster raised. You let out a breath. At least Omega wasn’t with him. At least she might have escaped. He wouldn’t have come out unless he was sure she was long gone.  

“That’s not very strategic, Hunter,” Hemlock said. “You don’t need to use your enhanced senses to know you’re outnumbered.”

Hemlock turned to Cid, raising the case. “The Empire thanks you for your assistance,” he said, passing the case to the Trandoshan. 

Oh. It was just credits. Maybe Hemlock wasn’t so cruel to taunt you all with Tech’s death using whatever part of him they uncovered. 

Cid and Hunter shared a look, before Hemlock said, “Our business is done. Leave.”

Cid’s head dropped. She turned, walking past you and Wrecker. She paused for a second, looking like she wanted to tell you something. Maybe an apology. You weren’t sure. All you knew was, whatever she had to say died in her throat as you reared your head back, spitting at her. Childish, sure. Gross, definitely. But Cid didn’t deserve your respect. Not now. Not after she sold you all out. 

Hemlock turned his attention back to Hunter. “Please, consider your next move very carefully. I would hate for this to end poorly for all of you. Here is how this is going to go. You will lower your blaster and hand over Omega. And I will allow you to keep breathing.”

“Omega’s not going anywhere with you,” Hunter growled. 

“Oh. Well, who knew clones are so paternal? Fascinating,” Hemlock said. He paused for a moment. “I was saddened to learn of your friend’s demise. What was his name? Oh, yes, Tech.”

You let out a growl. He didn’t deserve to say Tech’s name. What right did he have to talk about Tech?

Hemlock glanced back at you, his eyebrows raised. As he took in your expression, he turned more fully. He reached out, a finger running down your cheek. You fought the urge to bite him. That wouldn’t end well. “Ah, yes, the girlfriend, right?” he mused. Not technically. You and Tech never made anything official. “From what I gathered, the two of you were rather…intimate. I didn’t know clones could do that, either. Though, I suppose his form of intimacy is far different than a…normal human, wouldn’t you say?”

“Don’t you dare talk about him,” you spat. “You have no right.”

“So protective,” he said. Chuckling to himself, he turned back to Hunter. Beside you, Wrecker growled, only to be hit with a blaster by one of the clones holding you all captive. One of the commando clones handed him something. You couldn’t quite see what it was. “I’m afraid this was all I could salvage. Consider it a gift.”

He tossed the object at Hunter’s feet, and you could finally see what it was. A sob caught in your throat. No. No. No, no, no. If that was all they managed to recover, then that meant…Another sob escaped you before your could stop it. 

“To lose one of your own, it must weigh heavily on you as their leader.” Hemlock glanced back at the clones. Several of them pressed their weapons into Wrecker. One of them reached out, grabbing you by the hair, yanked your head back. He pressed his blaster into your temple. You wondered how eager he was to shoot. At least if you died, then you could be with Tech. “And if you don’t lower the blaster now, you will lose more.”

Wrecker shook his head. You couldn’t do the same, not with the way you were being held, so you did your best to convey your message in your eyes. Don’t lower your blaster. We’ll be fine. 

Still, Hunter slowly lowered the blaster and set it on the floor. He picked up Tech’s goggles, the glassiness in his eyes clear. 

“Wise decision,” Hemlock said. He motioned to the clones, and two of them stepped forward to bind Hunter’s wrists. They pushed him to where you and Wrecker were kneeling on the ground. 

Another clone came from the back and reported, “Sir, the girl is not in the office.”

“She’s long gone,” Hunter said. “Like I said, Omega’s not going anywhere with you.”

“Hmm. We’ll see.”

Oh, how could Hunter have been so right and so wrong all at the same time? Omega was, indeed, long gone, but she’d been taken by Hemlock. Despite your family’s best efforts, no one could stop Hemlock. Part of you wished that Omega had listened to Hunter, that she escaped and left you all behind. But the other part of you understood. She’s lost too much. If she lost you, Wrecker, and Hunter to the Empire…You weren’t sure how she would survive that kind of heartache. But now, the three of you and Echo floated through space, with no idea on where to go. Your mission had been a failure—you didn’t have the first clue where Hemlock’s base of operations was. Everything that you all fought—everything that you all lost—was for nothing. 

Eventually, Hunter told Echo to fly you all back to Pabu. Returning there and clearing all of your minds before making the next move was important. Everyone’s emotions were still high. Even if you all could come to a decision, could fall upon some useful information, there was no guarantee that a rescue operation would be successful. While Omega was in more danger the longer she was in Hemlock’s control, it would do her no good if all of you were captured trying to save her. 

You spent the journey laying in Tech’s bunk. Your face pressed into his pillow, bundled up in his covers, trying to commit his scent to memory. His bunk always smelled clean. Crosshair, back in the days of the Republic, once told you that Tech had been incredibly messy before you were assigned to the team. But the moment Tech met you, he went out of his way to keep his area as clean as could be. Back then, you thought Tech was just trying to be kind, to make you feel welcome. Now, you realized he was trying to impress you. 

Tears burned at your eyes at the memory. You tried blinking them away, focusing on the scribbles on the wall of Tech’s bunk. Most of them were about ship repairs that he would be doing with you, or upgrades to weapons. But there was one in the corner, near his pillow, that caught your eye. 

In his messy scrawl, he had written out a series of steps to win a woman’s heart. Most of them were checked off, save for three. Step 7. Take her on a date—make sure it’s something she would enjoy. Step 8. Kiss her—refer to holofilms for best approach. Step 9. Ask her to be yours—let it be her choice. 

You let out a choked laugh, running your fingers over the words. Wrecker was right. Tech had been planning to ask you out. Oh, he had planned everything out. You wondered how long he had this plan. What you would give to have him back for just a moment, to ask him every question you ever wanted to ask, to listen to his voice, to be with him, to tell him you love him, too. 

When the Marauder landed, you reluctantly left the comfort of Tech’s bunk, joining the boys. As you walked out of the ship, you saw Phee waiting. She wore a bright smile on her face, her eyes twinkling. Considering your abrupt departure, you had no doubt that she had a million questions she wanted to ask about the mission. 

“Didn’t think you guys would be back from your secret mission so soon,” she teased. “Did you get what you were looking for?”

You looked at her, and shook your heard. It was one thing to tell Cid that the mission was a failure—she didn’t really care about your family. But to tell Phee? Who had gone out of her way to bring you guys to a place to a call home? Who showed time and time again that she cared, even if she had a funny way of going about it? It hurt. 

Her smile didn’t waiver. She understand yet. “Ah, well, that’s okay. I’m sure you guys’ll get ‘em next time! Say, what’s the long face’s for? The mission wasn’t that bad was it?”

Hunter squeezed your shoulder. You reached up, squeezed his hand back. Behind you, you could hear Wrecker shuffle his feet and the quiet whhrr of Echo’s scomp as he fiddled with it. No one offered an explanation.

“Geez, you guys look rough. Must’ve been real bad out there.” Phee glanced between the four of you, her smile falling. “Say, where’s Brown Eyes? Where’s the kid?”

You opened your mouth but no words came out. You looked back at Wrecker, Hunter, and Echo, but none of them seemed keen to answer. Phee seemed to know, though. You all wouldn’t be so put out, so mournful looking, if something bad hadn’t happened. When you looked back at her, she had stepped closer to you, a hand coming to rest on your shoulder. 

“I don’t know what happened, but I’m sorry,” she said. 

Your lip quivered. Kriff. You couldn’t take this. None of this was supposed to happen. You all were supposed to find out where Crosshair was, you were supposed to rescue him. Everyone was supposed to be reunited. You all were supposed to come back to Pabu and live as normal a life as you could manage. You weren’t supposed to lose Tech. Omega wasn’t supposed to be captured. 

Shrugging off Phee’s hand, you ran off. No one bothered to follow you, to call after you. For that, you were grateful. You didn’t want to be around anyone right. Not for a while. 

You settled on the docks. It was nearly dusk when the Marauder landed, so most of the fishermen had docked their boats and returned to their families with whatever they managed to catch. It was the perfect place for you. Almost no one around to bother you. You were as alone as you felt. 

Sitting on the edge of the dock, you let your legs hang over. You leaned all the way back so that you stared at the sky. The beautiful reds and oranges soon faded into a black abyss. The stars started to peak out, winking down at you. Once upon a time, you would have killed for the opportunity to watch the stars like this. There was seldom free time like this in the last few years. The stars once brought you comfort, providing you a map for your way back home. But it was different now.

The stars no longer brought you comfort. What was the point in the stars guiding you home if he wasn’t there to go with you?

Your eyes fluttered shut. For the first time since the incident, you let yourself cry. Sure, tears had escaped before, when you didn’t want them to. But you had been holding them at bay this entire time, trying to focus on the tasks at hand. Now, there was nothing to do. There was nothing you could do. Nothing, except mourn. A sob wracks your chest. You cover your face with your hands, letting everything you’d been holding in out.

You cried, and you cried, and you cried. Until there were no tears left. Until you uncovered your face, staring back at the stars, sniffling. 

A steady clunk! of a set of boots alerted you to a guest. You had a one-in-four shot of guessing who’d come to comfort you, but you didn’t care enough to see who it was. Did it matter? None of those four people were the one you wanted. And none of those four people was the kid you were supposed to protect. 

You saw Hunter’s face as he finally reached you, sitting down beside you. He said nothing. Hunter was never really the comforting type. He’d gotten better since Omega joined the team, learning to navigate his emotions so that he could be a better parent. But this wasn’t the sort of thing he’d been prepared for. None of you were prepared for this.

“I asked Shep to set you aside some dinner if you decide you’re hungry,” he said. “He said you can come into his house anytime you decide you’re hungry and take it. It has a note on it for you, in his fridge.”

“Thank you,” you said.

A silence passes over you. There’s so much to say. There’s so much you want to say. So much you aren’t sure how to say. How do you navigate this sort of sudden loss? What was the right way to grieve? What was the right way to comfort? A thousand possibilities flooded your mind. None of them felt right. Finally, you settled on an apology. 

“I’m sorry for running off,” you said. “If I worried you, I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intent.”

Hunter shrugged. “I knew where you were. I figured you just…needed time.”

“No amount of time can bring him back.” You sat up, looking out at the dark sea. If you jumped in now, you might sink fast enough under the weight of your armor that, by the time Hunter dove in after you, it would be too late. Even with his enhanced senses, the water would drown it all out. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save Omega.”

“You’re sounding like Wrecker now,” he said. He had heard your conversation with him back at Cid’s. Usually, he kept quiet about conversations he overheard. But things were different now. No one knew how to navigate this sort of hurt. “They got us while we were down. I don’t know if there was anything we could do to save her.”

You rested your hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “We’ll get her back.”

“We will,” he affirmed. He reached for something that you couldn’t quite see. When he brought his hands back into your view, you gasped. “I, uh, came to give you these.”

“Hunter, no—”

“I talked with Wrecker and Echo. We all agreed that he would have wanted you to have them. Anything of his, it’s yours. But these especially.”

As he pressed the goggles into your hands, a tear rolled down your cheek. Oh, this was too much. How could you look at these goggles and not want to jump off the dock? How could you look at the cracked lenses and not picture his eyes squeezing shut as he hit the ground? How could you not imagine the way he looked at you, in the split second before he made his choice? How could you not see of how he looked before, when you all were leaving for the mission, the fire in his eyes as he searched for a way to rescue his brother? How could you not dream of the soft look in his eyes the night before, when you rested your head on his shoulder and told him how you wished the two of you could have a peaceful life? You ran your thumb over the light that used shone red, indicating his constant filming of his surroundings. It was off now. Part of you wondered why, but you dismissed the thought. It was probably broken in the fall. 

“What do we do now?” you ask. You look up at Hunter to see him already looking at you. His eyes were glassy still. You wondered if he had allowed himself the privacy to cry yet, or if he was still playing the part of the stoic leader. “Echo’s probably going to return to Rex soon. Wrecker’s in no position to fight. Kark, neither of us are either. We don’t have the first clue where to look. We don’t have—”

Hunter squeezed your shoulder. “We’ll figure it out. I don’t know how, but…We’ve faced horrible odds before.”

“We had a hundred percent success rate back then.”

“I don’t know what we’ll do,” he said, “but if we stick together, we’ll figure it out. I know we will.”

You wanted to push back, to argue, to feel something other than this grief, but you didn’t want to hurt Hunter in the process. So you let it go. Instead, you asked, “Could you tell me about? What he was like before I joined the team?”

Hunter let out a chuckle. “When we were cadets, Tech was a complete menace. Worse than the rest of us, if you could believe it. Always challenged the Kaminoans at every turn.”

You laughed, the picture forming in your mind. You leaned back against as Hunter talked, and soon he did, too, telling you everything about what little Tech had been like. For a moment, you forgot all that you’d just endured. For a moment, you felt at peace. But then you felt the weight of Tech’s goggles in your hands, and you were thrown back into the reality you were faced it.  

Tech was gone—you were sure of it. But he died to make sure his family would live. You weren’t going to let him die in vain. No matter what it took, no matter what you had to do, you would get Omega and Crosshair back. 

You swore it. 

[cendiar]

I meant to make this post a few weeks ago, but I lost track of the September/October transition because the leaves are still green, and also I was in denial about how close we are to the election. Well, here we are. Politics on main today as part of my personal Get Out the Vote campaign to annoy my 5 followers. Ily.

Voting in America is BY STATE. Vote.org is a nonprofit that has the information for each state in one place for all of this, but I've pulled prettier links if I found them.

Step one is to check if you are registered to vote in the state you currently live.

If not, register NOW! In a few states, the deadline to register to vote for this election passed like, three days ago (sorry rip), but in the vast majority, that deadline is sometime between today (literally today, 29 days in advance) and Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024). A few states have same-day registration.

Next, consider if you want to vote early. Most states have some kind of early voting system, and many are already open. This means you can pick a convenient day/time (or request a ballot by mail), and not stress on Election Day. If you live in a swing state, I recommend you do this now, to avoid your precious ballot being lost to malicious buffoonery.

But where do you actually go? Find your assigned polling place. Check the hours! Check your transit! What's your work schedule on Tuesdays? Can you reliably get there before/after work while it's still open on Election Day? If it's not very convenient, see prior point about voting early or voting by mail.

Text a friend to ask if they have voting plans. Maybe you can go to the polling station together. Maybe you have different ones, but you'll still have someone to figure out a plan with. That's who you're in it for, after all, and they're in it for you, too.

Going to a new place to do a new thing can be really scary. And it can feel like there are a million and one obstacles to this act that never seems worth it at the beginning and end of every long day. But YOU CAN DO IT. Remember how the previous election count felt? Remember the one before that? The day after Election Day, it feels like ANYTHING would have been worth it. So the time to make your voting plan is NOW.

It's worth it if you live in a safe state, no matter who is going to win it. Your vote really can be part of turning the tide. Last election, thousands of individual votes in states that were written off as unwinnable KEPT TRUMP OUT OF OFFICE. This matters. And, even if your state is never going to swing blue or red based on your vote, it STILL MATTERS. Those turnout tallies help rally people for the next election. They rally better candidates to run for state and congressional office because they think they might have a shot next time. Vote down the ballot, because that's who controls your police and your local budget and your local services.

My inbox is open if you want to chat. And I would be overjoyed to do ficlet prompts in my usual fandoms for anyone who tells me they've voted!

[overwatchfics]

HERE’s THE SOMBRA REQUEST WE ARE DESPERATE FOR

oh olivia, olivia- the two of you are sent out to gather some intelligence during a charity event. fancy dress up, blending in as the means of going undercover and leaving with the needed data before anyone could even think about being cyber attacked. but the two of you take your time to dance a little, embrace a sort of life you once dreamed of.

enjoy <3

Dancing in Wolves Clothing | Sombra HCs

Sombra is a woman who constantly finds herself falling through many webs that for once aren't Widowmakers

It is rare she ever has a moment of peace.

Materialistically upbeat, and teasing smile stained on her lips she hardly catches a break where she doesn't have to scheme.

Gabe said this would be reconnaissance, but Sombra says will be romance.

She hardly gets time with you. You two are split on purpose and there are times where Sombra finds herself glaring at herself in mirror, she wants to give you better, you DESERVE better than what she feels she's capable of giving.

She yells at Reaper, bangs her fist against his armor plate begging him to not be so stagnant, so dead. She no longer jokes with Widow, like reaper she only lives in the plain of death. She begins to feel sick of Talon. Sombra joined to know the truth of the world to help it not Akande's view of using it to turn people against each other in an unwinnable war of strength and blood. She doesn't need to think of Moira, the crimes of that doctor sicken her to the core with what she puts Sigma through.

Tonight, would be the last night she plays nice with Talon, because the next day she'll be gone like the wind and she's carrying you with her. If Baptiste could evade Talon for so long, so can she.

Tonight, she holds you in her arms and spins you dizzy with love.

The mood is heavy, even among a sea of rich silks and jewels, Sombra in her royal purple suit, hair slicked perfectly in turn with her circuits she finds the feeling between the two of you deep and electric like the thrumming of powerlines.

Raw untouched sensuality as her hand dips you at the waist the earpiece in her ear screaming orders that she promptly silences. She won't be dead, the Widow and the Reaper have done their dues, have lived their lives through and through, Sombra refuses to forfeit hers.

She connects to you faster than her circuits can process and through her implanted tech she can feel your vitals, your heartbeat as if it were her own. The warmth of your breath on her neck and she spins you again her hand tightening on the silk of your dress. Her eyes harden. She was lucky, she was born through fire and war, left orphaned by crisis and fear surrounded by ash. Like a pheonix she broke free and chased the truth more fervently than any journalist. Through her journey she found you, her guiding light. You're the wind at her back, you're the north star she looks to when lost. She knows she must fight for a better world for you two to live in. Sombra was born a fighter, but she hopes for a future where she no longer has to live like one. She desires her happy ending and that is why she fights. Sombra will fight to keep you laughing late into the night with her. Sombra will fight to fall apart in your arms when the battle is over. Sombra will fight to put that ring on your finger one day and without blood, promise you a soft epilogue.

Sombra's clever mask falls crooked, and she feels time slow as you cradle her face, looking into the myriad of thoughts churning behind the hacker's guarded eyes. Letting your thumbs swipe a stray tear Sombra grabs your hand and kisses it softly and you can feel the weight behind it.

So she dances, as she knows this is the last night, she will ger before fleeing Talon with you. She sways her hips she feels the flames of her inner phoenix rise. Sombra pulls you close to her, the music picking up. You are her one desire. You are the source of her burning passion. Her lips pressed hard against your ear and so many promises are left unspoken.

That night you are stripped bare before her tangled in silk sheets. The sweat, the kisses, the breaths of hot air cascading through Sombras soul. She holds your heart in hers and swear to protect it. She holds you as you come undone in her arms and she reassures you tearfully that it will all be ok, that she'll be here with you, no more secrets, no more terror, that things one day will be as simple as you are hers and she is yours. She herself is bare as she rides your thigh choked sobs falling from her lips as she reaches her high, she loves you and she will protect it so.

That night, curled up into her side, Sombra dreams of a better tomorrow, a new dawn waits for the two of you and she can't wait.

a/n: aaaa fuck I'm hit with feels tonight, I'm typically not a big fan of sombra but I wanted to do a deep dive with her. Yes I know her name is Olivia, but Sombra is a cooler name tbh

[metatextuality]

first lines meme

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able to, and see if there are any patterns!

tagged by @whetstonefires!

(Last ten published works, huh? That does rather narrow it down...)

1. The Man Who Would Not Stop for Death – a short, pulpy original noir scene for The Merry Whump of May.

The problem with discovering your payday is committing felonies — apart from the fact that they're committing felonies at all, of course — is that your odds of getting paid take a sharp downturn.

2. The Man and the Moon – a longform noir serial in which the same protagonist finds himself attempting to apply hardboiled rationalism to cosmic horrors from beyond the stars.

Chicago is an improvement over Hoboken, which should paint a sufficiently damning picture of both cities.

3. To Serve Satan: Miss deManners' Guide to the Heavenly Host – a Good Omens short about Crowley's methods that came to me fully-formed in a dream, so I'm not sure I should be counting it, but it did probably come from my brain technically so what the hell.

"Would either of you like something off the dessert trolley, sirs?"

For once, it was Crowley who looked up with such sudden diamond-bright joy that it cut.

4. But Be the Serpent Under ’t – an AU of my own pirate noncon epic in which Captain Crowley possesses one of his captors.

When Crowley finally died, it came almost as an anticlimax.

5. The Seas Incarnadine – the aforementioned epic pirate noncon fic, which I stg I am going to finish one of these days. (This sentiment also applies to every other unfinished fic on this list.)

This whole piracy lark had, in retrospect, gone a bit further than intended.

6. Conversant With Terrible Objects – DC mirrorverse character study of Owlman in the form of filthy, filthy phone sex with Superwoman.

The Crime Syndicate believed that Owlman loved Gotham City, when they credited him with the ability to love at all.

7. Black-Clad Bats and Making Money – the one where John Mulaney becomes the Riddler™

You may recognise me as the man who programmed — because that’s what being a game programmer gets you, instant celebrity, like Shigeru Miyamoto and the guy who invented Tetris — you may recognise me as Edward Nigma, the man who programmed Labyrinth of the Minotaur, a bestselling game whose apparent claim to fame is that it is unwinnable.

8. Crowskin – the one where Owlman catches an Australian magpie like a fuckin' baseball.

“What,” uttered Johnny Quick, “the fuck.”

9. Those Who Fight Monsters – a casefic wherein the mirror-universe Riddler deals with the moral dilemma of rescuing Owlman's favorite child assassin.

You would think, thought Edward Nigma, crouching behind the wall of shipping containers he’d scaled partway up for a better vantage point, that criminals would find somewhere else to conduct their business.

10. King's Gambit – DC mirrorverse fic where Lex Luthor and Sinestro discuss rationalism and then kiss (and then try to reverse-engineer God so they can use him as a nuke)

“Good news,” said Sinestro as he pulled away. “You’ll probably keep the eye.”

So the first thing I notice is that I like to open with an immediate, snappy Establishing Character Moment, usually in a close POV. That's probably related to the fact that my usual catalyst for writing down a scene I've been building up in my head is finding an opening hook that I like too much not to use, and which leads naturally into my mind expanding on it for another few paragraphs whether I want it to or not; also to the fact that most of my fic is character-centric, and almost always written in a POV limited to the inside of the viewpoint character's head even when it's in third person.

Something I wasn't expecting from this selection of opening lines – and possibly this is a pattern that would be broken if I included some of my many, many unpublished WIPs – is how many of these take a tongue-in-cheek jab at a significant aspect of the story itself. I don't think it's a matter of being convinced of my own metafictional cleverness, nor of being unconfident in my premise and seeking to lampshade it before the reader gets a chance to notice the cracks themselves...more that my favorite characters tend to be those that overthink everything, in part because I find it a relatable trait. Hmm.

Let's pull in a few of my closest-to-publishable WIP openings, for the hell of it:

My mother, may G-d bless her because he certainly hasn't given her much to work with so far, named me Sidney Solomon Jacobi.

--

"Y'know Sandra Nylund?" I ask, winding my way through the bullpen to my desk, where I navigate the organised chaos of notes and reports until I find the file I'm looking for.

--

The new navigator arrived on the HMS Essex's eighth day in port.

--

The thing about alcoholism was that it was perfectly socially acceptable to drink yourself to death.

--

The second time someone called him, she had Owlman tied to the bed.

Okay, yeah, I'm figuring that pattern's probably just a weird coincidence. Interesting that it worked out that way, though.

Tagging off the top of my head: @punishandenslavesuckers @anneapocalypse @weird-mcgee – and anyone else who sees this, consider yourself tagged as well!

[analog-smiles]

Fall of a King, Rise of a Kraken

ok we're back on the theory/rewrite/whatever grind covering a few major events in this one, primarily based around squisker and the events that led up to mckraken getting the role of chairman along with some Extra Stuff that is exclusive to my lore, wow !

so as mentioned previously, there was a huge surge of yokai abandoning their medals and becoming 'white yokai' some time before the events of the first game, around the time when word was starting to get out that lord enma might not last much longer and for so many yokai to suddenly jump to something so drastic, someone must be leading them on, right?

well. nobody knew it at the time - surprisingly well-kept secret - but the culprit was a certain yokai whose relations with humans were...less than stellar, to put it shortly. and he just so happened to be dipping his tentacle into politics, to see if he could make the most of the unrest caused by the upcoming power vacuum. admittedly, he wasn't expecting to get as far as he did legitimately, but he rounded up a decent following quite quickly some were desperate for a leader to turn to, with enma supposedly getting worse by the day and his only potential heir rushed off to the human realm in case of trouble others were similarly bitter toward humankind, on account of Certain Incidents that had occurred in the past with the few humans who could sense them the motives didn't really matter that much to mckraken. what was important was that he was being listened to, and he might just get the opportunity of a lifetime.

and then it happened. lord enma was officially announced to be dead. gone peacefully in his sleep, and didn't even leave a trace.

the immediate reaction, amidst the general grief and mourning, was to scramble to find someone to fill his position and lead the yokai and given his following [ despite the odd 'coincidence' of a majority of them being white yokai ], mckraken was a popular candidate. things were looking pretty good. but of course, he wasn't quite lucky enough to have everything go without a hitch.

the trouble was that mckraken had a rather close relative, who had been in politics for some time he was liked well enough, another popular name in discussion of enma's successor, but that wasn't the real problem, despite his considerably softer attitude toward humans it was more of a personal issue. squisker hadn't seen mckraken since the white yokai started to show up. intentional on mckraken's part, given the fact that he knew squisker would catch onto the issue quickly if he saw him like this but by chance, the two of them met a while after enma's death and it went about as well as you would expect. a conversation became a fight, which became a terrible misunderstanding squisker was accused of attempting to murder mckraken. not at all the case, and it's surprising that the accusation was even made. he wasn't the violent type, and nobody assumed him to be which is why mckraken didn't step in to defend him. he assumed it would be fine.

unfortunately, there was a particular piece of news which had failed to reach either of them at the time. and attempted assassination, bordering on regicide, wasn't easily glossed over by the simple fact that "he wouldn't". the sentence was the worst you could get, short of outright execution. and some would argue that it was worse than that.

on the plus side, that was the first and last time someone attempted to pry into the new chairman's best-kept secret. although after a while, rumors did begin to drift about regarding an unwinnable prize in the old crank machine on mount wildwood.

[mahou-furbies]

Closing thoughts on Null Magical Girl

(spoilers)

Let’s do something like a plot summary. The main character is a soulless (literally) 24-year-old, who also doesn’t have a brain and uses a lump of nerves on her neck in its place. Her skull is cracked and hollow, and Kyubey lives in it. She travels 800 000 years into the future, where all life has mostly been replaced by Homo Magica, cute and über powerful magical girls who evolved from humans reading stories about relationships, and the last remnants of humanity and “real” magical girls battle against them. She absorbs the powers of Kyubey and the Time Railroad, and travels back where she started, and discovers a looping locked room mystery where she always dies before making it to the next year. She concludes that in order to prevent the Homo Magica from being created, she must stop stories from being created, so she travels back a bit more to kill Gutenberg, however the ghost of her died-before-birth twin sister unkills him. In preparation for a final battle against her sister she time travels all around to gather emotional energy by contracting girls into magical girlhood, and her ultimate power comes from contracting the fertilised egg that would become her and her sister. The egg had one desire, to divide and proliferate, which resulted in the sisters splitting and the world expanding infinitely and, uh, filling with relationships and stories... which creates the Homo Magica species... so we’re in an unwinnable time loop, started by the protagonist. Or something, I was miraculously somehow hanging by for most of the plot but dozed off at the end.

I don’t really have a lot of review to offer, I hope you can read between the lines. This story has practically nothing to do with the Madoka universe, I mean Kyubey is there and it ultimately is about a wish so there’s that, but really this is just one weird scifi twist after another. There’s even more nonsensical stuff that was less related to the plot but just happened, like the main character tries to turn sentient sperm into magical girls and one of her Gutenberg murder attempts is by teleporting the four gas giant planets near the sun, so really the story is even messier. By the end there were passages on what is a soul and going through the exact mechanics on how the final wish worked, but while my eyes looked at the words, my brain had already checked out. So if there was something deeply profound at the end I missed it. I was hoping that the fine folks at the wiki had summarised the story but it appears I’m out of luck.

If I try to look at something that is relatable to a normal human, a significant portion was spent on humankind being into stories about relationships, but I’m kind of allergic to this kind of meta stuff in otaku stories. Like it feels kinda pandering to a nerd audience to write how their love of their waifu light novels (or I guess spicy ao3 fics of your otp for us tumblr denizens) is so powerful that it creates the next evolution of humanity and rifts in the space time continuum. Also you could see something about depression in the protagonist’s struggle to escape the time loop where she always dies at the end, but I’m not giving this that much credit.

Art-wise the style is cute and there is a pretty cool “good twin vs evil twin” illustration so that’s good. I wish the homo magica girls were shown more though since they were described as being super cute!

I knew the premise of Kyubey living inside the skull of a girl whose magical girl wish was botched, so I was expecting a very bizarre story, but on that front this exceeded my expectations by throwing a new “what the hell is going on” twist every few pages. The concept of a failed magical girl contract is still really interesting so it’d be cool to see it in a story that is actually more about that.

Finally a big thanks to project Mokyuu for translating this thing, if nothing else it was a fascinating read, and short enough that it doesn’t take too much time if you decide to check it out.

[votestaynight]

15th day "Utopia" (scene 4)

How should I spend the remaining hours? I thought about it, but this is where I ended up.

"This place does not change. I like the quiet of the living room, but this place suits me better."

"Yeah. You like to sit Japanese-style even though you're a knight, and the shinai looked pretty good on you as well. It might have been fun having a match with armors on."

"Armor? You should have said so. I could have worn my armor, and you could have put pads on. …We really should have done that. If you had mentioned it earlier, I could have fought you more seriously."

"Uh…" Saber is so cute even when she's annoyed. She's cute, but her words are pretty scary.

"Are you serious about being serious? I wouldn't be able to get up for a week if we did that."

"No, that is not true. You underestimate yourself. You have really improved these past few days. It might even be possible for you to take a match from me." "Really?"

Even if that's flattery, I'm really happy. I really respect Saber when it comes to swords. Being able to beat her even once is like being accepted by her.

"For real…? So, I could even win a match against you if chance favored me…?" "Yes. You have vastly improved. You can be proud of that, and I am really happy about it as well."

"―――――" Saber replies with a full smile. …That expression makes my determination vanish. After this. We won't be able to come back. If we can just run away instead of going into an unwinnable battle――

"Shirou? Why have you stopped? …Does your wound hurt? If that is the case, please rest in your room and――" "――No, I'm fine now. Nothing hurts anymore."

――I cut off all hesitations. I can't run away, and I really don't want our final time together to be like this.

"Hey Saber. Since we're here, do you want to spar lightly? Not a match, but more like playing around." I hide my emotions and bluff as much as I can.

"All right. Then I shall fight you using my style. You can fight me in your style as well."

She must have understood my intentions as she gladly accepts my idea. …Yes. It's more like us to be fighting than talking.

For a short while, we forget about everything and feel each other's shinai.

――The moon is distant. The clouds have cleared and the darkness has a dim blue glow. Daybreak is close. The long night is about to end.

――This is the final moment. Going through the night, Saber and I have reached our final destination.

"――Shirou, this is…" Saber sounds tense. I feel the same way. As I nod, I can feel sweat dripping down my neck.

…The mountain feels like one big living thing. The wind coming down from the mountain gate is warm, and the shaking trees seem like breathing lungs. Chills and pressure assail me every time I take a step. No――the air really is thick and wet.

"…Mana is dense here. This is just like ten years ago. I expect…" …The summoning of the Holy Grail has begun or it's already over. Either way, that must mean that Lancer has fallen to Gilgamesh.

"――I'm going to make sure, Saber. After we reach the top, all that's left is to fight. You take care of Gilgamesh, so I'll take care of his Master――Kotomine. We won't assist each other. …We just have to beat one of our opponents."

"Yes. I will concentrate on my own fight this time. And Kotomine is an enemy you must defeat." "…Yeah. Leave him to me. You too Saber. Don't let that guy beat you."

"…Yes. I will swear on my pride that he will not defeat me. Not as a Servant, but as a heroic spirit, I cannot allow him to beat me."

Saber says so strongly without hesitation or distress. So there's nothing more to say. We will go to battle and determine the winner as the last remaining Masters. ――Even if in the process… If one of us dies, the other need only defeat their enemy.

Even if I die, if Saber beats Gilgamesh, Kotomine won't be able to obtain the Holy Grail. At the same time, even if Saber dies――if I defeat Kotomine, Gilgamesh won't be able to stay in this world. …So there's no need to help each other. Our battles have already gone their separate ways.

Red light fills the mountaintop. The blowing wind is getting stronger and it seems the source of it is that light――coming from the back of the grounds. The red phosphorescence scatters on the wind, and the grounds is too bright for nighttime.

Stagnant air filled with the presence of death. ―――――This is… Like the fire back then.

"―――――" But it isn't like that. Within all this red light, something is about to emerge.

…From the back of the building. A black darkness oozing in the bright red. If this clearing is like a clear lake, that mud is like an oil spill.

"――You are finally here. I have been waiting for you, Saber." He is there, within all the rich colors. Ignoring the blood red and the death-stained black. The Servant clad in gold is waiting for us――no, for Saber in the middle of this place.

"And the time is about right. The Holy Grail has finally moved into action and the void has just opened. This curse is the contents of the Holy Grail, the Third Element which keeps us Servants in this world. ――This is what you splashed me with ten years ago."

Gilgamesh is only looking at Saber. It goes the same for Saber. She takes a step forward and points her sword at the knight in front of her.

"――That is good spirit. That strong spirit, even though you know you cannot defeat me. It is indeed suitable to end this party, but――"

"I do not want any intrusions. You lowlife, disappear right now if you want to see Kotomine. He is waiting for you at the altar."

"――!" Kotomine is waiting.

…I glance at Saber. She nods while looking at Gilgamesh. Her figure tells me… That she is wishing me her best.

――I turn around. The one I need to face isn't here. Behind me. As I run, I hear the battle start.

At the back of the building. Behind the main temple is a large lake. Untouched by humans, the lake is holy as if a dragon king lives in it. The clear blue water is pure and the lake isn't even murky.

But that's all in the past. The lake now has none of these characteristics. The red light is in front of my eyes. And the sea of black tar. ――And――

The "void" created in the air and the girl presented as a sacrifice.

"――Koto… mine…!" My calm mind instantly goes over the limit. I stop and glare at my enemy.

"Welcome, Emiya Shirou. The last surviving Master." He smiles sarcastically and opens his arms to welcome me. …This is the site of our battle. This is the altar of the summoning in this Holy Grail War.

"――Let Ilya down. I'll beat you up after that." I glare at Kotomine. …There's about ten meters between us. The fight will begin if I move another step. …Once the fight starts, I'll have to run straight at him and stab him in the chest. But before that, I have to do something about Ilya――

"Hey. Didn't you hear me? I told you to let Ilya down. What's so fun about torturing a kid?"

"I understand your feelings, but I cannot do that. The Holy Grail has appeared, but the void is yet unstable. My wish will not come true unless she bears this until she dies." Until she dies――then Ilya is still alive…!

"…I see. If you have no intention of letting her down, I'll just have to use force. I'll stop your wish――that black mud, right now."

"…Oh. So this must appear to be my wish to you. ――As expected from the son of Kiritsugu. I did not expect two generations to make the same mistake." "Wh――at?"

"There is no reason to explain things to someone who does not understand the Holy Grail. You may fulfill your role as the last Master with that misunderstanding." "――!"

I jump. There's about ten meters between us. Keeping that distance, I jump sideways. "―――――" This is the result of my instincts of not wanting to die… …Surpassing my desire to kill him.

"――!" I roll sideways onto the ground. I stop instantly and look up.

"That's――!" I look at the place I was running over. A sound of burning. The burning sound is coming from the black mud, stretching out from the lake. …It's like a black carpet. The mud slashed like a whip, attacking me as I went after Kotomine, and left a mark on the ground.

"I forgot to tell you, but you are already within my range. And to add, this thing is sensitive to living beings. ――I do not mind you moving, but you will die if you move carelessly."

"――!" I jump to avoid the black mud mercilessly attacking me. Screw moving carelessly. He's ready to kill me…!

"Damn――you fake priest…!" I stand up, still keeping watch over the lake. …The distance to Kotomine hasn't changed. That means this ten meters is as near as he wants me to get. …But that tentacle of mud stretches without limit. It will come after me if he wants it to, and I'm sure there are more than one――

"Oh, so you are ready to fight. That pleases me. I could not kill you if you were to run away, but there will be no problem if you attack me. I serve God, so I cannot kill someone who is pleading for their life."

…The tentacle whips out. The quivering mud coming from the lake is like a black snake.

"―――――" …I bite my lip. This is the worst situation as I thought. The number of snakes continues to increase without end. I don't know how long I can survive, let alone how I can get close to him――

"It is only natural for you to be unable to win. There is a large difference in the years we have lived. It is a difference you cannot overcome unless you have something major."

The priest raises his hands. He glares at the heavens as if he is conducting an orchestra.

"――Put your life on the line. You might be able to reach me if you do so―――!"

He releases the black snakes.

"Guh――!" I kick away the mucus around my ankle. My clothes are burnt away and my skin is exposed.

"――Guh, uh――!" I jump back from the striking tentacle. I can't feel my right ankle and I can't even tell if it's there, but I jump into the open field in front of me.

"Ha――Haa, ha, ah――!" I check my body as I roll. Ankle. All right, it's still there. I just can't feel it. If it's there, I should be able to run.

"Ah――haa, haa, ah――!" I jump in a different direction again to avoid the striking mud. I hear a splashing sound right next to me. The smell of the ground burning forces my dizzy head awake and――

"――!!!!!!" Fire runs up my back. "Ha, guh, guh――!" I shake it off and jump to an empty space. That must have been the end of this attack. The black mud that was surrounding me has disappeared from view for now――

"Ha――aa…Ah." …I bite my lip. I ran so much, but in the end… I'm pushed back to here again.

"Ha―――― haa, haa, ha――" I breathe hard and look at him so as not to lose in spirit. …Kotomine has not moved at all. He has just watched me run around.

"Haa… haa, haa, haa, haa――" …No matter how hard I breathe, my heart won't calm down. It's saying it's at its limits and it needs rest. It's about to go out on its own if I don't let it rest.

"Kuh――ha, haa, ha, ah――" I can't do anything. I can't get near Kotomine nor get through that black mud. …I'm not going to hold back on using the 'projection' magic.

If I can't move forward, I can reproduce Saber's sword again. It'll surely be able to slice through that black mud and I can go straight for Kotomine.

"Hm? Is that all? Tell me if you have given up." The instant he speaks…[r] "Haa――ah, ha――!?" Lots of mud comes splashing toward me, telling me I cannot let myself stop.

"Kuh――!" I raise myself and barely dodge the mud. …The mud itself isn't too bad. It's slow compared to Saber's shinai, and it only comes where it's aimed, so it's easy to dodge.

But that's only true when there's only one of them. I can't deal with tens of mud attacks, the ones that come from behind me the instant I dodge them. As a result, I can only move around. Even then, mud covers me bit by bit.

"Guh, damn――!" There's no time to rest. I can't reproduce a sword like this. "Projection" magic tracing a weapon from the beginning requires at least one minute of concentration. If I show such an opening, I'll be melted down to my bones.

"Haa――ha, ha, ha, ah――!" The parts of my body covered with mud have lost sensation. The only good thing is that I don't feel any pain, but I won't know if I'm dead or not when that mud covers my whole body. I'm finished when that happens, and most of all――I'll have melted away by then.

"Haa――ha, ha, ha, ah――!" For now, all I can do is run. If there's any chance of getting near him, it'll be when I do something about this mud―― "Ow――damn, oh――!?"

"―――――!" I-I can't believe it…! Who on earth would trip at a time like this!?

"―――――" Kotomine looks down at me like trash. He points his finger at me, and many snakes show their veins.

"…!" I get up. I try to get up, but fall again. "――Eh?"

I fall. I fall. The snakes are coming.

But I still fall. Why? Why? Why? Black mud comes for my neck. Why? Oh, I see why. My right ankle is unbelievably black――

"――Ah." Black mud rains down. It spills onto my body like a rainstorm, melts it, and drowns my despair――

.

.

.

.

.

TIGER DOJO

Taiga: Not having a weapon when it's needed. This is the place to help such people, the Tiger Dojo. Well. It is the prevailing view that the outcome of battle is decided before it even starts. What does it mean, student!?

Ilya: Um, I guess you shouldn't start a fight until you have a weapon or a plan?

Taiga: Yes! The enemy is the unfair Servant that prepared the strongest force with his money. So you should at least prepare one weapon that lets you turn things around.

Ilya: Then Taiga, are you saying you should restart from the night before the fight and prepare a new weapon? What can you do in such a short time?

Taiga: You can do this! Saber-chan originally had three Noble Phantasms. You should be able to do something if you prepare the last one.

Ilya: I see. You just have to give it back to her, right?

Taiga: Yup. Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. It's something too valuable to lose, but you have to give back what you found.

Ilya: Oh, you said something good, by your standards. I guess you're a school teacher even if you're a bad one at that.

Taiga: Ahahahaha! Praise me, praise me!

Ilya: Yeah, yeah. Then while Taiga is in a good mood, we will make a major announcement. This corner has continued modestly as a side to the main story, but this is the final episode! We will use a different outlook and start "Tiger Dojo Part II: Taiga One Hundred Million Yen Debt"!! We're going to move the setting to my castle and update our standing pics, music, and even hardware! Production budgets will double and it will be so rich that you won't even think this is a bonus corner!

Taiga: Gahahaha, so many wonderful things! I don't quite understand, but is it like getting a totally new graphic designer!?

Ilya: That's right, master! We will be freed from this rough art! Osu!

Taiga: Marvelous! In that case, let us get away from this dojo right away! Listen, everyone. The key to the second route is on the third day! Once you see an ending, there should be a choice that wasn't there before on the third night. Then hit, hit, hit! Use whatever you can including your Command Spell to stop the raging lion!

Ilya: That's right. Then everyone, I'll be waiting for you in the renewed Tiger Dojo!

.

.

.

.

.

ARIA CORNER

Well folks, you managed to get the last Dead End on this route! Well done, everybody. Worth noting that Taiga's advice about starting the second route has technically been rendered false by our format - the choice to get on route two was there, since I oh-so-generously kept all the choices open. Anyways, have fun with the next couple scenes, all 13 of you!

[xiakha]

FFXIVWrite2023 Prompt #11 - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

He was giddy. Giddy! Him! A hundred-twenty something years old and two centuries of stasis and he felt like a blushing maiden meeting her first suitor.

The flash of purple in the distance made his heart, already nigh embedded in his throat, soar somehow even higher. Lodged between his eyes no doubt, squeezing out his brain.

But even as he ran, doing all in his power to avoid skipping through the Crystarium, he started to recall how he parted ways with the Warrior of Light. How she didn't even go see him off, deserved in a sense, and how she was never recorded to have thought of him again after that.

And more recently, how he plucked her companions one by one from her side, completely on accident. Perhaps it was for the better in the long run, Xiao transferred over like the other Scions would have likely resulted in an unpredictable and perhaps unwinnable situation. But to have them taken without explanation or consent... She had good reason to distrust and dislike him right now, beyond the further reasons she had originally.

***

Xiao's limited Eorzean made arguments hard for her, and G'raha did nothing but antagonize her with his theories. The Echo allowed Xiao to understand him perfectly, so every sentence she did manage to fit together was caked in frustration and abundant hand signals. According to all rules of Sharlayan dialogue and debate, G'raha knew he stomped her, but she would not concede, and truth be told, G'raha had enough doubt creep into his own thoughts as to warrant perhaps his concession.

Either way, despite cracking open the Crystal Tower together and growing into a sort of friendship that G'raha was proud of and that he imagined Xiao holding dear, she barged into his room in the Seventh Heaven on the eve of closing up the Crystal Tower to dissuade him.

"You Nick-Ninny Jinglebrains! Starched Sorry Mouthed Jackanape!"

A spiel of other similar insults rattled out of her mouth. Insults and curses were easy to pick up, a pity they were all in cant and G'raha barely understood any of it.

"What is it that you're trying to get across, Xiao?"

"Don't go. Don't chase Fate."

G'raha sighed, this again, "I don't see a better option. The Crystal Tower is far too dangerous to leave accessible. That much aether at the ready... why just about anyone conquer entire continents. Only I can lock it back up."

Xiao stomped her feet, "You big fool!" She cursed in her native tongue, or so G'raha assumed. It sounded like cursing. And then she crossed her arms, "Not friends if you go."

He sputtered at the ridiculousness, "Are you serious, Xiao? You're going to rescind your friendship? Are you a child?"

The purple haired Miqo'te turned her nose up and away.

"...I would rather have you be my friend and see me off, but if you're going to be so immature as to withhold friendship the last time you see me," He massaged his brow with the fingers of one hand, "I have no choice than to sadly accept."

G'raha went back to sorting his papers and getting his affairs together.

Xiao stood in the same pose, her nose upturned, arms crossed, tail flicking, for a few good chimes until she realized that G'raha was not interested in continuing the conversation. There would be no further negotiation of her ultimatum.

So sheepishly, she left the room without another word.

"Goodbye, Xiao," G'raha said to the closed door, "Be well."

***

So it was that G'raha slowed his pace down and steeled his nerve. This was a former friend he was now approaching. His century long regrets came back to bite at him.

This was the first time he'd see her since that night. From Xiao's perspective, it had only been a few years since G'raha had sealed himself away. Her feelings could still be fresh or easily stoked into bitterness. He had, after all, chose his silly little ideas of fate and destiny over their friendship. Yes, it was immature and a bit bratty that Xiao would even offer that ultimatum, but G'raha had chosen.

And if she found out at this juncture that it was him that stole the Scions away? She might just walk away from all of this and focus only on retrieving them instead of providing her support.

To think that this centuries long plan might have been foiled by the first choice he made to enact it! What bitter irony!

So G'raha held back. He would be the enigmatic Crystal Exarch, not the old friend G'raha Tia. The mystery behind his motives would hopefully inspire intrigue and not doubt.

He could work with doubt. As long as there wasn't any outright animosity here.

Xiao was wearing a purple armor bound dress. It was a far cry from the swashbuckling gear that she wore in the brief time that G'raha knew her. She had kept the same eyepatch to protect her light-sensitive eye, but with the way she was squinting, her other eye wasn't faring too much better in the everlasting light. The squint rendered her expression a bit of a scowl.

At least G'raha hoped it was mostly the light.

The well practiced Crystal Exarch affectation was now as instinctive and easy to pull out as his lecturing voice, and Xiao seemed none the wiser. She did sneak looks at him while he was giving her the tour of the Crystarium, but she didn't say anything.

It wasn't until he revealed the Crystal Tower's origins that she opened her mouth unprompted.

"...You can enter it so freely? Was it not sealed? What about G'raha?"

The bundle of nerves that he had mostly calmed down at this point leapt back into action. His heart started racing. He could feel beads of sweat form on his forehead.

"Pardon? I'm not... familiar with that name," It had been a century since he responded to that name after all, "Is there something I should know?"

Xiao gave him a look, "G'raha Tia, a red haired Miqo'te, or Mystel I suppose, that I once knew. Bit of a loudmouthed fool, but alright all told. He sealed himself up in the Crystal Tower to safeguard it from misuse in my day."

"...Ah, an extraordinary tale. But I'm afraid I found no such individual residing in the tower when it passed into my care." It was technically true. He could not find himself in the tower after all. "Mayhap we can revisit that mystery another time."

He upped his affectation, trying his best to hide not only his true voice, but the miserable little bluff he had pulled.

Xiao looked troubled and stroked her chin with a gauntlet, "...Strange that you found the Tower without G'raha."

She shot him another look.

"For now, I think it best that we focus on the present." G'raha hoped his grin was more mysterious than nervous.

They entered the Ocular and G'raha gave Xiao the full Source to First run down. The arrival of the Scions, the research done, the prophecy.

"What say you? Have I earned your trust for the moment, at least?"

Xiao crossed her arms, "You traffic in lies and secrets, Exarch."

"Pardon?"

"All of this that you freely revealed to me, yet kept from your subjects, doubtless they were given another story, or were told not to pry or else."

G'raha nodded, not quite seeing what she was getting at, "But it's for the salvation of the Star, to circumvent calamity and avert disaster."

"Aye, what I can't help but wonder is how much you are concealing from me. No common magicks could have brought me here or would give you possession of the Crystal Tower without G'raha's say."

It was at that moment that G'raha almost pulled back his hood. That would surely shed light, quite literally, on his deceptions and reveal all to Xiao.

But he stayed his hands. No, there was no telling how she'd react. They were no longer friends. It was only because he had given it all up that he had gotten this far in the first place.

"You bring up a fair point. I suppose I do not need to keep you then. You may return to the So---"

"That's not what I want. I don't trust you, Exarch, but I haven't another choice. If to return the Scions to their bodies, I'll have to work with you, so be it."

Well, it was better than nothing. "...Excellent. You will not regret this."

[writer-notareader]

My Top 5 Video Game Bosses (July 2023)

(Riter no Reder Post)

Spoilers for Deltarune, Rhythm Doctor, Omori, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and ULTRAKILL.

5. Spamton NEO

Deltarune character!? No way!

Basically Spamton NEO is one of the coolest secret bosses I know of that weren’t executed abhorrently. While you can completely miss Spamton’s secret boss, it isn’t that hard to get to either, so anyone who just beat the game blind will probably see it on the internet afterwards and be all “what” and go back to it, and it isn’t really difficult to encounter him- basically you just get the funny disc, have a conversation, then go through a weird secret dungeon at which point it becomes self-explanatory.

My first complaint is that a lot of the exposition for Spamton lore isn’t actually in the game, which irritates me and it feels like Toby or whoever was supposed to do it just forgot and decided to randomly upload it to the Deltarune website on a whim. Could be wrong obviously but that’s what it feels like.

Other complaint is that some of the attacks are extremely weird and ridiculous. For example, the one where Spamton’s hands are phones and he crawls towards you. What even is that? Why was that considered acceptable? Even if you figure out the no-hit method for it, it still feels weird, awkward, and kind of unfair.

Aside from that, the whole build-up was very good and mysterious and the fight itself was alright. The only reason Spamton didn’t make it higher on the list was because of the already mentioned complaints.

4. Super Battleworn Insomniac (Rhythm Doctor)

For context, Rhythm Doctor is a 1 key rhythm game where you keep patients’ hearts beating to the pace you set them at via the spacebar.

It has been a while, but I remember this boss vividly. It felt like it just came out of nowhere.

“AYE THE PATIENT’S HAXITUS IS ACTING UP AGAIN EXCEPT ITS ACTUALLY WORSE AND MORE ANNOYING.”

The original variant of this fight was a little tough for me, but not a massive strugglebus or anything. It wasn’t a big deal, and I thought it’d be the same deal again.

It was not. Not exactly, at least. The boss’s whole gimmick is basically to screw with your head and throw off your rhythm. It showed fake texts, fake buffered before the actual song even started, showed you these janky visuals that made the line hard to see… it felt absurd and unfair, almost half as much as FNF: Dave and Bambi mods.

I genuinely thought I might not beat it, but I was determined anyway. That’s when I realized, wait, hey, this isn’t just a timing game, it’s a rhythm game, and the visuals are what threw off my rhythm.

So I literally just closed my eyes. It took a few more tries, but I eventually beat it that way much easier than before. Honestly probably one of the best instances of an out-of-nowhere final boss I’ve seen in a video game.

3. Omori (I forgot what game)

Omori is a very story-based RPG whose main protagonist needs to touch grass. You basically play as a little man, 12 years old, named Sunny. He is a hikikomori, and spends a lot of his time just dreaming his life away.

If you haven’t played the game already, stop reading this post and go play Omori first. Seriously, massive spoilers ahead. I don’t care if you weren’t intending to play it, play it anyway (pretty please with a cherry on top). If you can’t or genuinely refuse to, I’m not really standing outside your window or anything, so go ahead and keep reading.

Over the course of the story, if you pick the route where you actually go outside and touch grass (thanks Kel), you get the route where you actually work through your problems. To put it bluntly, Sunny ends up in the hospital, and in his unconscious state, is forced into one last dream- after going through many of his memories, he must face his dreamself, Omori, in a dream.

This fight is a particularly important and climactic part of the story for many reasons. While the fight is ridiculously unfair and basically unwinnable, this actually only contributes to the resolution more.

After battling this part of himself for so long, Sunny solos Omori by hugging him. He accepts Omori and what Omori represents as a part of himself, and he is finally able to move on. I really like the way this played out, and I genuinely think that it it alone would be a selling point to Omori if it wasn’t a spoiler.

2. Volo (Pokémon Legends: Arceus)

Volo was one hell of a fight. I’m sure everyone knows at this point, but spoilers ahead for Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

As you might notice throughout the story, Volo generally shows himself to be quite friendly, as well as selling items to the player. He just seems like a merchant, and battles the player with a low-level Togepi a few times, maybe even just once.

As the story progresses near the end, Volo seems to have a weird interest in following the player around, especially once the Red Chain becomes relevant.

This merchant turns out to be a fanatic and a Pokémon Wielder rather than a normal merchant or trainer.

In fact, not only that, but when he battles you after using you to obtain the Plates, his team consists of six Pokémon. And they probably destroyed you.

I, personally, was determined to beat Volo without using legendaries or overleveling, although I did rebuild and retrain my team to fight him.

Then he had another Pokémon with two health bars and individual phases.

When I did defeat him, I couldn’t help but notice the text said something along the lines of “You finally defeated Volo” rather than just “You defeated Volo” after I did it and it was the greatest, most subtle, and most accurate insult I’ve ever felt considering it took me like two weeks to do.

I also like the way Volo was very slowly revealed and hinted at towards the end, yet the game purposefully tries to make Volo personable so that you don’t pick up on it until like five minutes before it’s too late.

I probably forgot to add something but basically Volo was a genuinely well set-up and thoroughly difficult fight that felt very good to battle and very good to beat- and don’t even get me started on Volo’s theme. Speaking of absurdly good boss themes,

1. Minos Prime (ULTRAKILL)

Minos Prime closely ties with Volo for my favorite boss in a video game.

By the way, if you haven’t played ULTRAKILL, go play it. Right now. Go play the game, you are legally required to. PLEASE.

Back to the topic at hand, everything surrounding this fight is ridiculously good and well put-together.

Imagine you’re ULTRAplaying ULTRAKILL blind. You see some random path leading to an alternative area to the left in the stairs room of 3-1. You go into it and you see that it has a bunch of little stone squares with the letter P on them.

Eventually, you replay some levels and get your first P-rank. OHHHHH. SO THAT’S WHAT THAT WAS FOR!? You go back to the P-door and see one of the squares are now glowing yellow, and come to the conclusion that this door may open if you get all the P-ranks in Act I.

So you do. After a lot of hard work and obliterating the same layouts repeatedly, you manage to get every single P-rank in Act I, you go back to that door, and sure enough, it opens this time, all those P-squares glowing brilliantly.

Then you go to some secret level: P-1 - Soul Survivor. You leave, grabbing a torch and seeing none other than an actual massive spine that you are expected to walk down as a relatively calming background music plays. As you descend, this music becomes more distorted, getting to a genuinely indiscernible point before you falling into a mouth door, place a torch to open a boss gate, and head onward.

Then that annoying excuse of a flesh sack appears and decides to ruin your day with its automatic nervous system that does its attacks for it (canon). After a few realizations about the Flesh Prison and a little while of hoping you don’t miss your shots, the funny blue ball appears.

That funny blue ball breaks open, revealing a blue guy with no face. He starts monologuing about killing Gabriel and you in such a ridiculously cool way that he is effectively impenetrable, then he sacrifices this impenetrability just to say “DIE” and actually kill you (cooler than 99.99% of antagonists ever and he’s literally lawful good).

Not only that, but the music somehow slaps harder than the yellow snake projectiles that shatter on contact. Don’t get me wrong, though: unlike some of the other top 5s, this boss is completely fair to you. Like, he literally telegraphs almost all of his attacks and STILL destroys you. Many of these can be parried and dodged without much effort, so this fight requires some stamina management, which makes parrying even more effective.

Heck, this fight actively encourages you to parry. The thing is, though, this actually refills some of Minos Prime’s stamina… except I’m still gonna do it anyway. Parrying Minos Prime feels so satisfying for some reason, and even if it makes his combo longer, I still love to actually react to his attacks, especially with such a big, open space.

That being said, those are my top five video games bosses. Have a good day, also God loves you.

[callmebrycelee]

9-1-1: LONE STAR REACTION

This reaction is for the season 4, sixth episode "This Is Not a Drill" which originally aired on February 28, 2023. THis episode was written by Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson and directed by Michael Medico. Spoilers ahead!

***LAST TIME ON 9-1-1: LONE STAR***

Marjan discovers she is the reason the 126 has been brought under review by the Austin Fire Department Internal Affairs due to her calling a woman she was rescuing a "crazy lady". The woman and her former ex-husband ask Marjan to publicly apologize as well as paste a link to their GoFundMe on her Instagram. Marjan refuses to be extorted and ends up resigning from the 126. Meanwhile, Grace investigates the concerning phone calls she has been receiving from a little boy. She enlists the help of her husband and Tommy to come to the boy's (and his mother's) rescue. 

Now that we're all caught up, let's talk about episode six - THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

We begin the episode with an actual drill. The 126, sans Marjan Marwani, enter a building with bomb gear on. Owen leads the team up a set of stairs and they find a young boy and his father. Owen tells the little boy to evacuate while Tommy tends to his father. The little boy tells Owen that his two sisters are in the room next door. Owen and the others go to the next room, open the door, and BOOM! Pink mist! The lights come on and a very official-looking woman with a clipboard in her hand comes out and tells them they're all dead. Paul, Mateo, Nancy, and TK are all upset by their failure at the drill. Nancy suggests that she is merely maimed and not dead since she isn't as covered in pink mist as the others. Paul makes a reference to the Kobayashi Maru (an unwinnable test) and my heart is filled with joy. My boy Paul is a Trekkie! It was fun to hear them banter back and forth but judging by the look on Captain Strand's face, he was not having it.

Title card!

Back at the house, Paul, Mateo, Nancy, and TK are in a jovial mood. They all take a selfie together to send to Marjan. Owen snaps on all of them and tells them to think about all of the first responders who went on calls where they didn't come back alive. I mean Owen does have a point but he's also being a major buzzkill. The others feel like poo after his outburst. Tommy gives Judd a look that says, hey, you got this one. Judd, our second in command, sighs and goes to talk to the captain. 

Judd goes to Owen's office and tells him that the others - Paul, Mateo, Nancy, and TK - haven't been through what they have. They don't know what it's like to lose someone on the job. Judd also reminds Captain Strand that the drills are designed for them to fail. Owen goes to close the door to his office. He tells Judd he believes something big is coming. He then tells Judd that the Honor Dogs are on the FBI's domestic terror watch list and that a truckload of ammonium nitrate was stolen. Judd asks him how he has all of this information and Owen confesses he's been working with the FBI. Judd asks if the Feds have any clue as to what the Honor Dogs are planning and Owen tells him that they won't even return his phone calls. Owen says he's tired of sitting around waiting for something to happen so he tells Judd he's acting captain until he returns. 

Owen goes off, alone, in one of the Austin Fire Department pickups, to the Honor Dogs' clubhouse and is met with an icy reception. He tells Red (Dan Sanders-Joyce) he wants to have a chat with him. Red asks if he's wearing a wire this time and Owen says he's not and tells Red he can "check his junk". Red says that he doesn't talk to Feds or the friends of Feds and threatens to drag Owen out of the bar. Owen reminds him he's a fire captain and tells him he can have the bar shutdown due to several fire hazards. Red asks him what he wants and Owen reveals that he knows about the ANFO (ammonium nitrate) and suggests that he can make a deal with Red if he gives everything up. Red is unmoved by Owen's words and claims he doesn't know anything. Owen is inclined to believe him just as the FBI raid the place. Owen is escorted outside by Special Agent Chuck Biondi (Rob Parks). Owen tells Biondi that he believes the Honor Dogs don't know anything about the stolen ANFO but Biondi is skeptical. He goes to put handcuffs on Owen right as the clubhouse explodes.

The rest of the 126 responds to the emergency and we find out there were nine FBI agents, including Special Agent Rose Casey (Amanda Schull), and who knows how many bikers inside the clubhouse when the bomb detonated. Paul and Judd notice an Austin Fire Department vehicle already on the scene. Judd gives out marching orders while Tommy, Nancy, and TK set start to set up triage. Owen carries Special Agent Casey out of the bar and she is taken by ambulance to the hospital with Owen riding with her. Special Agent Casey tells Owen she's scared and for a brief moment I wondered if this was a sign of a potential romance between the two. During the ambulance she asks him to call her "Rose" right before she dies.

Sergeant Ty O'Brien (Neal McDonough) arrives at the hospital at Owen's request. Owen fills him in on everything that's happened. Nine FBI agents, including Special Agent Casey, and several members of the Honor Dogs (we are told the number is in the double digits) are dead. However, Red is still alive but in surgery. The working theory regarding the explosion is someone 'accidentally' detonated the ammonium nitrate which was being housed at the bar. Neither Owen nor O'Brien believe this. Special Agent Biondi joins them and tells them that the case is closed since the prime suspect (Red) is in custody. Owen tells him that Red is not the man they are looking for and the explosion at the bar didn't even account for half of the stolen ammonium nitrate. Special Agent Biondi tells Owen that Red is refusing to talk. Owen suggests that he and O'Brien can try talking to Red.

Owen and O'Brien go into Red's room and find him bandaged up with several burns all over his body. The way he turned over in bed gave me Harvey Dent/Two-Face in The Dark Knight vibes. Red calls them both snitches which made me laugh. Owen informs him that eleven of his brothers are dead as a result of the explosion, including Turner (Scott Peat). Owen also tells him the FBI believes he is responsible due to his politics and their belief that he is a terrorist. Red doesn't seem too surprised by this information but he insists that he is not the one responsible. Owen mentions that prior to him arriving at the clubhouse the Honor Dogs in attendance looked like they were meeting about something. He asks if Red called the meeting. Red tells him that he didn't call the meeting but the invite came from his phone number. He suggests that someone 'spoofed' his phone number and he believes that someone is Andy - the person they kicked out due to his extreme views. Damn, how extreme do your views have to be if the Honor Dogs think they're too extreme?

The FBI raid Andy's house and find it empty. O'Brien tells Special Agent Biondi he hasn't heard from his niece (Andy's wife) in two days. Another FBI agent informs Owen, O'Brien, and Special Agent Biondi that a neighbor says they saw Andy's wife and son leave the house two days ago with an unidentified male. We then see Andy spray-painting a van. We also see two giant barrels of ANFO. Dun-dun-dunnnn!

Back at Andy's home, Owen asks O'Brien. Let me just say, I love their budding friendship. I feel like O'Brien brings out the best in Owen. He just seems more level-headed and people like Owen Strand need to be surrounded by people like Sergeant Ty O'Brien. Special Agent Biondi tells them three days ago someone blew up a school bus. Traces of ANFO were found at the scene along with a dead hiker. The school bus was traced back to a salvage yard where the owner identified Andy as the one who purchased it. Yikes! Things are not looking good for O'Brien's nephew. Special Agent Biondi asks O'Brien if he knows of where Andy may be. O'Brien doesn't know. Owen suggests Andy is living at The Farm which is where he and O'Brien found the ANFO. The FBI initially believed that Red and the other Honor Dogs moved the ANFO before the FBI raid, however Owen believes Andy is the one who moved it. Special Agent Biondi prepares to go to The Farm and O'Brien insists that he go with them. Special Agent Biondi seems reluctant to have him tag-along but Owen reminds him that he's already lost a lot of his team. Special Agent Biondi agrees to have O'Brien join them.

Owen heads back over to the 126 and comes clean to his team about his involvement with the FBI. He tells them that another terrorist plot is imminent and that he needs their help. Meanwhile, the FBI along with O'Brien and Carlos arrive at The Farm. I have to admit, Carlos looked pretty badass with a rifle in hand. We see Grace get a call at the 9-1-1 dispatch and then we see the alarm go off at the 126. Several houses are called into action. It's time for battle!

Back at The Farm, there's no trace of Andy. O'Brien speculates that someone is working with Andy and believes that person is still on the premises. Special Agent Biondi tells his team they need to head over to the capitol because he just got notice that an anonymous bomb threat has been called in. O'Brien thinks that they should continue searching the grounds, especially the surrounding woods. Special Agent Biondi tells him he can stay but they are leaving. Carlos offers to remain with O'Brien. Oooh, an O'Brien and Carlos team-up! I am definitely here for this!

Over at the capitol, the 126 are helping with evaculations. We see Owen inside of a van working with the bomb squad. They are trying to locate a bomb inside the capitol. Using a robot, they locate several metal drums possibly filled with ANFO. The funniest part of this scene is that Owen Strand, captain of the 126, appears to be running the whole operation. No one is a bigger Owen Strand-defender than I am. People often complain about how he gets too much to do in this show and my response is, Owen Strand is the main character on the show. Of course he gets more to do than anyone else. I don't see Lone Star as the ensemble show that the original 9-1-1 is. The original show has several big names attached to it (Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Connie Britton, and Jennifer Love Hewitt) while outside of Rob Lowe, Live Tyler, and Gina Torres, Lone Star is mostly composed of actors who don't have a lot of heft to their iMDB pages. Anywho, with that said, I find it a wee bit ridiculous that a fire captain is having such a major environment in a bomb situation. And I know the writers are really pushing the narrative that Owen was at the Twin Towers during 9/11 but this is Austin, not New York City. Okay, back to the story.

The guy operating the robot asks how someone was able to get all of those explosives into the building without being noticed by security. Owen immediately leaves the van against orders and walks right into the capitol building. When TK sees him, he shakes his head and has a look on his face that says, dad's gonna dad. I feel like if this happened two seasons ago, TK would be freaking out. It just goes to show, after so many instances of Owen just walking into volatile situations, all willy nilly, everyone around him is just like, that's what he does. The guys in the van ask Owen what he's doing repeatedly over the radio and he assures them he will be out in a minute ... one way or another. Owen locates the metal drums and for some reason decides to open one against the orders of the bomb squad captain. Well, it turns out the drum is empty along with the others. Outside of the capitol, Andy pulls up in an EMS van (the same van we saw him spray-painting) and he starts the countdown on the bomb that is in the back of the van. We have 10 minutes! Yikes!

Meanwhile, my new favorite dynamic duo/buddy-cop pairing, O'Brien and Carlos, strike out into the woods where they find tiny white pellets littering the ground. O'Brien picks one of them up and determines its ammonium nitrate. O'Brien posits this is where the bomb was built. The two of them stumble upon a shed. O'Brien sees tire marks on the ground. He tells Carlos he will go inside and sweep the place and will holler if he needs him. O'Brien goes inside and sees evidence of where someone has been living. He continues to do a sweep of the premises and finds his niece, Joanne (Stevie Lynn Jones) and his great-nephew, Jack (Kayden Alexander Koshelev) in a cell. He opens the cell to release them but is shot by Mikey (Richard Meehan). It turns out Mikey is the same young guy we saw getting branded the night Owen and Judd went to the Honor Dog's clubhouse a few episodes ago. Thankfully, O'Brien is wearing a bulletproof vest. When Mikey goes to shoot him in the head, Carlos shoots him. Hey writers! This is the Carlos we need! Give me more badass Carlos! Oh, and please make him a detective. At this point, he's doing more than the average cop. 

Owen exits the capitol and radios to Judd that everyone needs to go back inside the building. Judd asks if this is an all-clear and Owen tells him the safest place for everyone to be is behind the building's granite walls. Now, I'm not an expert on explosives but are we supposed to believe the same ammonium nitrate that can take out most of Austin is no match for the capitol building? Then again, who am I, a mere writer who likes to react to episodes of the TV shows I enjoy, to question the authority of Captain Owen Strand? Anywho, Judd thanks everyone for participating in the drill and tells them to head back inside. Owen debriefs with the bomb squad captain, Captain Jenkins (Bob Stephenson) and Tommy. He believes the reason the bomber wanted them to evacuate the building is because the bomb is outside the capitol, not inside. Captain Jenkins tells him that his team has secured the perimeter. Owen tells him he believes the bomb is in an emergency vehicle since they have clearance and access to the scene. Tommy suggests the bomb is inside an ambulance which seems like a leap to me in logic but, then again, an ambulance has more space in it to keep the explosives so perhaps that's her logic. She also mentions she saw a unit pull onto the scene shortly before the all-clear was given. She gives the unit number to Captain Jenkins and leaves to inform his team.

Owen gets a call from O'Brien and the latter catches him up on what he and Carlos have been up to. O'Brien tells Owen that Mikey is the one running the operation, not Andy. I get that this changes things a bit about the situation but I still don't see a scenario where Andy doesn't end up going to jail. Owen hangs up with his bestie and then we get a huge product placement for Verizon, one of the worst, if not the worst, cell phone carriers in the country. The bomb squad uses a drone (sponsored by Verizon) to locate Andy and the ambulance he's in. Special Agent Biondi arrives and tells Owen that when they find Andy, they're going to take him out. Yikes! Owen walks away and tells Special Agent Biondi he will find Andy himself. Owen sheds his gear and goes looking for O'Brien's nephew. He locates Andy and the ambulance and tells him that he knows that he's O'Brien's nephew. Andy tells Owen that Mikey's going to kill his family if he doesn't go through with their plan but Owen holds up a phone so that he can hear his wife. Joanne tells Andy that Mikey's been arrested and that they are safe. Owen tells him to get out of the vehicle and get his hand off the detonator but Andy tells him it's too late. There's less than 3 minutes left. Owen tells him to step out and do whatever the FBI says. While the FBI subdues Andy, Owen climbs in the ambulance and drives off.

Owen calls 9-1-1 and gets Grace on the line because, of course! Grace directs Owen to drive the ambulance into the river and make sure it's completely submerged underwater. Owen jumps out of the ambulance right before it drives into the water. In a funny scene, the ambulance stops just short of the water but thankfully, Judd, Paul, and Mateo arrive and finish pushing the ambulance into the water before it explodes. The underwater explosion isn't as big as I was expecting and all I kept thinking is, all of the poor wildlife! Also, what happens to the water supply in Austin if the river now has ammonium nitrate in it? Are we going to have a Flint, Michigan-level crisis in Austin because of this? Anywho, the day is saved by Owen, Grace, and the 126 so yay!

We then get a flashback to last summer. We see Andy get kicked out of the Honor Dogs due to his extreme views. Mikey finds him and the manipulation begins. Back in the present day, Andy tells the FBI he was really angry. He says he should've just walked away from Mikey but instead he got pulled into the madness. We learn Mikey's the one who stole all of the ANFO. Mikey is clearly psychotic. Sensing Andy's reluctance, Mikey threatens to kill Andy's wife and son and when he saw Mikey take out the hiker, he knew the threat was real. I'm so relieved that it wasn't Andy who killed the hiker. The last thing he needs is murder added to his growing list of concerns. Andy says that Mikey forced him to go through with building the bomb. He apologizes to his wife, Joanne. Andy thanks everyone, including Owen, for saving his family and all of the people. 

We see Andy say goodbye to his wife before he is taken to jail while Owen and O'Brien watch. O'Brien says that the worst part of all of this is that now Andy will have to watch his son grow up from behind bars where he'll be for 20 years. O'Brien looks so defeated. I'm sure he probably blames himself for getting Andy involved with the Honor Dogs in the first place. O'Brien worries that Jack will grow up without a father just like Andy did. The cycle continues. O'Brien feels like he fails but Owen tells him that he hasn't. Andy's alive and that's what matters at the moment. O'Brien thanks Owen for being a pain in his ass. I hope we get to see more of these two. 

In the final scene of the episode, we see Owen arrive at TK and Carlos' place with Chinese food. TK is pleasantly surprised by his father's presence and invites him inside. Owen tells TK he's proud of him. TK thanks him and asks what brought all of this up. Owen says throughout all of their ups and downs, he is grateful that TK has never decided to blow up a government building. Owen mentions the wedding and tells them he has thoughts. We then see the three of them through a window right before everything fades to black. 

Okay, my thoughts on the episode? I really, really enjoyed it. I love that we got the culmination to a plot introduced at the beginning of the season. My initial concern was that we would drag this storyline out for most of the season. It was fun watching Owen save the day with the 126's help, of course, but I look forward to episodes where Owen isn't the main focus. At this point, I think the fandom will revolt if we don't focus on Paul or Nancy or Mateo. It does look like next episode we will get to see more of Tommy and her blossoming romance with Trevor (D.B. Woodside). So, until next time ...

[greeneyedpixie99]

Stars *Leonard "Bones" McCoy* Chapter Three

Summary: After living in her brother's shadow since the day they were born, Eleanor "Nell" Kirk decides to take her life into her own hands. Joining Starfleet, she finds not only a place to belong but potentially, someone she wouldn't mind spending her life with.

Pairing: Eleanor "Nell" Kirk x Leonard "Bones" McCoy

Warning: None that I know of, if you find any let me know!

CHAPTER THREE

       When it’s announced that there will be an academic hearing on such short notice that even the Professors seem surprised, you things are going from bad to far worse. We had barely started the study of dying languages when it had been announced over the comms that all cadets and faculty members were to report to the hearing hall at once. Part of me knew instantly what it was about, the other part of me hoped and prayed that I was wrong. Still, it wasn’t like I could completely pretend I didn’t know my moron brother cheated and I hadn’t done anything with the information.

"Nell, I think your brother is going to get in trouble for cheating yesterday." Despite knowing she was walking beside me, It still made me jump at the sound of Nyota’s voice. I didn’t bother looking at her when I replied.

     "I kind of figured." Ignoring the concerned look from my friend, I pushed through the crowd of Cadets and into the Academy Council Chambers keeping as close to the group in front of me as possible, hoping to blend. I wanted to be as far away from anyone I knew so they wouldn't force me to defend or throw Jim under the bus. The mood i'm in there was a chance I just might.

It took little more than five minutes for the cadets to settle on the left and the Professors and other faculty to settle on the right. The Academy’s council were already seated when we came in so it was clearly important if they rushed through whatever else they worked on to be present. Which meant it was likely about Jim and his ‘amazing’ win with the unwinnable Kobayashi Maru. Praying it was done and over quickly, and my name was kept out of it, I dropped my bag into the set behind me and waited for the meeting to start.

     "James T. Kirk... Step forward." Of course. Surprise wasn’t even an emotion In me at this point. The council President waved a hand to the podium, the surest sign that my brother was about to face the consequences of his actions. So be it.

     "An incident has occurred today that concerns the entire student body. Academic immorality by one is an assault on us all. It will. Not. Stand. Cadet Kirk, evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to regulation 17. 43 of the Starfleet code. Is there anything you care to say before we begin?"

     "Yes sir. I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly." Scanning the faculty's side of the chambers and raising a brow when a handsome Vulcan male moved from his designated seat and stepped up to the podium on his side of the room. This was not good. Vulcan’s were all logic, no empathy. If this was the teacher that had programmed the test, there was a much higher chance that Jim was about to get expelled or suspended. And given logic dictated me as his sister, I was praying the Vulcan wouldn’t mark me as his accomplice since I wasn’t even aware of the cheat until midway through the test.

     "This is Commander Spock, one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru test for the last four years." Commander Spock’s hair was cut in the same neat style most Vulcan’s wear, eye brows set in the same sharp upward point. The color was obviously natural and complimented his almost human brown eyes. He stood stiff and tall, clearly used to being the one commanding conversations such as these.

     "Cadet Kirk. It is obvious you somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine in the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test." Of course he did, how else would he have been able to mess around with Nyota’s roommate and work the coding to allow for his cheat. It was clever but it also left it open for the logical call that he had help. "Given the nature of the coding and the talent required, I can only assume your sister was involved." That son of a bitch! Did he really? He couldn’t have, I had given the code and the only copy of it to Admiral Pike after learning how to break in.

I was beyond angry now, had my brother foolishly and recklessly broken into secure files to find my codes to cheat. And the little bastard had claimed it wouldn’t and couldn’t be traced to me because it was his cheat alone.

     "I can neither confirm nor deny that I did as you are accusing, but look at my sister’s face. Does that look like someone that would help me cheat?" All eyes turned to me, so I didn’t bother hiding the anger and hurt at my brother. I was going to end him.

     "Be that as it may."

     “And can I ask, what is his point?"

     "In academic vernacular, you cheated."

     "Respectfully... define cheating."

     "to deceive by trickery."

     "Now let me ask you something. I think we all know the answer to: the test is rigged, isn't it? Programmed to be unwinnable." I scanned the crowd for Len, hoping he had been at least let in on the pompous attitude my brother was displaying. Not able to find him in the crowd, I instead aimed my gaze at my brother and hoped what Leonard called, 'twin telepathy' would allow him to hear every colorful thing flashing through my mind. At this point, I hoped he was facing serious chargers. He came here to finish what dad started and to live up to that legacy. Instead he was essentially shitting all over it.

     "Mr. Kirk, I don't see how the intent of the exam is relevant to these proceedings."

     "Because if i'm right, sir, then the test itself is a cheat."

     Oh my god James you are an idiot.

     "Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario-"

     "I don't believe in no win scenarios."

     How could he not believe in no win scenarios? After what happened to dad, after what mom had to do on her own. After what we had to learn growing up. If there was anything he was meant to believe with any shroud of certainty, it should be that no-win scenarios exist and they take and they take and they take. It took the Captain of the USS Kelvin, dozens of engineering crew members and it took our father. I didn’t have to see Pike to know he was looking at me. I was always the one more sensitive to the story of my father’s death, maybe because he didn’t know I existed and therefore had no expectations of me.

     "Then not only have you violated the rules, you've failed to understand the principle lesson."

     "Please enlighten me."

     "You, of all people should know, Cadet Kirk-" Spock found my crestfallen face among the cadets. He could see I knew where he was going with this. " A captain cannot cheat death." Tears welled in my eyes..

     "Me of all people?"

     "Your father, Lieutenant George Kirk, had assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action, did he not." It felt like the room was caving in, my father’s final words echoing through my mind. Always in my mothers voice because I didn’t know what my father sounded like. The tears were hot and steady, rolling down my checks as I shoved through the cadets and out of the Council Chambers. All my anger and frustration with my brother was gone, replaced by a fear I had been trying to move past. Starfleet had gotten my father killed and chances were, they would get my killed too.

I don’t know how long I sat in the atrium hidden from the newly released cadets, tears staining my checks, eyes rimmed red. But it was long enough that clearly Commander Spock had been sent to find me, because there he was, standing just in front of me, his face impossible to read. Very Vulcan.

     "I did not mean to upset you Cadet Kirk.Only to prove a point to your brother." Shaking my head, I gave a watery laugh.

     "I don’t blame you, when I began piecing together what I thought he did yesterday…I knew bringing our father into it would be the only way to get through to him. But he never listens to me.Doesn’t stop it from hurting though." Nell paused, glancing at the Vulcan. "Make no mistake though, If I had been involved, you never would have found out he had cheated." With that I pulled myself to my feet and stormed off, following the other Cadets away from Council Chambers.

“You should know Cadet Kirk, it was your coding that was used.” I paused, shoulders tense.

“Admiral Pike was the only one that had access to it until it was logged. I would suggest creating stronger firewalls if my brother was able to break in so easily.”

“Of course. One last thing, you are to report to your CMO. A distress signal was sent from Vulcan and all Cadets are to be assigned to a Starship to aid in evacuation.” His home planet, that must burn. To wait to save his people, his home, to comfort a cadet whose feelings he had inadvertently hurt trying to get through my brother's stubborn head. Despite the uncertainty I felt about the Vulcan and his intentions, I nodded, sending one last look over my shoulder.

“I pray we resolve this with little casualty, for your sake Commander.” And then I was gone.

[urbanumviolentium]

So, there he was, his body slouched on the floor, endless doors covering the entire sky from horizon to horizon. At that moment, the fiend felt nothing but dread, the certainty of death creeping up, like a split body on the road taking it’s last breaths. The only comfort thorough this torture was his colleague concerned about him, although that pales in comparison to the horror standing before them.

The darkness devil, towering above all the corpses of his colleagues, a grotesque creature shaped by many human body parts, and a horned skull on top of it all, much like a crown on a king.  A twisted sight to behold, and one that called upon their ends.

Ah well... it was a nice enough ... albeit short, life.

Galgali was ready to accept his fate, the fiend was never the one for unwinnable battles. He was no hero, at best, he was a plague doctor, trying to cure a disease, and although there might be successes, ultimately the patients inevitably die. and he moves on... or die with his patients. 

The fiend closed his eyes, just waiting for the final hit, until... an odd taste appears in his mouth. It was metallic, strong. The fiend knew blood well enough to realize what he was tasting, but it wasn’t the dark liquid that now circulates in his body nowadays. It’s... human blood. 

His eyes opens, he’s now at a grass field near a school building, he could hear children away laughing and playing, however, that sound is quickly muffled by a much closer one of grunts, and pained moans.

A young boy, leaning against the wall, his eyebrow swollen and his lip torn open, it was hard to tell due to the bruises on his face, but he was probably a thirteen year old or something. Standing above him, were three, much older kids, knuckles recently bloodied.

The fiend... remembers this... this is his first fight The memories of how much pain he was in just invaded his mind. Galgali was such a weak kid back then. Why did he even bother fighting? Why didn’t he just run, hide, anything to avoid this? This was just foolish-

The thought was interrupted once he saw a much younger boy, holding a plush bird, approaching him, he also had a few scratches, but overall he wasn’t harmed like himself. The younger kid, but his hand on the other’s shoulder, tears rolling down his eyes.

‘T-t-thank you Ar*i’ The younger boy said, with the utmost gratitude in his voice, which only made Galgali’s younger self bawl his eyes out. 

That young boy with the plush bird... that was his brother. Galgali remembers those jerks from earlier were picking on him, and he felt this urge to fall in to defend him, to defeat the evil guys and be the hero to his little brother.

It was so obvious that Galgali would lose that fight, and yet, he went ahead and fought without hesitation. Because... they would beat his brother otherwise. 

That memory triggered many others inside the fiend’s mind, when he was protecting some girl he didn’t know, when he tried to stop a mugging, when someone insulted his friend. He fought every single time... and every time he lost. 

But... he still fought... despite getting bruised or stabbed, or anything else, he still fought, because it was the right thing to do. His human side... was amazing.

And yet there his fiend side was, despite having strength now, despite being granted the power to defend, he’s just waiting his death to occur... heh... if the human who had this brain saw him, they would be so disappointed. 

Galgali opened his eyes, now with a new resolve, he might not win this battle, but as long as he fights, as long as he give a chance of survival for his colleagues, he’ll do anything!

“Kobeni... take off my mask and hide...” He requested with an uncharacteristic serious voice, much to the girl’s confusion. Although, despite being clearly afraid, Kobeni complied, she removed his mask and ran off to hide. 

Galgali could feel his muscles bulging, ripping through his shirt, his thirst for blood getting more and more prominent, his irrational urge to kill now consuming his mind. Yes... he was ready for this! He is going to FUCKING kill devil!!!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

He stormed off toward the Darkness Devil, only to stop and making a rather large jump, he no longer had arms, but his legs will do the job, Galgali intends to break his neck, or rip his head off completely. 

For the first time, he’ll finally win a fight, he’ll kill the Darkness Devil, he’ll save his friends, a real hero, just like the ones in the comics, or manga.... just like Denji... just

[feciousreasoning]

Free to good home: one intimate Ed/Izzy conversation

It felt like an eternity that Ed and Izzy had stood there, staring into the featureless dark, but still it felt too soon to break the silence.  It was Izzy that finally spoke, "I loved you." Ed's eyes flew wide, but his lips felt like they were welded shut, his brain so unable to work up a response. "But that couldn't be right, could it?  I couldn't be in love with man ten years my junior, whose favorite pastime was nearly dying.  A man who put more effort into complicated schemes to avoid work than if he's actually just done the work, a man ... a man who I know would have laid down his life for me if he got called up."  Izzy's eyes never left the distant waves shrugged then sighed.  "I must have been, but I didn't know what to do with it, how to even handle the concept.  So it got turned into something I could understand, something useful, loyalty.  Loyalty to one's captain, above all else. And that was fine for years.  You were Blackbeard and it was my honor to serve under you.  It was all I did, all I was.  Every waking hour was in service to Blackbeard and that was fine."   Then, you started not being Blackbeard.  And if there was no Blackbeard, who was Israel Hands?  What had all the work and fighting and killing and nearly dying all those years been for?  It was like someone was draining all the seas at once.  My life as I knew it was threatened." Ed found his voice again, "And you'd never go down without a fight." Izzy turned to Ed, his body seeming weary with weight.  "But  I don't have your knack for unwinnable situations."  He tried for a smirk, but it couldn't do much to balance out the pain around his eyes.   Ed took a careful step closer, encroaching on Izzy's space.  "Do you want....we could...try...?"  The shake of Izzy's head spared him trying to pressgang words into a coherent question. "As sure as I am about the rest," he waved one hand a little in the direction of the recent past, "I'm sure our time, our chance was years ago.  And for as much as a truly hate Stede Bonnet, as a pirate, as a captain, as a man, he clearly makes you happy, in a way I never could." "Iz-" Izzy shushed him and closed the last step between them.  He reached up cautiously, almost delicately, and took Ed's face in his hands, pressing their lips together with ardor swaddled in reverence.  "Just wanted one," Izzy breathed against Ed's soft lips.  "Thank you."  He turned away, like a door drifting closed.