#i think the later couple units are ones they made up and not based off mythology. because i looked her up and got kung fu panda

[rokkzalm]

Fierce Goddess Tigress

930100 / DAD1D4 / F9C63C / 1F2232 / AF67D3

[ryescapades]

can i request narumi x gojo like reader (like extremely overpowered and yk gojo stuff 😝) because ur dazai fics are just mwah! could they be and captain and they're vc is like suguru :>

thank you !!!!

limitless | kaiju no. 8

characters: narumi gen x gn gojo!reader

contents: sniper!reader, attempt at humor, fluff, some OCs, a lot of made up plots bcs this fic wouldn't exist otherwise (feels like i was world building ngl), reader's division number is not mentioned, narumi appears like in the second half of this, hint of rivals(?) + idiots to lovers

a/n: i hope i did your req justice, tqsm nonnie! lmk if you're satisfied with this or not (bcs im kinda not) almost made reader and their vc become a doomed yaoi couple just like satosugu 2k wc

"ehhh, another mission?"

your vice-captain, akira rolls her eyes at your grumble. "yes, another mission, captain. the higher-ups have requested for us to be there as soon as we possibly can, for the location is said to be in an uptown city of tokyo, a few hours from our base, so we ought to dispatch early," she explains.

"blegh, i bet the old man shinomiya is laughing at me right about now. we literally just returned from a mission like two days ago, akira! he sure loves working us to the bone!" you complain as your hand continues to work, cleaning the glass lens of your sniper rifle's scope.

akira throws a flat look. "maybe because we're the only unit in the defense force that specializes in kaiju intelligence? dummy," she says pointedly, causing you to wave her off. "nah, semantics."

she sighs, shaking her head. "in any case, we need to get ready now. we have to be on the move in about half an hour," your vice-captain's words go into one ear and out the other as your mind drifts away, thinking of how you can possibly sneak away to buy some nice treats while in tokyo.

hm, preferably those ringo apple-custard pies... your mouth waters at the thought.

less than five hours later, you find yourself strutting in the hallways of the ariake base, with akira following close behind.

"how many times do i have to remind you to tell me first if you wanted to make a detour mid-way," akira pinches the bridge of her nose, and you pout slightly. "i didn't even take that long, mind you!" you argue, though the way you dust off the sweet pastry crumbs off your lips doesn't really give the impression that you sound apologetic at all about it.

"captain, you keep forgetting that we have a meeting to get to. you should try to be more considerate towards others' time, you know?" she chastises, making you shrug dismissively. "you're too uptight about everything, akira. loosen up,"

already used to your petty remarks, akira crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at you. "what was that? you wanna take this outside, y/n?" the way she drags the syllables of your name daringly has you smirking, eyes glinting dangerously as you flex your hands. "oh yeah? and what if i say yes?"

what both of you don't realize is that you've walked far enough to reach general shinomiya's office, the sound of the double doors opening snapping off the tense rope that connects your challenging gazes together.

the two of you straighten up awkwardly, whistling a mindless tune and fixing your uniform respectively to pretend like you weren't about to start a scuffle just a second ago.

hasegawa, the one who had opened the doors raises an eyebrow curiously when he sees you and your vice-captain. "seems like they're already here, general shinomiya." he announces over his shoulder before giving a respective nod and taking his leave.

as you enter the office, general shinomiya gives you a long, pointed look. "you're late." your nose scrunches at the comment, "only by fifteen minutes. chill out, old man."

"what they mean to say is—" akira immediately speaks up, frustrated at your lack of manners, but shinomiya isao raises a hand with a shake of his head to interject. "never mind that. we have more pressing matters at hand,"

as he drones on and on about the details of the mission, you're barely listening to any of them when one particular statement catches your attention.

"do your surveillance for at least two days before you clean up and come back to report. i'll send in narumi as well for some extra hands."

like a puppy hearing the sound of kibble food being poured in its bowl, your head perks up in interest.

seems like this mission won't end up being a bore, after all.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

"akira... i'm bored,"

you can almost hear your second-in-command's teeth gritting against each other. "that's the sixth time you've said that, captain." she says, her voice crackling through your earpiece. "wait, really? maybe i should say it another time—"

"please, don't." she interrupts with a huff. "you don't know how many nights i've spent wondering how your impatient ass got this job,"

you're about to counter when a new voice chimes in through the comms, "they're good at this job, that's why." a smile grows on your face at the statement. "ren, of course! this is why you're everyone's favorite," you cheekily say.

your operations leader snickers at the quiet but still audible vomiting noises akira is making. "i'm flattered, captain. but i do agree with vice-captain akira. given how our division is all about stealth and patience, it is quite the surprise someone like you sits at the top," ren muses.

you click your tongue, the small 'tch' sound only providing more amusement for your two subordinates. "you deserve a headlock for that, ren."

be that as it may, you are indeed good at your job. appointed as the captain of a special intelligence unit for the defense force, your division is tasked to undertake any job that requires kaiju surveillance, where you discreetly observe and study the behaviors of these monsters, especially the new species before subjugating them once your task is completed.

where do you think all those official kaiju encyclopedia books and websites get their information from?

your missions are all basically just field trips, to be frank. you command officers who are specifically trained in stealth and espionage, with your sharp sniping skills second to none in the defense force.

your beloved vice-captain, the talented officer that she is, unluckily holds the job of patrolling the perimeter and taking care of any kaiju that happens to stumble upon where your sniping port is set up. can't have the sniper getting jumped now, can we?

pulling your eyes away from the scope, you mindlessly tap away on the side of your sniper gun. "anyways, how's captain narumi doing?" you ask.

the division has very few recruits every year, due to the fact that not everyone can master the perfect form of stealth and spying when it comes to such untamed creatures. with the unit being the only unique one, your officers are often dispatched at various locations at the same time.

thus, the subjugation after the observation is usually carried out with the help of other divisions. and that's where narumi comes in.

or rather, he actually does come in. like, legit.

"worried about me?" the man himself steps into the empty room of the desolated building you're currently positioned at, his bayonet held close to his side. your brows quirk in amusement at the question, "yes, actually. i was worried your... extravagant method of killing kaiju is going to get us spotted sometime soon,"

narumi feels his blood thrums in his ears. he doesn't know what it is about you, but every time the two of you interact, he just gets frustrated and bothered. how are you so... infuriating?

"excuse me? i know perfectly well how you handle your operations, thank you very much!" he exclaims.

"oh? is that so, akira?" you inquire into your earpiece, wanting to poke fun at the first division captain further. he tenses slightly as he's reminded of his recent kills.

a big tease just as you are, akira hums, "well, i certainly heard him gloating with the other officers after his first kill earlier. he was probably doing his usual egosurfing after that... and the second kill was obscenely loud too. and then there's the—"

"okay, i think they get it now, vice-captain." narumi cuts her off in a snap, crimson hues dusting his cheeks. you smirk, about to make another retort when ren's voice intervenes you.

"emergency, captain! there's a kaiju about less than two kilometers away from the town!" your pupils flare in alarm just as akira voices out her surprise, "wait, what? there shouldn't be any of them so close to the human settlement. is it a stray?"

without focusing on ren and akira's discussion, you sling your sniper over your shoulder and head out of the building, "i'm going after it," you announce.

as you walk past narumi, he grabs your arm to stop you. electric sparks jolt underneath the material of your suits and into your skin, though neither of you seems bothered enough to acknowledge it. "there could be more than just that one. i'm coming with you," he insists, unaware that he's leaning into your space to get his point across.

what is it with him and needing to be closer to you? narumi can never figure out the answer to that even if he was aware of it in the first place.

you didn't expect him to suddenly be all up in your face like that, so your hand automatically shoots out towards him, a palm splaying over his chest to hold him back. realizing how weirdly intimate the touch is, you move to pull away but your hand unconsciously lingers, dragging itself down the metal chestplate of his suit before finally retreating in a matter of seconds.

the loss of contact nearly burns you from the inside out, and you hate admitting that it's not in a bad way. not at all, not ever. something about narumi gen just flares you up deliciously, and you're more than happy and willing to crash into this man's blazing inferno.

perhaps you're just as hopeless as he is in that regard.

with a shrug, you throw a sanguine grin at him over your shoulder, "even if you weren't here, narumi, i can handle them just fine. this is my forte, and i'm the strongest one here." shivers run down the back of his spine, the knowing glimmer in your eyes almost making him visibly and audibly swallow.

he doesn't doubt that sentiment. not at all.

narumi knows how strong and skilled you are. if ashiro mina is known with her extremely explosive power, you're known with your hawk's eye trait. you're good at predicting just exactly where the kaiju's core is supposed to be, courtesy of the years of meticulously studying the monsters.

'how am i different to ashiro? hm, let's see... to put it simply, ashiro is the type to spam her high-damaged gun. like a reaaally offensive dps, you see. while i prefer to go with that one shot one kill style,' you'd often say. as a chronic gamer himself, he understood that crystal clear.

as the two of you exit the building and make a beeline towards the direction of the town, a few kaiju that you had surveyed just a few minutes ago turn their heads in attention when they hear your rapid footsteps.

your annoyance rises when they start advancing towards you, all feral eyed and inhumane. "sorry but i really don't have time to waste on small fries like you," you mutter as you take out your handgun.

the next thing narumi knows, their cores are precisely struck with your bullets, including the kaiju whose humongous tail almost swiped at you two from your common blind spot, one which he could've taken out. with his RT-0001 retina, he was less than one second away from handling it!

"oh, would you look at that! i saved your ass, narumi! ain’t i just the best?" you boast, causing his imaginative feathers to ruffle. the respond he's about to give doesn't get to come out, as you manage to irritate him even more.

"by the way, don't you think you should slip in some more trainings everyday? you play enough games as it is. at this rate, you're gonna get weaker than me, you know?" you remark before swiftly skipping away, your tongue sticking out in jest and leaving narumi to deal with his own agitation.

you're literally a menace in narumi's eyes, but his curiosity is boundless. as he moves to follow after your tracks, he keeps asking himself why he just cannot seem to stop wanting to get know you more.

nah i'd win, *dies immediately after*

ps i love when gojo made that digimon ref in s2 he's such a nerd pls. also there's like one hidden ow2 ref in there somewhere. like using pharah and widowmaker in regards to the difference between ashiro and reader

taglist: @maruflix @iamjellyfish @ouiouimochi @yueliie @justwinginglife @lumiambrose @minasfwoopyponytail @17020

©🅁🅈🄴🅂🄲🄰🄿🄰🄳🄴🅂. do not steal, translate or repost my work anywhere else !

[rubycruzin4abruzin]

Forbidden Crown - III

Summary: Kit and Airk visit Azarenth to celebrate your fifteenth birthday, but when your mother delivers some earth-shattering news, your relationships with the twins crumble. After an ‘experiment’ gone wrong, you realize some things about yourself that could destroy your life, as well as those of the people around you.

Pairing: kit tanthalos x princess!reader

Contains: angst, boy-kissing, girl-kissing, implied vomiting (not graphic), half-smut, heavy petting, second base, forced marriage, nightmare

Word Count: 3.5k

A/N: it’s getting steamy up in here

The day you turned fifteen was a cause of celebration for all of Azarenth. Your parents held an elaborate banquet in your honor, complete with minstrels and jesters, and invited the entire kingdom to celebrate. All day long, you received birthday wishes and blessings from the townspeople, indulged in your favorite foods, and drowned in a seemingly endless sea of presents. Luxurious garments, precious jewelry, fine craftsmanship; you were gracious for every one, but none compared to the greatest gift of them all.

“Tomorrow morning, the twins from Tir Asleen will be riding in for a visit.” Your mother informed you later that evening, after all the party guests had gone home.

You froze in your tracks, the news leaving you momentarily speechless. “Really? They’re visiting here?”

“Well I’d prefer not to have Kit stay,” your mother scoffed. “But heaven forbid I take one without the other.”

Far too excited to acknowledge your mother’s snide remark, you rushed to wrap your arms around her, expressions of gratitude flying from your lips. She stiffened at your touch, only obliging with a reluctant pat on your back.

Just when you felt like you were on top of the world, everything came crashing down in a matter of seconds.

��I expect you to be on your best behavior while they’re here, please put in the extra effort to make Airk feel comfortable. In five years’ time, you will be his bride.”

You froze again, the last sentence hitting you like a sledgehammer to a stone wall. Slowly, you removed your arms from her torso, stepping back to meet her gaze. “Pardon?”

“Sorsha and I decided it was time to tell you both,” she explained calmly. “We’ve been arranging this marriage to unite our kingdoms since you were young.”

Confusion, anger, betrayal; a plethora of emotions swarmed you as you stood there, stunned. “You’re telling me this now?”

“Darling, you’re fifteen now, a woman. We didn’t want to scare you when you were children but it’s high time you start to think about the future of Azarenth.”

Realization hit you like a pound of bricks. “That’s why you always put so much emphasis on a relationship with Airk? You were preparing us for marriage?”

“Well I see no reason for such commotion! From what you’ve told me, you and Airk get along quite well. I’m sure you’ll make a fine couple.”

She dismissed you with a wave of her hand before retreating to her bedchamber for the night, leaving you standing there in a puddle of conflicting feelings. On one hand, Airk was pleasant company, and he could make a fine ruler one day. On the other hand, your heart didn’t long for him, and just the thought of you two being expected to produce heirs made you feel ill.

In five years, in five short years, you would be Princess Airk Tanthalos. You closed your eyes, testing out the name once on your lips before running outside and dropping to your knees, emptying your stomach's contents into the street.

That night was spent tossing and turning in bed, fighting off images of a marriage to Airk before they overpowered you, transforming into a nightmare as you slipped into slumber.

You were walking through the Tir Asleen gardens with Kit, picking bouquets of flowers and laughing at nothing but your own contagious joy. Just when you were almost done arranging your flowers, she seized your hand without warning, forcing you to drop your bouquet and pulling you away from the garden.

“Kit! Where are we going?” You chuckled, but never received an answer.

Instead, she pulled you into the doors of the castle and led you through every room. Each room seemed to stretch on forever, the exit nothing more than an optical illusion. With every new step, Kit moved faster until you were practically chasing after her, each breath coming in ragged gasps as your feet slapped against the cold stone floor.

Finally, Kit led you back outside, where you seemed to have spent so long in the castle that the sky was now a dark black with no moon in sight. She continued to pull you until you stood in front of the garden once again, where she slowed her pace before pausing at the entrance. This time, instead of the garden being filled with fragrant flowers and low-hanging trees, it was furnished to look like a wedding ceremony, with Airk standing at the end of the aisle. All of the guests turned in their chairs, staring at you with stone-like expressions.

You looked down and found that your everyday clothing had been replaced with an extravagant wedding gown. “Kit,” you whispered, squeezing her hand. “Why have you brought me here?”

Kit turned to look at you, leaving you horrified as her face morphed into that of your mother’s. Her demeanor remained still and frosty as she dropped your hand like a forgotten promise.

“The future is upon us, Princess Airk Tanthalos.”

You shot up in bed, gasping for breath as your heart raced. Pressing a hand to your chest, you inhaled deeply, forcing yourself to calm down. The window facing outside showed the sky still an impenetrable black, clear and streaked with twinkling stars. You groaned, flopping back onto your mattress as you reluctantly prepared for the remainder of a restless night.

You practically sleepwalked through the next morning, the dark circles under your eyes hanging like crescent moons in the night sky. After grunting a barely perceptible greeting to your parents, you took your seat at the breakfast table and started on the meal the chefs had prepared for you. Each bite tasted like gray mush. You chewed mechanically, feeling as if your emotions were so dulled that even your taste buds were affected.

Silence filled the breakfast table as everyone noticed you weren’t your usual chipper self. Even your father noticed something was off and attempted to speak before your mother shot him an icy glare, placing her hand over his as an unspoken warning.

Before you even had time to pass out onto your plate, the familiar clip-clop of a horse-drawn carriage sounded from outside, signaling the twins' arrival. You stood up, trailing behind your parents as you stepped outside to greet your guests.

A creamy white horse stood just outside the castle entrance, attached to a rugged coachman steering a wooden carriage. Airk was the first to step out, shaking out his chestnut curls and smoothing the fabric of his thin tunic. The morning sun reflected off his green eyes, making them look like two polished emeralds.

Although you weren’t attracted to him, you had to admit, he had grown into a handsome lad. You began to wonder if there was a chance that marrying him wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, that maybe you could make it work, and learn to live somewhat content.

But then Kit stepped out of the carriage, and the very thought of marrying her brother became distasteful again. She was pale, and the dark circles under her eyes only accentuated her lack of color. Her clothing was loose, wrinkly, and her barely chin-length tresses were dyed black with an indigo plant.

To anyone else, she appeared as a tired mess, a pathetic excuse for a princess. But when you gazed upon her, all you saw was Kit. Your Kit. The girl you grew up with and simultaneously never saw, the one person who meant more to you than anyone else.

Your mother rushed to meet Airk, presenting a perfect curtsy and gushing over how handsome he’d gotten. To Kit, she offered nothing more than a brief nod and a stiff grin.

“Welcome to Azarenth, you two,” she greeted. “I trust you’ll feel right at home here.”

With that, she turned on her heel, marching back into the castle and leaving you to attend to your guests. You never really liked having your mother around; her chilly demeanor often irritating you to the point of submerging yourself into daydreams where you could run away, free from her parental confines. But now, as she walked away and you watched her figure grow smaller, you wanted nothing more than for her to return. Even if it was to make a snide comment, you would take anything to alleviate the tension that now floated between you and the twins.

Airk took a step towards you, clearing his throat and hiding his hands behind his back. “Happy birthday, Princess.”

You smiled in return, curtsying politely. The two of you stood there, silently staring at each other, the weight of what you both now knew settling between you.

“Yes, happy birthday, Princess.” Kit sneered, stomping over and offering an exaggerated curtsy.

Your smile faltered. “No need to be so formal.”

Kit scowled at you, her blue eyes, once bright oceans now beady cesspools filled with contempt. “Oh forgive me, your highness! I had no intention of offending her majesty, the future ruler of Tir Asleen!”

She scoffed, shaking her head and storming past you into the castle doors. Airk mumbled a quick apology on her behalf before following after her, leaving you outside, alone, caught in a whirlpool of heartache.

The rest of the day remained as tense as how it started. Kit had holed herself up in her designated guest room, so you were stuck with Airk. For the most part, you tried to avoid each other, save for occasionally crossing paths in the hallways and stuttering immediate apologies. When the kitchen maid rang the dinner bell, you reluctantly trudged to the dining room, dragging your feet all the way there to postpone interaction as much as possible.

Your mother eyed you critically as you were the last to take your seat at the table. “How kind of you to grace us with your presence.”

Pursing your lips out of disdain, you glanced over at Airk. He met your gaze, making accidental eye contact for a brief second before looking down and pretending to be transfixed by his supper. Your eyes traveled across the table to a seat left empty, Kit’s noticeable absence leaving a pang in your chest.

Sounds of silverware scratching against ceramic dishes filled the room as the four of you ate in silence. You and Airk kept your heads down, refusing to look up from your plates while your parents exchanged glances from across the table. Once finished, you pushed your plate away and requested to be excused, leaving without waiting for a response.

Grabbing your shawl off a nearby hook, you walked briskly out of the castle. The cold December air pricked against your skin as you hugged your shawl closer to you. Azarenth typically had a warmer climate with very few opportunities for cold weather, but something about this night felt especially frosty, enough for a handful of snowflakes to lazily drift down from the night sky.

You retreated to a small courtyard away from the main thoroughfares, a secluded area complete with a center fountain you often used as a refuge. Taking a seat on the edge of the fountain, you stared at your reflection in the water, your mirrored image looking just as tired and stressed as it had that morning. You groaned, splashing away your likeness before immediately pulling your hand back, shocked by the iciness of the water.

As you sat alone with your thoughts, the sound of footsteps approached. You turned your head to see Airk at the entrance, pausing as soon as you met his gaze. He looked sheepish, his hands hiding behind his back as he nervously shuffled his feet.

“Your father told me I might find you here,” he spoke softly, answering the question you never asked.

You didn’t respond, so he moved towards you, taking a seat beside you on the edge of the fountain. The two of you sat in silence for a moment, staring at your feet while you listened to the gentle roar of the water behind you.

“Your parents informed you of the arrangement, I imagine.” He said in a low voice, addressing the elephant in the room.

You sighed deeply, nodding your head in response. “I feel so betrayed.”

Airk raised his eyebrows.

“Not because you’d make a terrible spouse!” You quickly backtracked. “I just… I feel so…”

“Caught off guard?” Airk interrupted.

You nodded. His assumption was only half-true, but true nonetheless.

Airk puffed out his cheeks, taking a moment to choose his next words carefully. “Well, perhaps we could… test it out? See what it’s like?”

You eyed him with furrowed brows. “What do you mean?”

“Married life,” he clarified. “Perhaps we could… try some of the things married people do? Just to see how it feels?”

Your eyes widened as you leaned back in shock. “I’m not doing that!” You crossed your arms over your chest and drew inward, suddenly feeling very exposed despite being fully dressed.

“No, no! I would never ask you to do that!” Airk sputtered, vigorously shaking his head.

You sighed in relief. Airk laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to calm his nerves.

“No, certainly not. I…” he cleared his throat. “…was truly suggesting we… try a kiss? Surely, married couples kiss. Perhaps we could just see how it feels?”

You glanced at his lips and contemplated his proposal. He had a point. “Yes.”

“Are you certain?” Airk’s eyes widened in surprise.

You nodded. “Well, we’ll be expected to kiss at our wedding anyway. May be convenient to remove the element of surprise.”

Airk positioned himself to face you. “I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

“I haven’t either,” you lied, thinking back to the innocent kisses you shared with Kit as children. Despite her spicy personality, she had always tasted so sweet. You wondered if Airk would taste just as sweet.

Before you knew it, Airk had leaned in and connected his mouth to yours. His lips were wet, soaked with spit, and his coarse stubble scratched at your chin. He didn’t taste sweet; he barely tasted like anything at all. There was no buzzing in your ears, nor bursts of warmth in your chest, just two mouths collided in a dispassionate exchange.

When Airk pulled away, you felt like crying. He stared at you expectantly. “Was that alright?”

You stared back at him, trying to suppress the nauseous feeling in your stomach. As he waited for your response, all you could think about was how different it was from kissing Kit, how you had never longed for him in the same way, and if you were arranged to marry his sister instead of him, would you be as upset?

Your mind raced with memories of Kit: stolen kisses behind trees, late night sneakaways, sharing secrets under covers. You thought back to when Kit introduced you to lewd literature, remembering how those pictures of women made you feel. Realization hit you like a punch in the gut, causing you to clutch your stomach and audibly gag.

Airk frowned. “Was it not?”

Tears welled up in your eyes. “I have to go.”

You stood up and practically fled from the courtyard, leaving Airk to sit alone, his face crumpled with hurt and immersed in a flood of confusion.

Frigid winds whipped your tear-stained face as you dashed through the outskirts of the castle, your footsteps echoing against the pavement. Your mind raced, a mixture of flashbacks and fear swarming this newfound epiphany. When you reached the castle entrance, you burst through the doors, darting past your parents and ignoring the questions they fired at you.

You had to find her. You needed to speak with her.

Rushing up the stairs, you ran through the corridors, past your own bedchamber, and paused in front of another. You doubled over, resting your hands on your knees in an attempt to catch your breath, heart pounding like a stampede of wild horses.

Finally somewhat calm, you stood straight, gazing not at the door, but at the nothingness that stood between you and it. With a deep breath, you disregarded all knowledge of basic etiquette and threw open the door, not bothering to knock.

“Kit!” You cried.

Startled, Kit whipped around to face the door, not expecting visitors. Upon seeing you, her face darkened. “Oh, you again. What have you come here for?”

“Kit, please, I need to talk to you…”

“Why?” Kit interrupted. “Because you need help planning your wedding? Are you here to boast about marrying my brother? How you’re going to live happily-ever-after and have hundreds of children? Would you like name suggestions?”

“You don’t understand…” you tried to swallow the lump growing in your throat. “I can’t marry Airk.”

Kit seemed taken aback by your admittance, but her demeanor quickly hardened again. “I hadn’t realized the Tanthalos blood wasn’t good enough for you.”

“That is not the reason…”

“My apologies, your highness!” Kit exclaimed, each word dripping with venom. “I shouldn’t have assumed you would want to be the future Queen of Tir Asleen! Our lowly kingdom must not meet your impossibly high standards!”

“Would you listen to me?!” You smacked her arm, unable to stop angry tears from streaming down your face. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Kit flinched upon contact, but her hostility remained unyielding. Still, she crossed her arms over her chest and squinted, waiting for your explanation.

You sniffed, choking back a sob. “Airk kissed me.”

Kit’s expression barely shifted, but her eyes momentarily flickered with confusion. “Your fiancé kissed you? How distressing.”

“You don’t understand…” you drew inward as you stared at the floor, avoiding her piercing stare. “I hated it.”

You saw Kit’s arms drop to her sides out of your peripheral vision, body language softening slightly. She took a step towards you, and you squeezed your eyes tight.

“What are you saying?”

“I don’t want to marry Airk,” you repeated, finally looking up at her. “I don’t think I want to marry any prince.”

You took a seat on the edge of her bed and wiped your tear-stricken face. Kit stood stunned for a moment before moving to your side, placing a comforting arm around your shoulders.

“Do you think you might be a…?”

The word you’d both been raised to believe was dirty sat unspoken on her lips: sapphic.

You nodded, ashamed. The idea of a woman being attracted to other women was extremely frowned upon, especially for someone of nobility like yourself. But as you sank into Kit’s touch, societal expectations no longer seemed so scary. She always did make you feel safe.

“What am I going to do?” You wondered out loud, not exactly expecting an answer. Kit pulled you in closer, staring at you with unblinking eyes. You met her gaze.

“Kit, I…”

And suddenly her mouth was on yours, taking you by surprise and making you jump. She pulled back in fear, searching your face for any sign of resistance.

“I… I’m sorry…” she sputtered. “I must have misread something…”

Not wanting her to finish that sentence, you grabbed her face and kissed her ferociously, this time taking her by surprise. She gasped against your mouth, but soon returned the kiss with as much passion as you had given.

Kissing Kit was nothing like kissing Airk. Her lips weren’t wet; they were perfectly moist, and her skin was smooth against yours. That familiar grape-juice taste from when you were kids had aged gracefully along with her, now bursting with the flavors of sweet wine. Neither of you were very experienced kissers, but it wasn’t awkward like it was with Airk; there was no clumsy collision, just two mouths exploring each other in an act of tender intimacy.

Kit picked up her movements, kissing you hungrily with a passion that almost bordered on desperation. She grabbed at your waist, pushing you down on the bed until she hovered over you. You moaned at the unexpected feeling of your head against the soft mattress, and that was all the reassurance Kit needed to keep going. She placed a hand on your stomach and started to untie the laces of your corset, moving at a snail's pace in case you were to oppose. When you didn't, she removed the restrictive garment and inched her fingers up your blouse. You gasped at the feeling of her skin against yours, but when she pulled away to check in, you immediately brought her back to you, not wanting her to stop for anything.

You writhed underneath her as she explored the skin underneath your blouse. Longing coursed through your veins, each brush of her fingertips feeling like the warmth of a thousand suns. When she grazed her thumb across a particularly sensitive area, you moaned into her mouth, lifting your hips and pressing your core into her body. She shivered under the newfound contact, pulling away and looking down at you with apprehension.

“I’ve never really done anything like this before,” she admitted.

“P-pardon?” You sputtered through labored breaths, your body craving her in a way it had never craved anyone before.

“This…” she gestured at both of your bodies. “…is all new to me.”

“Likewise,” you whispered before leaning in to reassure her with a gentle kiss. “We don’t have to do anything more than this tonight. I promise I’m enjoying myself.”

Kit seemed to relax. “Would that be alright?”

“Truly,” you replied, because it was. It was more than alright. It was perfect.

Tag List: @chloepricesgirl @canmargesimpson @yourelliewillms @valenftcrush @camilleee222 @prettygirlfemme @slaytillieswooo @love4lyn @joanvisitsrome @athenalive @mih11 @j-pacifica @everybodyhatesari @vii-ofswords @sophi4v13

[brokenpieces-72]

Split

CoD Hybrid AU | Navigation

You have options for what to do next. Communications are still open, you have contacts that can assist you, and you can reach weapons easily enough. The problem is… the problem. The people who raised you, took care of you, and trained you are now trying to kill you and innocent people. There aren’t too many hybrid units that can be easily reached and it’s selfish but if the program found out about this you would be taken back immediately.

“Right now we need to wait this out.” Ghost admits. The problem is, plenty of people could die. There are evacuation and containment measures for when something like this happens but like any emergency, no one is guaranteed safety. Most of the men were likely out if not holed up somewhere.

“What about a flu shot?” You suggest. Ghost and Rudy both look at you, a little confused.

“A flu shot?” Ghost asks.

“It put me out of commission.” You point out.

“Yes, but it took a couple days.” Rudy reminds you.

“But I couldn’t do anything for a while before that. I even tried to shift, but it just made super tired…having a hard time shifting even now.” You mutter the last part. Ghost and Rudy share a look. It could be difficult, and they’d need to get to the flu shots, but it wasn’t a terrible idea. Certainly worth a try. It is concerning that you can’t shift properly but that’s an issue for later.

“Does Hunter have any vaccines?”

“Got a few extras just in case, there’s enough for every soldier on base.” You say.

“Administering them could be tricky.” Rudy mentions.

“I can hold them down if you can deliver.” Ghost tells him. Rudy nods. Ghost turns to you. “You know where the vaccines are?”

“In the medbay.” You say. Shit. That could get complicated.

“Jet injector might be useful. More force to it.” Ghost thinks aloud.

“Those would be in another part of the base.” Rudy says. It’s risky even leaving the room, but staying in one place is not safe either. Right now you three need to get to work before there’s too much bloodshed. Rudy is low on energy, and cadejos could take a while to recharge. Ghost can’t expend his abilities too much without risk, so hiding in shadows has to be limited. You can’t shift which was a bit of an issue, but you’re a quick runner, and you can duck into anywhere.

“Alright, we’ll try to go at this together, but knowing the odds we’ll get separated. Spirit, find the vaccines, as many of them as you can gather. Rudy, jet injectors. I’ll keep an eye on both of you as much as I can.” Ghost says. You get off the desk and stick close to the men’s sides. Thankfully Rudy still had his side arm, but you and ghost don’t have much.

Ghost looks down at you, and worries for a moment. “Y/N?”

You look up at him. “If we get separated, don’t open the door for anyone. Not unless it’s me or Rudy, and you ask us a question only one of us would know. Got it?”

You hesitate but nod. Ghost knows you’re worried about the team first and foremost. You’re scared for Johnny, as is he. König is one of your only friends. He gives your shoulder a light squeeze and you take a deep breath.

You can feel your heart thumping in your chest as the door is slowly opened. Price’s door lets out a soft squeak, something he refused to get fixed for his own purposes. You can hear some noises in the distance that make you want to go back inside the office. You have to steel yourself though. This is a mission, and you’re entering what is essentially a war zone with highly dangerous targets and bogies. Unfortunately you also know that soft squeak of the hinge is a blip on the radar for plenty of your team with enhanced senses.

Rudy is tense, which makes sense. He’s low on energy, and who knows how long he originally had before all hell broke loose in the infirmary. The cadejos would likely need a minute before he could summon them again.

You hear a howl, all of you do. You look back down the hall. Your brother is somewhere nearby, you know it’s him. It couldn’t be anyone else. There’s an odd pull towards it, but Rudy catches your shoulder.

“Mija, don’t.” You look back at him, knowing what he means. Throughout your time here, Soap had been nothing but supportive, and you feel like you could be letting him down. Another howl rings out and Ghost looks back as well. He knows that howl too. You look up at Ghost, wanting nothing more than to see your brother.

“We need to hurry.” He says, and continues moving. Then you hear your name. Soap knows you can hear it, and only you can hear it. It pulls your attention away from the set course. Rudy gives a soft tug to your shoulder, keeping you from taking off.

“Rudy…” you say softly.

“Not a good idea. We stay on target, yeah?” Rudy says. You nod and continue to follow. You hear some more noises. A few are cries, some are squelching and wet, and you can make out a pounding noise, something banging against walls. You realize you’re moving closer to it and stop.

Ghost takes notice as does Rudy.

“What?” Ghost asks.

“I think I hear Konig.”

“I don’t hear anything.” Rudy says.

“It’s near the medbay. Something trying to break out.” You explain.

“You can hear that?” Rudy asks.

“Yeah.” You say looking between the two men. They’re a little red in the face, exchanging looks. “Why do you think I wear headphones at night? Block out you two with you Soap and Alejandro down the halls.”

“Not the time.” Ghost says, not wanting to lose focus. “Let’s focus on findin-“

“Horangi.” You say seeing a familiar haetae approaching. Shit. His eyes are red, and his mouth is drooling. There’s no chuffing only low growls.

“Spirit… you know what to do.” Ghost instructs focusing on the stalking beast as you three step back. Rudy moves into your line of sight and Horangi. Your vision started to go white, as you realize Horangi is trying to hide himself. Ghost would be fine but Rudy? You have to hope Rudy with be okay. You take off without another thought, taking another route to the medbay. There’s growls both canine and feline but you don’t look back.

You turn the corners trying to focus on whatever smells of carnage you can track down.

Fresh scent, raw and meaty but still fresh. You pause for a moment taking time to locate yourself. You’re out of the fog at least. Frying pan and fire though because you’re exposed. Okay ignore the smells, you’ll smell blood and meat regardless of whichever way you go. The sound of banging though. That had to be Konig surely.

“Little rabbit…” you heard, and the hair on the back of your neck rose. It was soft but close. You took only a second to look up and see what was your worst nightmare.

He stood, half shifted, and covered in gore. He wiped his mouth on his arm, smearing the blood even more, approaching you with a hunger in his eyes.

“Johnny…”

“Run rabbit… run run run…”

Taglist: @yourlovely-moon @kaoyamamegami @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @sans-chara @1mommyrose4ever29 @smitten-haematite-quartz @talia-the-gemini @yuki2129 @whitetiger846 @graystorm444 @chibiduck @reaperxxxxzz @danielle143 @sobbingnshtting @cringeycookies @cryingpages @dcnocap207 @reaper-chan666 @bestbookfriends @thriving-n-jiving @cutiecusp @shikigami-the-paper-spirit

[usafphantom2]

How I Missed the D*mn War – Part 1

Monday, August 5th, 1990, my buddies phone rang and it’s his Aircraft Commander (AC) telling him he is now in crew rest, to pack a bag for 90 days, report to the squadron in 12 hours, and no, he didn’t know where they were going.

Fifteen minutes later, my AC called me. I was needed at the squadron to help load and preflight aircraft that were deploying in 12 hours. We still didn’t know where we were going or how long we’d be there, but the news was hitting the airwaves that the United States was reacting to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Twenty-four hours later, in KC-135R 58-0059, I was sitting in my cockpit seat, right behind the AC, taking off out of Loring AFB ME headed to Lajes Field in the Azores, a small island in the eastern Atlantic. We had an airplane full of support gear for the 9-hour sortie. I can’t recall for sure if we dragged any fighters on that first flight, but judging on the flight duration, I think we did.

An Air Bridge was being put in place to get Air Force fighters, sometimes referred to as chicks, from the East Coast all the way to Saudia Arabia, or Down Range as it was known to us. Our job flying from the Lajes was to meet up with tankers flying east from the east coast, take their fighters and escort them to the Strait of Gibraltar where other tankers would be waiting to take them through the Mediterranean Sea.

It would be one tanker with anywhere between two and six fighters, depending on the fighter type. A-10s tended to be flights of six aircraft, whereas F-15s usually came in groups of four. For F-4s, the thirstiest of the fighters, there were usually only two. It wasn’t a hard and fast rule, but rather determined by many factors including weather, location and availability of divert airfields, the fighter’s fuel requirements, and the tanker’s available offload.

I always had great respect for the schedulers and planners who put all this together. The amount of coordination needed was enormous. Tankers on the east coast, supported by many bases, tankers in the Atlantic at the Azores, tankers the Mediterranean, all had to be able to meet at their rendezvous points without fail or somebody was going to end up in the drink. Nobody wanted that.

For us, at the Azores, life was good. The weather was absolutely stunning with the sun shining and the temperatures in the 80s. I had never been there before, and wrongly assumed it was like that all the time. Everything we needed (food, beer, pool, gym) was within walking distance except heading to the temporary squadron that was hastily set up. If we were flying, we’d wake up late in the morning and head over to the gym, then off to the chow hall for lunch and then report to the squadron for a sortie. If we weren’t flying, then it would be the pool and the NCO club.

The formations from the East Coast came in waves about an hour apart. That worked well, until one evening mother nature intervened. The diversion for weather caused some serious confusion, and we had tankers stacking up in an orbit waiting for their receivers. One AC who didn’t get the memo decided not to coordinate with the other holding tankers, who were stacking up in altitude, and entered the orbit at the planned altitude, which was already occupied by a tanker that had taken off a couple of hours earlier. Both aircraft circled around the orbit for a while until eventually, they crossed paths and almost collided. One of the pilots said they he was able to see the map light in the cockpit of the offending aircraft and reported that they were easily within fifty feet of each other. TCAS, or Traffic Collision Avoidance System, did not exist in those days, so there was no safety net. The funny part, not that it was that funny, was that the offending pilot was actually the head of Stan/Eval or Standards and Evaluations, the people who gave Check Rides and made sure everybody was doing things correctly.

At the Strait of Gibraltar, we’d often meet up with a KC-10. They could carry more fuel for offloading and could be refueled themselves providing even more flexibility. If we had extra gas when we met up with the KC-10, we’d refuel them, giving them the extra so they’d have it if needed.

After sorties or on days we weren’t flying, the NCO club was the place to go. C-141s were landing everyday to refuel, there were no tankers available for direct flights, and they often spent the night. There airplanes were filled with ground pounders making their way down range.

One evening, we ran into some KC-130 enlisted Marines crew dogs who were bragging about how they were the “tip of the sword.” One of our older, more experienced, and more inebriated booms started yelling at them, “Tip of the Sword my ass, we’ve been here for two effing weeks.” Fortunately, we managed to avoid getting our asses handed to us by buying them all a round of drinks and doing carrier landings on a table.

By the way, we drank the base dry. They literally ran out of beer. For a few days you couldn’t find a six pack of beer anywhere on base, but eventually we were resupplied, and all was well again.

And then, all of the sudden, that little piece of heaven melted away like a chocolate bar in the sun. Aircraft and crews started moving around again. Some of our guys went Down Range, some went home. The Down Range guys went to France, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Doha, and Deigo Garcia.

I was on a crew that was sent back home, back to good old SAC Alert watching the continuing buildup on Headline News wanting to get back to. A few weeks later, I returned to the Azores and the difference was startling. The weather had gotten cold and rainy, all the tankers were gone, the C-141s landing was reduced to a trickle, the NCO club was empty, and there were no missions to fly. All the fighters that needed to be moved had been moved.

My crew was headed down range…

(stay tuned for How I Missed the D*mn War – Part 2)

Photos: Lajes Field runway, the parking ramp, my AC and copilot, an A-10 receiver during one of the missions

@tcamp202 via X

[chitoseyo]

Me: it would be so hot if shouhei wrapped his big heavy chains around his knuckles to beat the shit out of somebody omg… i should make a barebones little fic just so I can write this scene with some paper thin plot

Me still mapping out that silly little fic a couple months later: and what if it explores the socioeconomic implications of japan being able to bounce back immediately after the war and dominate global economics and how that would impact America and how the Cold War would play out differently based on America being in a more desperate place and the way the world would change if the axis powers came out of the war mostly scot-free thanks to the slate? what if it did more with the cheeky little suggestions the show made to unit 731? and what if it played more with how the cia or nkvd would react to weissman’s experiements with the slate? and what if it leaned further into S4 being a corrupt organization that violates the human rights of defendants in their custody as opposed to just using that as a throw-away joke every once in a while, while shying away from actually making them morally complicated? and what if homra maintained that same brutal seedy gang vibe that they gave off in that one scene where yata burns that guy’s forehead with his own gun instead of writing them as friendly neighborhood watchmen bishonen softies? and what if it explored the way america’s crass cultural influence still seeped into Japan and how that would ruffle up or titillate the collectivist nationalistic countrymen and we looked into how these characters would react to cultural osmosis bringing America’s festivities like Halloween mischief night or big boisterous calendar new year parties into the more cosmopolitan Tokyo? and what if homra were written more clearly as the heroes of the story or at least were made more sympathetic if each of the gang members were outcasted by society for being unable to (or bravely refusing to) follow oppressive societal norms or expectations? and what if kagutsu was maybe a radical protester who had some motivations that made sense and part of mikoto’s descent into despair and cynicism was based on him starting to empathize with his predecessor and he was afraid to acknowledge that he thought kagutsu made some points so he just shut down emotionally to avoid thinking about it? and what if it showed a little more of the writers’ declaration that maybe totsuka was not a great person? and what if it explored how civilians are propagandized into rooting for S4 or believing it to be a noble organization? and what if it dove into the headspace of the servicemen who may feel disillusionment or doubts but have to conform out of fear or out of genuine belief that it is what’s best for the country? and what if characters like aya or saya or the shopkeeper or the unnamed girl from shohei’s intro chapter were fleshed out characters with human emotions and personalities instead of existing to just be plot devices? and what if I accidentally made Pinterest boards and rebooted character profiles and intricate timeline outlines for this whole story

[totesnothere04]

Deviant With a Big Defect Pt.6

The Bad Batch x Sister!Reader, Obi-Wan x F!Clone!Reader

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the fanart, screenshots, or gifs.

Sidenote: If you know if the person who made this fanart is here on Tumblr plz lmk! Look at how good this is!!

Warnings: None IMO, but if you find something that rubs you wrong let me know. 😁

Part 5

New Occurences

It was only two rotations after you got your tattoo, and you were resting after a small battle. You were laid on your stomach on your bunk. Only in your sports bra and the bottom half of your blacks as you worked on an enhancement for Tech. You heard a knock on your door and you turned your cheek toward the door.

"Come in!" You call out and the door opens a second later. Obi-Wan walks into the room and his eyes skim over your back.

"That's the tattoo? Do you mind if I look at it closer?" He asks and you shake your head. He moves closer and gently touches the edges of the tree. "I assume all of these symbols stand for one of your brothers?"

"Yeah. 99 for our unit and 99 for the first defective clone. The skull for Hunter, because 99 made him a bandana with a skull on it... He never takes it off. The goggles are for my twin, Tech because his eyesight isn't the best and they serve many different functions. The grenade is Wrecker because- Well I think it's pretty self-explanatory based on his name. The crosshair is for Crosshair because he's the best sharpshooter in the GAR." You tell him and he seems to drink in all of the information.

"You must love your brothers very much." Obi-Wan says.

"We are all each other has. Most of the regs don't like us, because we're different." You tell him.

"And what about this omega symbol on the back of your neck?" Obi-Wan asks.

"One of the only other female clones is named Omega. I was raised in the lab with her." You tell him and he seems to be saddened by that.

"You weren't raised with your twin?" He asks.

"No. They separated Tech and me before they got put into the general population." You tell him.

"It must've been lonely." Obi-Wan says and you shrug.

"It would've been had Omega not been there." You tell him. You sit up so you can face him as you talk, but no words leave either of your mouths. You both continue to stare at each other until you finally clear your throat.

"I came to see if you were hungry. You came back here after the battle." Obi-Wan says and you nod.

"I am a little hungry." You say and get up to put the top half of your blacks back on. You blinked and suddenly he was directly in front of you. You blinked rapidly as you looked slightly down at him. "Obi-Wan?" You asked in a whisper.

"You are gorgeous. Has anyone ever told you that?" He asked as he looked into your eyes.

"No. The Kaminoans don't compliment you, Omega is a child, and my brothers are- Well they're my brothers." You tell him and he once again frowns. You both continue to lean in closer until your lips meet. His arms snake around your waist and yours go around his neck. Your flesh hand runs through his hair for a moment until reality hit you. You pulled away and backed up a couple of steps.

"I'm so sorry, General." You said and he took your hands in his.

"We both leaned into it (Y/n). It's one of the best kisses I've ever had in my life." He says in full sincerity and you quirk a brow in question.

"I thought Jedi weren't allowed romantic entanglements?" You ask and he looks away bashfully.

"My Master believed differently." Obi-Wan said and took a seat in the chair at your desk while you sat back down on your bunk. "He believed in order for the Jedi to truly be involved with the populace we needed to be open and accepting of emotions. He saw the order as flawed and emotionless. He was a supporter of my relationship then, and had she asked me to stay with her... I would've."

"You would've given up everything you knew for the woman you loved?" You asked curiously.

"Yes. She is one of the most beautiful people I've ever met, both inside and out. Much like you. That day that you fought Dooku you didn't even think you just jumped into action." Obi-Wan said and you chuckled and shook your head.

"Oh no. I did think... About how stupid what I was about to do was." You said and he laughed.

"Regardless you saved two lives that day. Anakin might not have met you yet, but I'm glad I did. I only wish that I could keep you in the 212th." Obi-Wan says honestly.

"Clone Force 99's commanding officer is Cody. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of eachother in the future." You say and he smiles lightly at your words.

"Kyra and Jut are going to Kamino tomorrow." He tells you.

"Good, because Hunter and Crosshair want tattoos. I know the moment I get back they'll be showing them off to me." You tell him.

"Anyways I came in here talking of food. Shall we?" He asks and you nod.

"Yes because now I'm very hungry." You say with a chuckle. You put on your armor and make your way to the mess in comfortable silence with Obi-Wan. You sat down at a corner table with your trays and you looked at Obi-Wan curiously.

"So how do the Jedi rankings work?" You ask him.

"When a child is brought to the Temple they are younglings. Younglings are typically between the ages of 3 to 15. When old enough younglings are moved to padawan learners when they reach a certain age and are tested. They're then assigned to Masters who prepare them for the trials. When they pass the trials they become Jedi Knights. They will then be given the opportunity to teach a padawan, and when their padawan successfully passes the trials they become Masters." He says and takes a bite of his food.

"That's it?" You ask and he chuckles.

"You didn't let me finish. There are four governing councils within the order, and I am a part of the most important one. Jedi Masters who can make a name for themselves can become a part of one of these councils. The Council of First Knowledge, the Council of Reconciliation, the Council of Reassignment, and the Jedi High Council. Which I am a part of. There is still higher rankings when you move through the High Council. That is the Master of the Order and the person who leads the High Council. Then you have the Grand Master of the entire Jedi Order." He finishes speaking and continues eating. You wait for a moment to see if he'll continue but he doesn't.

"That's alot to go through in one normal lifetime." You say and he waves it off.

"Being a Jedi isn't easy. It is oftentimes too difficult for Knights to become Masters." He says and you become confused by this.

"Why? If their padawans pass properly it shouldn't be an issue." You say.

"It's more along the lines that Knights don't particularly want to teach the next generation. Or padawans decide to part with the order for one reason or another." Obi-Wan says and you push a piece of chicken around in your soup.

"It must be difficult for those padawans. Walking away from the only life they've ever known like that." You say and he nods. His com starts blinking and he answers it.

"Obi-Wan." He says as the image of a younger male took shape.

"Obi-Wan sorry we were held up, but the 501st and I will be on Christophsis by tomorrow." He says.

"Very good, but be mindful of the shifting Separatist air patrols Anakin." Obi-Wan says.

"Have I ever given you reason to worry Master?" Anakin asks.

"Don't make me answer that question Anakin." Obi-Wan says. You try to hold in your laugh, but it turns into a snorting sound. It catches Anakins attention and he smirks at Obi-Wan.

"Who's that Obi-Wan?" Anakin asks. Obi-Wan looks at you and then sets his com on the table so that he can see you.

"This is Captain (Y/n) of the 212th, temporarily." Obi-Wan informs Anakin who looks at you as though he was studying you.

"I'm sure I'll have time to meet everyone tomorrow Obi-Wan. Until then try not to die." Anakin says. Obi-Wan rolls his eyes.

"May the Force be with you." Obi-Wan says then ends the call. "Sorry about him. He can be rather inappropriate at times."

"Hmm but is it inappropriate when it holds some truth?" You say with a smirk. You finish your food and then turn your tray in and leave back to your barracks.

~The Next Day~

You made your way to the command center and find Obi-Wan and Cody staring at the holotable.

"Does it owe you credits or something?" You asked and they both looked at you then at eachother.

"(Y/n) I think you'll want to sit down." Cody says seriously and you continue to look inbetween the two men. You finally take a seat and wait for one of them to tell you what's wrong. "I just received word that the entire battalion of the 75th was killed in action." You felt your lungs constrict as you realized you wouldn't beable to see Commander Garrett or any of his men again. You stand abruptly and shove your helmet on over your head.

"If you'll excuse me sirs I have something I need to go take care of." You say trying to keep your voice from wavering too much. You exit the command center and make your way to the med bay. When you arrive you find Kyra and Jut finishing a tattoo on one of the 212th. When he leaves you finally make your way to them.

"Hey (Y/n). How's everything?" Jut asks and you remove your helmet. She automatically pulls you into a hug. "What happened?"

"I just found out that one of my friends and his entire battalion were killed in action." You tell her and she frowns.

"Then why did you come here?" She asks.

"I wanted to get one more tattoo for them." You said and she nodded.

"Where do you want it and what is it?" She asks.

"I just want it to say 75th behind my right ear." You tell her and she nods again.

"Yeah I can do that, but then Kyra and I will have to leave right after." She says and it was you turn to nod.

"I know. I'll escort you to your shuttle." You tell her and she preps the area then sets to work. Kyra finished packing her stuff up and sat next to you. She took your hand in hers and smiled at you with reassurance. When Jut finishes Kyra pulls you to her station so she can clean the area and cover it. While she does this Jut packs up her stuff. When they're ready to go you put your helmet back on and escort them as promised.

"Two of my brothers will most likely come in to get tattoos. Their names are Hunter and Crosshair. If you see one of them can you give them this to give to Tech?" You ask Jut and she looks at it in question.

"What is it?" She asks.

"Oh its just a holorecording. I want to let them know I'm okay." You tell her and she nods.

"Yeah, I can do that for you." Jut says then they board the transport and leave. You start back to go inside when the sound of approaching gunships catches your attention. You make your way to the first gunship that lands and the door opens. A clone captain sporting the color blue was one of the first people you saw. Then shortly after Anakin steps out behind him.

"General Skywalker I presume?" You ask and he nods.

"Yes, this is my Captain, Rex." He says and the clone takes off his helmet to show the rare blond birth defect. You remove your helmet as well and Rex seems to shift uncomfortably under your gaze. "I'm Captain (Y/n). Last I saw General Kenobi and Commander Cody they were in the command center. I'll take you there." You say and turn to lead the way. When you arrive you allow the General and his Captain to go in first.

"Anakin, how nice of you to finally join us." Obi-Wan says and notices you walk in behind them. "I see you've already met (Y/n)."

"Yes, she greeted us when we exited the gunship." Skywalker says. Rex looks you up and down as he tries to figure you out.

"There a problem Captain?" You ask slightly irritated that he was just staring at you.

"No problem. Just trying to figure out why you're here." Rex says and you roll your eyes at him and join Cody's side.

"She's temporarily a part of my battalion." Cody tells Rex.

"I know that, but as a civilian, she could be doing anything she wants instead of fighting in this war." Rex says.

"She's not a civilian. She's a clone." Cody tells Rex.

"Can we get on with the mission briefing? We've been waiting a week for your battalion." You say and plug into the holotable to bring up the plans for the next mission.

"For this plan to work efficiently, we will need to split into two teams. Anakin you and Rex will lead the team in the north tower, while Cody, (Y/n), and I lead the team in the south tower." Obi-Wan starts but stops when he notices Skywalker and Rex both staring at your arm. "Your eyes need to be up here on the plans, and not on her arm gentlemen. Besides it's not nice to stare at the woman who saved your life Anakin." Skywalker looked at you slightly surprised. Obi-Wan continued with the mission briefing and you did your job by pulling up the necessary visual aids. When the briefing was over Skywalker made his way over to you and stuck out his hand for you to shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you. I heard you had it alot worse than Obi-Wan or me with Dooku." Skywalker says.

"War has casualties, General. What matters at the end of the day is the success of the mission." You tell him and he frowns.

"The lives lost matter Captain." He says and you shake your head.

"You misunderstand General. The lives lost do matter, but it will have been in vain if the mission was unsuccessful. There's a reason we clones are so driven because we're taught to honor our fallen brothers. Even if our reg brothers don't like or want us." You say as you cast a glance toward Rex in an apprehensive manner.

"Reg brothers?" Skywalker asks.

"Regular clones." You say and he frowned. "They've hated me since I was little. Well most of them have. I learned earlier that the battalion that named me was killed in action." You tell him then show him the tattoo behind your ear.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Skywalker says.

"What is it General Kenobi said a few days ago? The Force will take whoever it wants when it's ready? I think, but don't quote me." You say and turn to leave the command center. Skywalker catches up to you as you walk down the hall.

"Have you ever thought about learning about the Force?" He asks and you shake your head.

"I didn't know it existed until I got assigned to General Kenobi." You said.

"Well, Obi-Wan and I could tell you about it." He says and Obi-Wan appears out of thin air at your side.

"Tell her about what?" Obi-Wan asks.

"She quoted you about the Force a few minutes ago, and I thought we could teach her about the Force." Skywalker says and Obi-Wan raises his eyebrows.

"Do you want to learn about the Force?" Obi-Wan asks you and you think about it for a moment.

"Yeah. I think I do." You tell him and the two of them smile at you. Whatever it is they're planning to teach you about excites them.

2744 Words

Taglist: @projectdreamwalker

[blueikeproductions]

So the original pitch bible for Transformers Prime was revealed, its prototypical stage was called Robots in Disguise funnily enough, and I’m mixed on what I’ve seen.

Let’s be clear, Prime is ok, but I’ve always found it bland. Flash over substance, best remembered for being gritty and violent with little to say outside of that becoming a forced amalgam of what came before, while its true saving grace being it got Peter Cullen and Frank Welker back on TV in their best known roles. It never knew what it wanted to be, and it’s why I preferred RiD15 since, while far more “kiddy”, I respect a show that at least knows what it is sincere about it.

With that in mind, the concept art oddly feels more cohesive than Prime. The general gist was pretty unabashedly Bayformers: The Animated Series and to a degree I’m surprised they didn’t just do that with NEST, Sam & Mikayla instead of trying to make douchebag hacker Spike a thing.

Indeed, Spike was originally meant as the lead human, described as a rebellious hacker seeking the truth, and one day discovers a Transformer. While there’s no design drawn, reference photos use what looks like stereotypical teens from the 2000’s, ranging from a skateboarder to a grungy emo teen that reminds me of douchebag SM3 Peter with the symbiote. Going by the description and visuals, Spike was evidently split apart into Jack, Raf and Miko, which might explain why they never worked… at least to me. They became a fragment of Spike’s original personality and never fully grew beyond that, when keeping them a single character might’ve been far more interesting.

It appears NEST inspired TASK, no idea what it stands for, but they were similarly a military unit aligned with the Autobots. A female love interest was sketched out, though frankly with how masculine the sketch looks, I keep thinking it’s a guy. Sort of the reverse TF Zone Akira (looks like a girl, is actually a dude). Frankly I say keep the military person a love interest and make ’em a dude: let’s get Akira and Cain up in here with it lol. (I know they weren’t officially a couple, but I still think it’s funny. Plus a version of Spike with a boyfriend could be fun as something different.)

Anyhow, a big emphasis was humanity joining the fight, as well as how they’d react to the TF’s Great War. This didn’t really make it into the final product beyond Prime and RiD’s over fixation on hiding the robots (when in both cases it was becoming increasingly hard to believe people didn’t see anything or just shrugged it off. Though RiD at least had some funny bits poking fun at this I liked.) TASK was basically NEST, and in some cases was just one letter away from just becoming MASK. …Which leads into the toy aspect.

I think had they played their cards right with this early pitch, they could’ve had Autobots, Decepticons, and TASK/MASK transforming vehicles. A huge emphasis was placed on Optimus having specialized trailers, all seemingly based on the Armada and Prime Force drones from Energon to some extent. There was the base trailer that unfolded into a military platform for Autobots and humans to use, a drill trailer for Energon mining, a submarine trailer for water missions, I think I saw a jet trailer, and a tank trailer. It appears they could all Transform to some extent, even becoming armor for other characters to combine with. They evoke the later Cyberverse Spark Armor vehicle combinations with a dash of ROTF Jet Optimus, so the concept made it out just not in Proto-Prime lol.

There was also a proposed Energon Weapon gimmick that strongly resembles the RB style Energon Tools gimmick, so presumably it too got repurposed.

Curiously there’s a LOT of concept art of the Autobots in underwater missions, wearing armor that resembles the submarine armor TFA Bumblebee toy. One concept art drawing features a giant robot manta-fish guy, who I’m assuming was a Seacon or a Sharkticon of some sort. The later TFP prequel stuff that did get made involves an adventure on Aquatron, with Megatron becoming a liberator of the Sharkticons, so I guess that’s where that came from? Megatron even got a Sharkticon inspired toy to boot. I suppose it’s ironic we have all this water business but no one thought to include guys like Sea Spray (and NOT kill him off screen). The robot designs were all over the place. A lot of art mostly uses stylized G1 designs, but the proposed designs were a stronger hybrid of the movies and G1, as opposed to what we got which was purely movie inspired with a dash of Animated. It’s funny to me that after years of praise for Prime’s art style, upon seeing the concept art, it’s now ok to absolutely dunk on Prime. Megatron is the stand out for many, being a hybrid of his WFC, body, his Cybertron Mode Animated body and his Revenge of the Fallen bodies. His vehicle mode was a tank, instead of the first Bayformer space jet thing. He also had what I think might have been a battle axe on his back. It’s definitely cooler than what we got, and I get a strong sense it might crop up as a toy in a future Concept Art Studio Series release. The other designs I think got repurposed though. Bee’s design looks to be what eventually became RiD15, CV and ES Bee, Starscream became RiD15 Screamer, Soundwave’s Earth Mode became RiD15 and CV Soundwave. I genuinely believe RiD15 was where some of these designs were saved lol. Optimus was pry the more G1 looking, with the look possibly influencing his CV and RBA bodies. Soundwave had an alternate design that was his ROTF design, but with Fixit’s wheel feet. I personally hate this look, buts pretty clear ROTF Soundwave was still a huge influence for what became the final and genuinely popular TFP Soundwave design. Ironhide was one of the main Autobots along with Ratchet, both being heavily influenced by their Movie selves, like what would’ve happened with TFA Ironhide and TFA Ratchet. I suppose the funny thing is the Ironhide design made it through, becoming Kup in the American release but staying Ironhide in the Japanese release. Still, the designs were very rough, and as much as people seem to be more for them, they’re too busy and are still clearly finding a balance in what they wanted. I think had they refined it a bit more we could’ve had the perfect Godzilla: The Animated Series equivalent to the original Bayformers. Alas we got Prime, while well intentioned was a show that coasted hard on being dark and gritty, shackled to continued unpopular modern ideas that’s only held TF down than uplift it. I think at the very least EarthSpark is a better version of Prime’s ideas even if I don’t agree with its execution.

[returnofismasm]

Some speculation regarding the UNIT spinoff, given what we've seen of UNIT in the anniversary specials:

I think it's fairly safe to assume that Shirley and Mel and the Vlekth are all going to have roles in the show. A lot of time was spent establishing them.

Donna seems a fairly likely addition, given that she has a salary negotiation with Kate in the episode

As far as the Doctor's (either Fourteen or Fifteen) involvement, we might be able to guess based on the spinoffs from RTD's prior tenure:

Torchwood starred Captain Jack and had Martha guest for a couple of episodes, but the Doctor never directly appeared and the Torchwood cast didn't crossover with the parent show until the end of Doctor Who's fourth season.

The Sarah Jane Adventures starred Sarah Jane Smith (go figure) and Ten and Eleven were in a handful of episodes between the two of them across the show's five seasons. It also featured the Brigadier and Jo Grant in a couple of episodes.

So RTD's prior spinoffs have treated a crossover with the Doctor as a Thing, not to be squandered. Granted, Donna has a Doctor living in her yard, so he's more immediately available than is usual for the Doctor, but it's not like it takes that much more effort to justify a traveling Doctor showing up. And the real-life circumstances, like filming schedules, that made it difficult for the actor playing the Doctor to crossover are still a thing. Ncuti's obviously busy with Doctor Who itself, and will presumably take other roles during DW's filming breaks. David's a busy a guy who will hopefully be filming Good Omens 3 sooner rather than later.

So--and this is assuming Donna is even part of the cast--I think it's very likely we'll see a tension between Donna and the rest of UNIT.

UNIT doesn't know where he's gone off to. They know that Donna knows (at least where Fourteen is). Donna herself told her own daughter not to bug the Doctor about going places, she's definitely not going to let UNIT drag him into things. And it doesn't seem like Fifteen left any way to contact him. They may or may not also be aware that Mel knows where he is (but they'll probably suspect she does regardless). This saves the appearance of the Doctor for Big Events, like a season finale.

This serves a few purposes. One, it lets the UNIT show stand on its own feet without needing to be propped up by the parent show, which is always important in crossovers. Second, internal to the narrative, it lets the cast prove their capabilities without needing the Doctor around, which might be extra important in UNIT's case because we so frequently see them either asking the Doctor for help or being THEIR backup (if the Doctor isn't outright suspicious of them). Finally, it gives enough space from one of THE most popular actors to play the character so that Ncuti Gatwa can be in the role without people going "Well what's going on with Fourteen."

[finleycannotdraw]

Sorry for this stupid question, but I haven't watched or played Witcher (but planning some day at least to watch it) so I think you'll understand me 😅

I saw you reblog at first a lot of Witcher x that young boy (sorry, I have literally no idea what's his name is but he sings cools songs)

And now I'm seeing Witcher x another old man about which I know even less than nothing

Maybe I'm being stupid or something, but these guys are one from the series and another from the game? Idk cuz I knew only about Witcher x young boy and now I'm seeing that old guy and I'm confused because you just haven't reblogged it before and your reblogs are the only thing that teaches me about the Witcher. Idk when I'll watch series, but here's the question. WHO SHOULD I SHIP BRO JUST SEEING THEIR PICTURES AND HAVING NO IDEA WHO ARE THEY BUT STILL CARE FOR THEIR GOOD???

It’s not a stupid question! I’m happy to explain.

The first one is Geralt (witcher) x Jaskier (younger man who is a bard), and most fan-content of them portrays Jaskier the way the Netflix series portrays him. He is an adult, but most people tend to ignore the age gap because fantasy world (Geralt is close to 80 when he meets Jaskier in the show, but doesn’t look it). Plus, henry cavill and joey batey (actors) are close to the same age, so people tend not to think about it.

Jaskier is based off of Dandelion from the original witcher books. In the books, we don’t get to see how Geralt and Dandelion meet, because Dandelion is almost 40 and has reunited with Geralt for the duration of the books.

Another character in the books, that Geralt meets later on, is Regis (the old man). They get along very well, and Regis ends up traveling with Geralt, Dandelion, and a few other people in a group called the hansa. The way they interact is often flirty and sometimes homoerotic. Eventually it’s revealed that Regis is a higher vampire (very powerful and potentially very dangerous), and he and Geralt have a bit of a falling out, but that only lasts about 15 pages or so before he’s back with them.

Regis appears again in the Blood and Wine DLC of the third witcher game (the one I’ve played), where he and Geralt reunite as old friends before advancing the plot together. Regis is not in the Netflix series as of now.

Another character in the games that I’ve been posting about is Vernon Roche (but I wasn’t sure if you were referencing him at all). He’s a major character in the second game and comes back in the third. He’s the commander of the Blue Stripes, a Temerian (country) special forces unit designed to combat the Scoia’tael (a group of elven bandits from the books; they appear in both the second and third games, but much more heavily in the second). I’m not actually sure how old he is, but he’s more middle-aged than Jaskier or Regis.

As for the reasons I ship all of these different couples, it just comes down to a few things:

- I watched the Netflix series first, and therefore started off my witcher hyperfixation and subsequent reblog spree with Geralt x Jaskier. Later on, I learned about the book series, and fell in love with Regis, which led to the beginning of my Geralt x Regis reblog spree, continued vitally by me playing the witcher 3 and loving him even more. Then I made a super awesome friend who shared their love of Geralt x Roche.

- All of these characters, in my opinion, can make Geralt feel safer, happier, and more comfortable with emotional vulnerability. (This is also why I don’t enjoy the ships with the sorceresses, but that’s another post). I enjoy all of these ships because Geralt is an amazing, dynamic character whose relationships with others provide lots of space for good feelings and creative expression.

- I don’t stop shipping any of them when I have a burst of love for one of the ships in particular.

As for who you should ship, I can’t make that decision for you! I’d recommend engaging with at least one witcher series, be it Netflix, books, or the games (or the 2002 Polish Hexer series, which is low budget but made with so much love) and then deciding whose dynamic makes you the happiest! Fandom should be fun, shipping should be fun, so my advice is to just have fun.

Hope this helps! If you want to know anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out. :)

[sullustangin]

Fluffy February Day 1:  Hello (with bonus art!)

Rating: PG

Fandom: SWTOR

Time:  Sometime during KotXX

Pairing:  Background Theron/smuggler, mostly gen fic

Words: 886

~~

At first, Theron thought he hadn’t had enough caf.  Clearly, he’d been so reliant upon it for most of his life, going without it brought on something along the lines of DTs for alcoholics, but for caffeine addicts. He was seeing things.

But when it kept happening, even after the second cup of caf, Theron decided something else was going on.

Whenever it was still and somewhat quiet in the military hangar, something was darting around the underside of the vehicles.  When someone or something moved or made a noise, the motion stopped, and either the thing stopped where it was or it disappeared entirely.  Then the pattern would start again.  

Theron had long tuned out Aygo – he already had the morning report, and Aygo was rehashing something that nobody had the resources to fix at the moment.  

But then something caught Theron’s ear. “Repeat that?”

Aygo squared himself up. “I said, we’ve now had four inventories come up short compared to what’s on the flimsi.  I don’t know where it’s going.  Visz didn’t take well when I went over to her den of thie—smugglers.”  

Theron shook a finger at the Bothan.  “Don’t let the Captain hear you say that.  She’d be insulted that you think she’d dip into her own supply.”

Aygo made a face; given that he was a Bothan, Theron didn’t quite know how to read it.  He’d have to ask Bowdaar later.

“What’s missing?” Theron decided to move the conversation on, even as he caught sight of the … thing… again.

Aygo ticked off the items. “A couple of gear boxes for the speeders, wadding from the armory, an entire set of camo in each pattern we have – arctic, forest, desert, you get the idea --, a few batteries about the size of a thermos, tubing, a ball bearing –”

Theron gave him a look. “A ball bearing?  Not a box – just one ball bearing?”

Aygo threw up his hands. “If I understood the thief, we would have caught them by now.”

Theron furrowed his brow and looked at his datapad. “Are you sure this stuff isn’t just being misplaced? Big base, lots of different personnel---?”

“I had Gibbons reorganize the supply system as a punishment.  Kid improved it out of spite – and I can live with that, as a commanding officer.  And it’s not an error.  I’m sure of it.  Stuff is systematically disappearing, but why?  For what?  No idea.”

Theron nodded.  “Right, then.  I’ll look into it.”

Aygo moved on, and Theron descended the steps down to the main floor of the military hangar and headed straight toward where he’d last seen whatever it was he had seen.

~~

His comm link jingled a familiar tune.  

The motor pool is officially concerned, darling.

I know that!  

Theron kept diving to the floor in order to try to get a look at whatever was skittering around, pressing his face hard against the duracrete to peer under vehicles.

…has it occurred to you that some poor critter has stumbled into the hangar and is terrified?

But that wouldn’t solve the stolen items problem.

Maybe the two aren’t connected?

Gut says it is.

Stars know I won’t question the infallible gut.  But you are making the mechanics nervous.

Theron left Eva on “read.” He would figure this out.

~~

“Hello!”  Theron grabbed it in his hands and held it up triumphantly at the guys in the motor pool, who by this point were taking bets as to how long it took until Beniko showed up to take him to the nearest funny farm.  

The absolutely horrified expressions on their faces made Theron take a second look at what he’d pulled out from under a heavy armor unit.

It appeared to be a half cyborg, half animal abomination….but before Theron followed through on the urge to chuck it out of the hangar, he recognized it.  “Hello, Blizz, wherever you are.  I got your cat droid.”

“Spook is funny. Spook stubborn.  But Spook did catch cat.”  

Then the Jawa himself finally appeared, looking very pleased with himself and with the reaction from the crew.  Theron inspected it.  “It looks at least half animal, now.  Be careful you don’t get accused of cruelty or illegal experimentation.”

Blizz laughed that weird tingly Jawa laugh and clapped his hands in glee.  “Blizz’s designs always improving!  Lady Boss said the same thing.”

Theron raised his eyebrows. “How long have you been on base?”

“Five days.  Blizz nocturnal.  Worked on Hoth, then came when job was done after Lady Boss found him.” Blizz gestured impatiently for Theron to hand back his cat droid.  

“Does Eva know you’re here?” Theron asked.  Surely she wouldn’t have hid this from him.

“Lady Boss said to come. Never needed formal welcome!” Blizz scoffed.

Aha.  He’d shown up unannounced.

…I found Blizz in the hangar.  With one of his droid cats.

!!!!!!!

Theron could almost hear her bolting out of whatever meeting room Lana had her in.

“Spook, give back cat!” Blizz insisted.  Theron finally handed back the now-docile/inactive droid.

Upon contact with Blizz, the animal started to rumble.

A purr, made with tubing, some wadding, and a ball bearing.  

As Theron took joy in a mystery solved, Blizz pat the cat happily.  “Blizz can make more!  Lifts morale! Kills vermin!”

“I bet.”

~~

@fluffyfebruary​

~~

A/N:  While I was writing this, I had this vision of Theron holding up Blizz’s cat droid like Simba in the Lion King, not noticing what an abomination it was was until the motor pool collectively freaked out.  Giggling the entire time, I’ve illustrated this moment below the cut.  Plz don’t steal my art. 

[fairyhaven13]

This thing right here... this thing took me a couple weeks to finally get done. I’ve just been so exhausted and burned out, it’s nearly impossible to focus. Plus I had to quit my job due to an abusive boss, so that was fun. And then halfway through this I found out that my secondary monitor was a bit off in color balance, and that would have been okay except that my main laptop monitor is WAYYYY off and totally undersaturated. And, it can’t be fixed, because my laptop has no adjustment buttons, calibration via Windows needs those buttons, and NVIDIA is not adaptable to laptop adjustment. So. I just had to adjust my secondary monitor and do the art on that. My first few drafts of this character have been off in color, off in shape, off in pattern, but I think I’m finally happy with it.

If you can’t tell, this is an alternate version of Sari Sumdac from Transformers Animated--this is a Transformers Prime version of her, with a different backstory and aged up to an adult. I’ll put more about her under the cut. Along with the reason Breakdown’s spark is there.

I’ve posted a few drafts of this character on here before, mainly for my other Drawtober/Inktober designs over the years. This version is very different. Originally, Vizard was a Decepticon Seeker who was given an experimental T-Cog that let her shapeshift, and she ran to Earth to hide before losing her memory and living as a human.

This time, she started off as Sari. In the Prime universe, she was Dr. Sumdac’s biological daughter and was never made from a protoform. She also never met the Autobots, and grew up as a very curious, sometimes recklessly enthusiastic young woman. Her father always encouraged her curiosity, and so when he passed in a tornado, her impulse control was taken away and she became an urban explorer for the scariest of places.

She finds online that the abandoned MECH base in Russia has people wondering about it, and gets curious herself due to the weird activity going on around Earth at the moment--late in the Prime series, after Breakdown’s body is destroyed the second time by Airachnid and Cylas. Sari buys a plane ticket and sneaks in to explore, and ends up finding a bunch of old experiments left behind in a rush or knocked over in a fight. One section had a storage unit of old Cybertronian parts. Half of it was inaccessible, but near the front was the more recent parts, including Breakdown’s spark chamber, intact.

There’s also experiments with protoforms, Project Chimera prototypes, a different variety of Synthetic Energon, and some Dark Energon. One section has been sealed away in haste, and Sari, endlessly curious, unlocks it and finds a few abominations of Terrorcons--the Dark Energon has mixed with the protoforms and Synth-En, and they’re strong, hungry, and mindless. As Sari runs, she activates a few more experiments, namely the body prototypes. As the broken Synth-En containers mix with them, they connect to the missing piece the scientists hadn’t thought to use: Breakdown’s Spark. This wakes Breakdown up, but unfortunately, while his spark activates the body, it doesn’t see him as a potential framework and doesn’t give him a new body.

Instead, it latches onto Sari and gives her the Vizard transformation. Vizard is pumping with Synth-En (the green fluid in the limbs) and has a variety of different pieces from different Cybertronian forms. Her base parts are that of a Seeker, though, which Breakdown and Vizard only find out much later. Sari fights her way out as Vizard with Breakdown’s advice and they get in contact with Knockout. Megatron doesn’t care about Knockout’s personal trauma and orders him to stay, but Knockout is not about to be separated from Breakdown again, so he deserts to find Sari.

This leads to a bunch of different things I have yet to outline properly, but which I think have better potential than my previous version of Vizard. I know Knockout and Breakdown bond a lot with Sari whilst also being exasperated with her whims, and out of concern for her safety (partially because if she dies, so does Breakdown) they end up asking the Autobots for help. It takes time before they consider themselves part of that team, but they are at least neutral allies for a while.

At one point, while looking through the old MECH base for clues that they can use to help Sari and rebuild Breakdown, they unlock the sealed parts room and find the Seeker pieces used for Vizard. Turns out they were Skywarp and Thundercracker, and their spark chambers are also stored away, if more old and delicate due to time. Knockout contacts Starscream, who has a similar experience: Megatron says no and gives threats, Starscream has to essentially fight his way out, maybe I’ll have Bumblebee or someone help him get out. And then he’s very gung-ho about the research so he can have his Trine back.

Sari’s Vizard form being made from his Trine kind of makes her his sister, and Starscream slowly bonds with her rather than sees her with disgust. He is insistent on teaching her to act more dignified to go with his original, aristocratic status. Sari is insistent on him apologizing to Arcee, now that he more immediately knows the pain of wanting your partners to be okay. It’s rough and there’s a few fights, but eventually they at least tolerate each other. The kids love Sari and Miko is absolutely determined to befriend the former Cons and show she can.

Throughout all this the Synth-Terrorcons are on the rise, and the Autobots mainly agree to work with Sari and the defects in order to fight off the hoarde. They need the MECH research in order to stop the infection from spreading, since the Synth-En mixing with the Dark Energon is making extra cyber-matter grow and form new zombies everywhere. So, between the heartwarming bonding and silly moments, there’s a lot of trauma and horror and fighting with unexpected allies. Skywarp and Thundercracker welcome Vizard as their sibling (Skywarp is nearly in tears with his hammy enthusiasm) and Knockout and Breakdown sort of act as her adoptive parents. There will probably still be further drafts and changes to this design and story, but I like where it’s going so far.

[satoshi-mochida]

Some thoughts and details on my last Gamefly rental, Maglam Lord(Switch Version).

The Bladelord Killrizark(whose gender can be chosen at the start) is attacked and severely weakened by a union of Gods and Demons uniting together against them, branding them a Hazardes, a threat to the whole world. They aren’t killed, however, and are saved and eventually revived by Balga, the Demon Lord of Iron, and his grandkid Satyus. They’ve been out of commission for some time, however, and their power has been greatly weakened, as well as losing their memory.

Soon after, a member of the Administration, Mamie, arrives, and informs Killrizark that they’re the last of the Demon Lords, and considered an Endangered Species. 

Going into town, Killrizark meets a young girl named Lryica who isn’t scared of them at all, and is excited to meet the last Demon Lord, even giving them some food. Soon after, however, monsters called Mutabeasts attack the town, Killrizark deciding to fight them off after seeing Lryica is in danger. They find that they gain some of their power back from absorbing the defeated Mutabeasts.

Killrizark finds out however that using their own power also drains what they have left, so Satyus gets the idea to hire people from the Administration to wield them as a Maglam weapon. The ones sent, however, are two Heroes, Charme and her brother Darius, instigating conflict in the group(mostly from Darius), though they eventually reach a truce.

Satyus’ home serves as the group’s base of sorts. Here, you select everything there is to do in the game, though not everything is available right away.

Each character has Skills they can learn. Some are attack Skills used with X, and others are passive. I think you get Skill Points from leveling up.

You can equip 3 ‘Maglam’ weapons at once, which are all Swords, Axes and Spears, and are made from using materials to forge them at the Maglam Forge. You can also put decorations on them to raise stats and give them effects such as causing status effects and doing or doing more/taking less damage. Sometimes when forging a Maglam, a Partner will jump in and help, which raises the Rank of it. Higher Affection is what probably affects this.

The game’s shop is mostly like other RPGs, but a unique part of it is the ‘Happiness Tax’ section, where you trade in materials for items/equipment. Getting items this way makes Mamie’s like you more. I think I get why the name is what it is, but that may be a spoiler.

Requests are the main way of getting money, materials and progressing the story. Most can be repeated for grinding/farming, though story ones and ones related to events with other characters aren’t. With a couple later exceptions, they are all either ‘Collect X amount of Y’ or ‘Defeat X amount of Y’, which can get repetitive/monotonous, though some have an optional bonus condition of beating a stronger enemy somewhere for an extra reward(usually a lot of money).

The fields are in 3D, with enemies wandering around and items to be picked up(shown as a white sparkle), with exits to new sections indicated by green markers. Some sections will have a red Safe Zone portal that you can heal, save, change Partners, use the Maglam Forge and shop at.

Battles are done in 2D(think like the much older Tales of or the Summon Night: Swordcraft Story games), with the player able to move left and right until hitting the end of the screen(running against the corners will let you run away). Items dropped by enemies are automatically picked up.

Actions on the field/in battle are:

Attacks are done with Y. Attacking repeatedly and using different directions does combos/different attacks, respectively, both on ground and in the air, and you can hold then release Y for a charged attack. You can attack enemies on the field before fights as well, and hitting them in the back gives you an advantage(possibly; it seems a bit finicky). Your strike range is very short, though.

Pressing the Right Stick when the meter is full has Killrizark take control in a powered up form until the meter runs back out.

Switch Maglam weapons with Left/Right on the D-Pad

Jumping is B(in battles, you can double jump)

Guard is L(battle only)

Dashing is R(ground only; hold to run faster outside of battle)

X is a character’s Skills. Holding X stops the action and brings up a list of the available Skills you can set and use.

ZL is a Skill unique to each Partner. Using this button on the Field will bring up a prompt asking if you want to abandon the current Request(if possible)

A is to use Items. Holding A stops the action and brings up a list of the useable items you can set to use. If you stand idle for a few seconds, Killrizark will pop out and you can use A to talk to them.

Interact with items on the field with Y(make sure to remember that and not assume it’s A, aside from the one situation above, making you waste a bunch of items by accident like I did). 

- Button brings up the map and + Button brings up the menu/pauses the game(out and in battle, respectively).

A bit into the game, Killrizark meets ‘Love Guru ‘G.G.’ who tells him about love and dating. Once Partners start joining, Killrizark will decide to try and date one of them(plus Mamie) since they need an heir as the last Demon Lord. How this system works is that each Partner has an Affection meter that can be seen when visiting the Love Guru, shown by the amount of Hearts next to their name(any Partner can be dated by Killrizark regardless of gender),and once it gets high enough, you can go on dates with them. The Date events have Killrizark and whoever you pick going to, or rather being teleported to, various date locations for them, and having you pick dialogue choices. 

A good number of these are full events with voice acting, but some in-between those are very short events that are just ‘pick location->they liked or didn’t like it->certain amount of Affection is gained’. You’ll be able to pick all of those locations if you keep raising Affection and doing the Dates, though.

There are six characters to date, though only 5 are playable:

Darius

Charme

M.O.A.V.

Julette

Acklao

Mamie(not playable)

The ways to raise Affection aside from the Dates are:

Take your Partners into battle

Use certain healing food items that show a character’s face on them while out on a Request(each character has their own favorite foods, even KIllizark, who likes sweet stuff)

Pick dialogue options that favor them/show their face next to it.

Buy Items from the ‘Happiness Tax’ part of the shop(only way to raise Mamie’s aside from Dates with her)

The deciding moment on who KIllizark will get an ending with is near the very end of the game at the Request ‘The Big Date’. Also, if you want, during this, you can pick to just ‘have a strong bond’ with whoever you selected instead of it being romantic. Or pick no one at all. The character’s ending will be shown after the credits. For Mamie’s ending, though, there’ll be a choice before the final boss that only appears if you did all of her Dates and maxed out her Affection, which will also override whoever you picked previously.

Though you can’t get an ending with them, there seems to be an event with Satyus you can miss easily. I think you need to pick choices that favor them to see it, though I’m not 100% sure, myself; their event might have been the last of the CGs I missed.

Also like in the Tales of games, the playable characters can earn Titles. They’ll have different effects such as raising stats, doing more damage to specific enemy types, and more.

There are other Endangered Species you can find in the Field stages(seems they can’t be missed, so they can be found while repeating Requests). Finding them gives you more items you can buy or new Requests. They’re indicated by a flashing red light on the Fields, but they’re still hidden pretty well, so I had to use a guide to find them. The main characters, aside from Mamie, are considered Endangered Species, too, for different reasons, so they’re listed there, too.

Of the characters, I liked pretty much everyone, with them all getting some nice development, though Julette’s voice could unfortunately get crating at times. 

The game is, in a way, a spiritual successor to the Summon Night games, with the Dating and weapon crafting aspects, as well as staff from them, and the battle gameplay done similarly to the same style as the Swordcraft Story spinoff games.

If you want to see more background lore for the game’s world, you can look at Satyus’ Notes under ‘Teach Me, Satyus!’ in the base menu. There’s a lot here, and more gets added as the game goes on. The best time to read through it would be before the final battle.

While there is a NG+, sort of, nothing actually carries over, unfortunately. You do get some bonuses, such as more starting money and Affection rising faster, but that’s about it. Not even already seen CGs.

The game’s character artist, lack, is on here, if you want to check out their work.

An amusing text error I saw a few times was the words ‘café’ and ‘naïve’ being shown as ‘caf?/na?ve’. I guess it can’t figure out how to properly show accented letters? ^^;

I was a bit lukewarm towards the game at first, but it grew on me more as it went on, met more of the characters, and got better at the game. The story was good and the characters got well done character development. I think it’s probably best worth getting when it goes on a sale.

Next game being sent is: Super Mario Odyssey.

[usafphantom2]

How I Missed the D*mn War – Part 1

Monday, August 5th, 1990, my buddies phone rang and it’s his Aircraft Commander (AC) telling him he is now in crew rest, to pack a bag for 90 days, report to the squadron in 12 hours, and no, he didn’t know where they were going.

Fifteen minutes later, my AC called me. I was needed at the squadron to help load and preflight aircraft that were deploying in 12 hours. We still didn’t know where we were going or how long we’d be there, but the news was hitting the airwaves that the United States was reacting to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Twenty-four hours later, in KC-135R 58-0059, I was sitting in my cockpit seat, right behind the AC, taking off out of Loring AFB ME headed to Lajes Field in the Azores, a small island in the eastern Atlantic. We had an airplane full of support gear for the 9-hour sortie. I can’t recall for sure if we dragged any fighters on that first flight, but judging on the flight duration, I think we did.

An Air Bridge was being put in place to get Air Force fighters, sometimes referred to as chicks, from the East Coast all the way to Saudia Arabia, or Down Range as it was known to us. Our job flying from the Lajes was to meet up with tankers flying east from the east coast, take their fighters and escort them to the Strait of Gibraltar where other tankers would be waiting to take them through the Mediterranean Sea.

It would be one tanker with anywhere between two and six fighters, depending on the fighter type. A-10s tended to be flights of six aircraft, whereas F-15s usually came in groups of four. For F-4s, the thirstiest of the fighters, there were usually only two. It wasn’t a hard and fast rule, but rather determined by many factors including weather, location and availability of divert airfields, the fighter’s fuel requirements, and the tanker’s available offload.

I always had great respect for the schedulers and planners who put all this together. The amount of coordination needed was enormous. Tankers on the east coast, supported by many bases, tankers in the Atlantic at the Azores, tankers the Mediterranean, all had to be able to meet at their rendezvous points without fail or somebody was going to end up in the drink. Nobody wanted that.

For us, at the Azores, life was good. The weather was absolutely stunning with the sun shining and the temperatures in the 80s. I had never been there before, and wrongly assumed it was like that all the time. Everything we needed (food, beer, pool, gym) was within walking distance except heading to the temporary squadron that was hastily set up. If we were flying, we’d wake up late in the morning and head over to the gym, then off to the chow hall for lunch and then report to the squadron for a sortie. If we weren’t flying, then it would be the pool and the NCO club.

The formations from the East Coast came in waves about an hour apart. That worked well, until one evening mother nature intervened. The diversion for weather caused some serious confusion, and we had tankers stacking up in an orbit waiting for their receivers. One AC who didn’t get the memo decided not to coordinate with the other holding tankers, who were stacking up in altitude, and entered the orbit at the planned altitude, which was already occupied by a tanker that had taken off a couple of hours earlier. Both aircraft circled around the orbit for a while until eventually, they crossed paths and almost collided. One of the pilots said they he was able to see the map light in the cockpit of the offending aircraft and reported that they were easily within fifty feet of each other. TCAS, or Traffic Collision Avoidance System, did not exist in those days, so there was no safety net. The funny part, not that it was that funny, was that the offending pilot was actually the head of Stan/Eval or Standards and Evaluations, the people who gave Check Rides and made sure everybody was doing things correctly.

At the Strait of Gibraltar, we’d often meet up with a KC-10. They could carry more fuel for offloading and could be refueled themselves providing even more flexibility. If we had extra gas when we met up with the KC-10, we’d refuel them, giving them the extra so they’d have it if needed.

After sorties or on days we weren’t flying, the NCO club was the place to go. C-141s were landing everyday to refuel, there were no tankers available for direct flights, and they often spent the night. There airplanes were filled with ground pounders making their way down range.

One evening, we ran into some KC-130 enlisted Marines crew dogs who were bragging about how they were the “tip of the sword.” One of our older, more experienced, and more inebriated booms started yelling at them, “Tip of the Sword my ass, we’ve been here for two effing weeks.” Fortunately, we managed to avoid getting our asses handed to us by buying them all a round of drinks and doing carrier landings on a table.

By the way, we drank the base dry. They literally ran out of beer. For a few days you couldn’t find a six pack of beer anywhere on base, but eventually we were resupplied, and all was well again.

And then, all of the sudden, that little piece of heaven melted away like a chocolate bar in the sun. Aircraft and crews started moving around again. Some of our guys went Down Range, some went home. The Down Range guys went to France, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Doha, and Deigo Garcia.

I was on a crew that was sent back home, back to good old SAC Alert watching the continuing buildup on Headline News wanting to get back to. A few weeks later, I returned to the Azores and the difference was startling. The weather had gotten cold and rainy, all the tankers were gone, the C-141s landing was reduced to a trickle, the NCO club was empty, and there were no missions to fly. All the fighters that needed to be moved had been moved.

My crew was headed down range…

(stay tuned for How I Missed the D*mn War – Part 2)

Photos: Lajes Field runway, the parking ramp, my AC and copilot, an A-10 receiver during one of the missions

@tcamp202 via X

[trashyswitch]

Dear Everyone:

⚠️TW: Talk of Mental Health & Suicide⚠️ (though I feel like I shouldn't need to put a trigger warning on this, because everyone should be talking about this.)

Why must the people who do so much in the world and make everyone the most happy...have to experience mental health struggles to the point of suicide?

What brought this on? Well...I found out that Stephen Boss, aka tWitch, had ended his life by suicide with a gun yesterday. He had a wife, he had kids, and he had close people who loved him and cared for him. He had so much going for him. He had been on So You Think You Can Dance, he was on The Ellen Show as the DJ & Dancer, and he had influenced millions to dance.

And yet...he still felt like he had to hide all the pain that was roaring inside his head. And on the morning of December 13, 2022, he finally listened to those thoughts and ended his life.

So below, I'm going to provide a long answer to the question a lot of people are wondering:

"Why didn't he get help if he was hurting so badly? There were so many resources available to him!"

You wanna know why he may have ended his life instead of getting help? It's likely because getting help takes months. Let me explain the process: There are two ways to get help.

from a doctor:

You decide to get help from a family doctor. Well, getting help from a family doctor could take weeks...and by then, you may not feel suicidal anymore, and may end up cancelling the appointment because "It's not a problem anymore". If you don't have a family doctor, then you have to go to the emergency room. And the only thing the emergency room does, is take you to a mental health unit and give you a momentary psychiatrist for your mental health.

From a Helpline:

Most suicidal people are required to call a helpline. There, you're expected to tell complete strangers about your suicidal ideation. If you say the certain answers that they're looking for, they'll either advise that you head to a mental health unit, or they'll send an ambulance over to you to take you to the nearest mental health unit. There, you are given a momentary psychiatrist and prescribed medication...and the process begins.

Once they start you on a mental health medication, they remove you from the mental health unit's doctor's care, and kick you out of the unit and into the real world a couple days later, before the medication even starts properly working... they expect you to stay alive for another few weeks until the meds start working. And then, the chances of meds working on the first try, is low. Almost no one gets the dose or the medication right on the first try. So every time the medication is upped, you have to wait another 4-6 weeks for THAT to kick in. Another higher dose, another 4-6 weeks. By the time some people feel better results from the help, it'll be 3-5 months later. On paper, it's not that bad. But to a suicidal person, that feels like years. And if the medication doesn't work, you have to either go back to the mental health unit, or find a psychiatrist yourself. And a surprising amount of psychiatrists are older and experienced, but only see your name and diagnosis rather than your personality and your face. And often, their choices are made based on those few words and specific words out of your explanation. And unfortunately, the person doesn't feel properly heard. But, the psychiatrist is the only one who can prescribe a new medication, so you go with the flow, listen to the psychiatrist, and end up being prescribed a new medication. And when you get taken off a medication and put onto a new pill, you can't just stop the medication cold turkey and start the new med right away. You have to slowly ween off the old med, before getting onto the new med. That alone, takes weeks. And your mental health worsens as withdrawl symptoms start. And then once you're on the new meds, those take another 4-6 weeks to start working. And that might not be enough...so they up the dose. Another 4-6 weeks for that to start working...up it again...4-6 weeks later, and it maybe starts working. On top of that, your parents are watching you suffer. They feel terrible seeing you like this, and they almost feel frustrated that your mental health issues aren't magically fixed. And the mental health help (depending on where you are) is draining your parents' wallets. And as the suicidal person, you can see how much your mental health issues are making them sad. How low on funds they're getting. Suicidal people notice all of that, and know it's their fault. So that only worsens the suicidal thoughts. And no matter how much the parents say 'We're okay' and 'don't worry about it', we know...And we can't possibly be convinced otherwise, because we've seen all the proof we need.

The point I'm getting at is...mental health issues are so hard to treat. It takes forever, and even after a year or 5 years of tackling these damn thoughts and fighting with medications...you wonder if it was even worth the constant waiting. Because...it seems like successful suicide has much quicker results than getting help does. And if it's unsuccessful, then you start the whole mental health unit experience, and start the trial and error with meds.

And yes, ending your life hurts the people close to you. But you know watching someone fade can sometimes be so much worse...

In death, you see a beloved influencer. In living, you see a progressively breaking individual. Some people prefer the broken individual...but not everyone does...

Plus...it seems like people listen to you more after you've ended your life...then they have when you were alive.

So...the reality is...some suicides are impulse choices. But...other suicides are thought out and prepared for...But no one truly knows who did what, because...the people who make those choices are not able to speak for themselves after death.

So...please consider this. And let's educate those without mental health issues, about the reality of 'Getting help". Because "Getting help"...is just a sentence with a neverending path.

[coolcattime]

So it's Christmas Eve and I've been having a think for a couple day so I'm gonna ramble for a little bit about my Mianite Anastasia AU.

A slight warning, this AU is gonna be a tiny bit a mess because this is gonna both be based on the animated film and the Broadway musical because I like the musical. So like it's gonna be a weird messy combo but like this is just a fun little AU mostly to get it out my own brain.

Backstory: There has been growing tensions between the God's and their followers have been growing tense. With the threats of the Shadows, as well as the Gods threatening each other, all the champions know something bad is looming just around the corner.

As a celebration occurs that's meant to be celebrating the unity of the people, the currently teenage champions of Mianite sit upstairs discussing the situation. Both Sonja and Tucker knew that things were bad, and that the celebration would be missing some people (notably Tom was never meant to be there, having business in his own home city), but none of Ianitees, not even Lady Ianite herself have turned up. Tucker is kind is annoyed by this, questioning why everyone seems to have given up on the Gods and unity, but Sonja is more sympathetic given the fact that the Gods typically spend more time bickering among themselves than actually helping anyone.

Before this can turn into an argument, the palace is attacked by Ianite, possessed by the Shadows, and her army. With the attackers quickly getting inside, Tucker and Sonja attempt to make their escape, but quickly find themselves hiding from soldiers inside Sonja's bedroom with no where to go. At this point, Capsize emerges through a hidden servants corridor causing some panic since, well, Ianitee dressed for combat. But then Capsize tells them that there aren't any soldiers the way she came and that there's a train leaving to the city where Tom is. Tucker questions why she's helping them, but doesn't get an answer as the soldiers start turning to break the door down. They escape with Capsize promising to stop anyone from following them.

On their way off the palace grounds, Sonja is grabbed by a creature made of Shadows. They manage to fight it off and seemingly kill it, but they're left shaken and running to the train station. They get there just as the train is leaving, crowded with those fleeing. Tucker manages to climb on, but Sonja loses her grip and ends up falling onto the tracks and falling unconscious.

That night, Mianite and Dianite were killed, along with most of their high-ranking followers. While Tucker escaped and was reunited with Tom, Sonja is presumed dead. The once united lands of the Gods became ruled by Ianite, though the places not originally United still remain.

Around a decade later in the city that was invaded so long ago, a rumor has reached the city that Sonja survived all those years ago and that Tucker is offering a cash reward for her safe return.

The Characters:

To start with the main character, Sonja is in the Anya role. Forgotten past, wants to discover who she is, all that jazz.

Capsize is Dimitri, having turned to bring a conartist after quickly disappearing on the night of the attack so what she did wasn't discovered.

Tucker is in the role of the Dowager Empress.

The Shadows are Rasputin.

Redbeard is in Vlad's role.

Tom is in the Sophie/Lily role, though I have no idea if him and Skipper have actually been in any kind of relationship.

And now Jordan. Jordan is mostly taking on the role of Gleb from the musical, chasing the main trio down with the orders to either arrest them or kill them. However, unlike the actual character, Jordan is reluctant to do the task because of Capsize (who he doesn't know is actually Capsize for quite a while, but looks a lot like his missing/possibly dead old friend/crush) and his final confrontation would be with her, where Capsize would also confess that she was the one that let Tucker and Sonja escape.

Obviously this isn't the most fleshed out, but Anastasia is just a little comfort media for me, especially for this time of year, so I wanted to just write a little of the AU I think about every so often.