#mostly to rail against mass effect 2

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Nepeta: :33< tv writers will come up with vaguely weird & pawkward mannerisms fur a character and unwittingly craft exemplary clawtism repurrsentation, then try to write an explicitly autistic character and commit a hate crime

[acradelius]

Request incoming, hope this is okay! Could I ask for something with Wrex and an AFAB human reader with scenario prompts 3. 34, and 40? I’m so soft for this grumpy Krogan and want him to have the love he rightfully deserves. Thank you so much! ❤️

"It's Always Been You"

Fandom: Mass Effect (Series)

Pairing: Urdnot Wrex ("Krogan Battlemaster") x AFAB! Reader

Rating: Lime [🟢] - (Equivalent to PG-13)

Prompt(s): #3 - "You know I have feelings for you." / #34 - "It's always been you." / #40 - "I thought you didn't want me."

Warnings/Mention Ofs: Mass Effect - Shepard Saves Wrex During Virmire: Assault Mission, Therefore Story Takes Place During Mass Effect 2 After Shepard Recruits Grunt And Reader, Human! AFAB! Engineer! Reader, Reader Is Mentioned As Biologically/Anatomy Female, They/Them Pronouns Are Used For Reader Though, Mentions of Shepard's Death, Prior History Mentioned Between Wrex And Reader But Not In Full Detailing, Extraterrestrial Interspecies Relationship, Alien x Human In General, Krogan x Human, Mention of Human x Drell (Not Reader), Mention of Human x Android (Not Reader Either) Not Your Average Love Confession, Mention Of The Word Pussy - Meant In A Sexual Way (Not Reader), Wrex's Jealousy Towards Garrus's Behavior Towards Reader If You Squint, Mention Of The Words Dick And Cock - (Not Necessarily In A Sexual Way), Open Ending

Word Count: 2,863 Words

Taglist: @masterofpuns

The sudden, unexpected death of Commander Shepard was definitely an unfortunate, despairing tragedy, especially for those who worked alongside the commander upon the infamous SSV Normandy. It had been such a devastating loss, especially with the conflict amongst the crew and those that considered themselves close to Shepard of what should be done or what should be said next. While some wanted to investigate further into the death, moreso Joker since he had been on the Normandy whenever having been attacked by the unknown vessel, and then there was some who figured that despite how upsetting the event might be, it just so happens to be a part of life, and that includes losing people that you come to care about. Slowly, but surely, the crew had begun to disperse, each going their own separate ways to continue living their own lives.

Mostly everyone was reassigned to some different crew or some sort of mission. 

Others, such as Garrus, seemingly had disappeared to who knows where to go to do who knows what. 

Then, there was him. 

“Where are you planning on going now? Since we’ve lost Shepard.. and now the whole galaxy is going to shit..” Despite that it was technically considered “middle of the day” upon the Citadel, the loss of Shepard had left a void within the local people of having a somewhat peaceful future without the lingering threat of the Reapers, there weren't many people out and about. Maybe some were in some personal space of theirs trying to figure out how to cope with the loss while others were hiding away and spouting off how it was now going to be the end of the galaxy. Well, those feelings didn’t necessarily apply for this outlandish duo, leaning against the balcony railing to one of the upper floors of the citadel, watching the few beings below scurry by. 

Urdnot Wrex, who was better known for being a famed Krogan mercenary and bounty hunter, but also being one of the last remaining Krogan Battlemasters around. A long-lived Krogan who has become cranky and thick-hided throughout the various adventures of his chosen path of violence and killing for credits. Not that he needed them really, but it was something valuable to have on hand, especially for his lesser species companion, (Y/N) (L/N). Biologically considered a woman, a human woman at that, who had been spending most of their time as an Engineer fixing various things up amongst that shithole known at Omega, and then spent their free time studying and experimenting with various types of medicine. Well, that’s what they had been up to until Wrex had figured out that they had some information and possible whereabouts of a target he had been searching for due to a bounty. Throughout hardships and violence, and then having given their fair share of blood and sweat (and some tears from the both of them, yet we all know that will be kept off the books) the two individuals became quite the duo. A grumpy, cranky Krogan and his somewhat optimistic, vivacious human. 

It doesn’t go unnoticed by (Y/N), how Wrex proceeds to keep his vision focused upon something within the distance and then his momentarily lack of response.

“..There’s some things that require my attention back on Tuchanka-” 

“-So we’re going to Tuchanka then. Going to need quite a bit of sup-”“-You won’t be going, (Y/N). You’ll be staying here..” 

There couldn’t be any way that he had just told them that they would be staying behind, considering that they’ve practically gone everywhere together since their first encounter with each other. While there’s a moment of silence that lingers between them, (Y/N) couldn’t help but to turn their head slightly to attempt to study the Krogan, as if they would be able to penetrate that thick skull of his and read his thoughts.

“You keep staring at me and I’ll have to hang you upside down from the top of the Citadel,” Wrex nonchalantly responds as he proceeds to push himself away from the balcony and turns to face (Y/N) who continues to look at him in confusion. He knew that there would probably be some resistance about his statement, but at that moment he knew that it was the best thing for the both of them. “We’ve been through some tough shit together, no doubt about that- but, Tuchanka is something else, (Y/N). Something else that your kind isn’t necessarily ready to deal with for a long term experience..” It’s not that Wrex didn’t believe that they wouldn’t be able to hold their own, especially with the fame and power that he happened to have amongst the other Krogan on Tuchanka, but if something- just anything bad- was to happen to (Y/N), Wrex wouldn’t be able to forgive himself and therefore decided that the best thing for them would be for them not to go with him. Not this time. Yet, not that he would tell them the true reasoning why. 

“You don’t think that the other Krogan or whatever won’t take one look at me, realize how much of a badass I am, and then just run away and cower in fear?” (Y/N) presents their words with a teasing tone while moving their hands to place firmly upon their hips. Of course they knew that essentially a couple Krogan would be pretty easy to handle, but a whole planet of Krogan? Yeah, that would definitely be a different story. A soft sigh of defeat leaves (Y/N)’s, knowing that ultimately they weren’t going to be able to deter Wrex from his choice. Wrex lets out a soft chuckle, shaking his head slightly while lifting up one of his hands to somewhat roughly pat the top of (Y/N)’s head. “With all due time, (Y/N). With all due time..”  

‘..With all due time..’ 

Who would’ve thought that “with all due time” would’ve been almost two and a half years later? 

Things had been going particularly well for those first couple of months after Wrex had departed to go deal with whatever it was that he had to deal with back on Tuchanka, leaving (Y/N) behind to deal with mundane events or short-lived jobs. They would spend whatever time that they could chatting with each other through emails, watching clips of stupid or funny things that they had come across, or even just sitting there for a couple of hours on a video call talking about whatever thoughts had eventually crossed their minds. Well, not every thought that had crossed their minds. Fear and anxiety consistently won over courage whenever it came to expressing those thoughts, especially with how things had been going those days. 

Yet, hours turned into days.. 

..and those days began to turn into weeks.. 

..eventually those weeks into months.. 

As time continued to pass, increasing the time it had been since they last saw each other, the communication between the both of them had begun to diminish. Apologies to each other, stating that either work or personal matters had gotten in the way and were disrupting their schedule of catching up with each other, until it had slowly dissolved into absolutely no communication at all. Not that there had been any arguments between the two of them, nothing that would cause them to harbor negative feelings towards each other. It had just been.. life. Two different people- two different species, two whole different sets of responsibilities and priorities, especially whenever there was the distance of being on different parts of the Milky Way between them. Just more time to find other things to occupy those once precious and special times. 

That had been the usual routine before one lonesome night after having a few drinks by themself that (Y/N) happens to open their door to find a once deceased Shepard standing there, Garrus on one side of her and some seemingly young Krogan on the other side of her. Long story short, Shepard had been through the “Lazarus Project” through Cerberus and had been informed that the Reaper threat was back once again, and Shepard was currently forming her team. While she was there to recruit the Engineer to continue fighting the war against the Reapers, Shepard was also there in hopes that (Y/N) would have some knowledge on Wrex’s whereabouts to help solve some issues that the young Krogan seemed to be having. 

Tuchanka. It wasn’t necessarily surprising to figure out that Wrex had been residing amongst Tuchanka this whole time considering that it technically was the homeworld of his species and he had spent this whole time worrying and trying to figure out a better future for the Krogan, trying to deal with their breeding complications due to the genophage. Yet, being able to physically see him for the first time in two-and-a-half years, sitting upon that makeshift throne of crumbled and fallen concrete rubble, looking over the fellow Krogan that were most likely doing various things in order to establish whatever tasks Wrex wanted completed.. (Y/N) couldn’t help that lurching feeling within their chest, those memories of late nights sitting around some campfire or in some dingy hotel room coming back to mind like wiping away dust from an almost forgotten book that’s been sitting on the shelf for a little too long now. With those familiar crimson eyes finally making contact with their own, (Y/N)’s heart seemingly lurching within their chest, and a singular thought that maybe Wrex was thinking those same, similar memories.

Grunt’s initiation mission of surviving the Thresher Maw to be able to join the ranks of the Urdnot Clan had gone quite well, and ultimately caused a celebration to take place since Grunt decided to one-up Wrex and successfully killed the Thresher Maw as well. It doesn’t take much more than a couple of drinks for (Y/N) to decide that it was best for them to take a break from the celebration, finding themself sitting upon some rubble some distance away, eyes gazing to the stars that lingered within the night sky above. Quite a peaceful moment until it had been interrupted by the soft sound of a grunt, causing (Y/N) to turn their head towards the source, the source causing a grin to form upon their lips. “Oh, no. Mr. Urdnot Wrex, sir. I swear I’m not slacking from my duties.” They reply with a snort, watching as the Krogan heaved himself up to the empty spot on the rubble next to (Y/N) while shaking his head in amusement. “As long as you don’t tell the others that I’m also not slacking from my duties as well, then we can keep this as our little secret.” 

From that moment and forth on, it was as if there hadn’t been a two and a half separation between them besides some minor things. There were various, new battle scars upon Wrex’s hide while those slight wrinkles and creases from scowling due to stress were more prominent on (Y/N)’s face. More physical changes than anything, really. They went back to reminiscing on memories from their younger days or how if they could go back in time they would’ve harassed a bounty target for much longer. How they should’ve taken that one individual up on the selling of some property on a foreign planet long ago for how cheap it would’ve been compared to prices these days, and let’s not forget to add being a menace to the local population of course. Eventually memories transitioned into talking about the present, how much or how little some of the members from the original Normandy had changed, and even some of the relationships that had formed from it. 

“-So, yeah. Android, or whatever you wanna call it, robotic pussy is the only thing Joker’s hitting right now. Shepard’s been talking to someone on the Normandy, apparently he’s a.. Drell? Anyways, then Garrus-” 

“-You and Vakarian, huh?” 

There’s an audible gagging sound that emits from (Y/N)’s lips and softly echoes in the area around them. Not necessarily loud enough to capture the attention of the others who were still celebrating away, and would probably end up drinking themselves blacked-out drunk. Their eyebrows are furrowed in not only some amusement, but in disbelief as well. Wrex was thinking that there was something going on between them and Garrus? What exactly had led to that? Okay, yeah. Considering that there weren't as many original Normandy crew members around, and Wrex wasn’t tagging along either, (Y/N) and Garrus’s friendship had become more apparent, but it was definitely nothing romantically inclined. Definitely, absolutely not. 

“You think that there’s something going on between Garrus and I?” 

“..been looking at you all weirdly, eyes narrowed-” 

“-Wrex,” 

“-then he’s always flaring those mandibles of his whenever he sees you holding that fancy sniper-” 

“-Hey, Knucklehead!-” 

“-Then he’s always puffing out his chest and huffing every time that he’s near you-”

“-Urdnot Wrex, if you do not shut up and let me explain, I will be carving that makeshift throne of yours into a dick.” 

That was enough of a threat to cause the Krogan to finally shut his mouth, but not before letting out a low-rumbling growl. Not that he would necessarily bring (much) harm to his companion, as a matter of fact it was quite the opposite. It was more that the last thing that the Krogan needed was the clans of Krogan getting word that his throne was now some monstrosity of a cock, and he’d become something of a laughing stock. 

“There's absolutely nothing going on between Garrus and I. There never has been, and there never will be. He’s just waiting for the perfect opportunity to curb stomp my ass for making fun of his shit sniping skills.” (Y/N) couldn’t help but to let out a snarky laugh as they proceeded to recall the memory, but it was short lived as there was a more important issue at hand. Wrex had thought that they were romantically involved with someone, when it was the complete opposite. 

Was he not able to see the devotion- the loyalty- that they had for him? How (Y/N) would drop anything and give up everything just to be by his side? Did Wrex not even think about how much turmoil they had been in having been separated from him this long- especially with having little to no contact? Was Wrex not able to notice how his mere presence not only affected them physically, but also emotionally and mentally as well? During their time together (Y/N) had found themself gravitating towards being around Wrex, feeling not only safe, but also comfortable. (Y/N)’s thoughts transitioning into not about what they were truly thinking, but what he might be thinking, how he might be feeling, how or what they could do in order to make sure that he was at least in a content mood. How whenever he would accidentally brush up against them, or even purposely grab ahold of their arm to drag them away from the midst of battle or something that he wasn’t enjoying, it would cause a warmth to spread throughout them and all they could do was crave more. Crave more of one thing, crave more of many things, to crave more of it all. 

Even wanting a romantically inclined future with Wrex. 

“-You know I have feelings for you, Wrex.” 

Finally. 

There’s relief at finally having gotten the long awaited confession off of their chest, a shaky breath also escaping past their lips, but it’s not too long before an anxiety begins to settle in at Wrex’s silence. 

Had it been the wrong time for the confession? 

Had it been the wrong place for the confession? 

Had it-

“-I thought you didn’t want me.” 

The way that their body scooches across the few rocks between them to be close to him, pressing their side against his own, head moving to rest against the bicep of his armor- it’s almost like (Y/N)’s body was on autopilot. Numerous thoughts flooding their mind, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. 

“It’s always been you.” 

Confusion begins to slowly diffuse and turn into slight amusement, a small smile spreading across (Y/N)’s lips. 

“It’s always been you, it’ll always be you. You’re absolutely insane if you think I would prefer to be with anyone else after everything that we’ve been through together.” 

Wrex couldn’t help but chuckle after grumbling something incoherent underneath his breath. Probably something self-deprecating, but if (Y/N) were to ask the Krogan would probably just place the blame on some unknown Salarian. 

“Yeah, you’re right..” 

Of course.

Of course they were right. (Y/N) was always right. 

“So, what now?” (Y/N) questions, leaning their head back slightly to look at Wrex, an eyebrow raising. 

“How about-” Wrex begins to respond, lifting his arm up and moving it around (Y/N) bringing them to rest against him. “-we see about maybe you getting to stay here on Tuchanka after all?” 

[fapangel]

D+14, D+15 Update: Last 48 Hours

google fukken docz

The frontlines have remained mostly static in the last 48 hours, but the preponderance of information (including some independently verifiable data) now supports the view that this is reflective of what’s actually been happening at the frontline. Sources for the most part are directly from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (these five posts on their official facebook page cover all official information released in the last 72 hours: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]) (Oh wait add [6] because fuck the boomers at the Ukrainian MoD consolidate your posts you FUCKS) The Institute for the Study of War’s March 9th and 10th assessments are useful for understanding the MoD reports but I’m reading and analyzing them myself nonetheless instead of relying entirely on ISW’s summaries, and trying to find corroborating OSINT whenever possible. I am also cross-checking against the Finnmap and trying to verify those claims one Twitter search at a time.

I’m not having much fucking luck.

Sitrep: Maneuver

Northern Front

Russian forces appear only partly combat-capable (at last.) Analysis dropped today by the best OSINT ORBAT tracking I’ve seen estimates 18-20 Battalion Tactical Groups near western Kiev. This puts UMoD statements regarding force sizes on March 8th into a new light (five BTG force mounted repulsed attack on Bucha, four BTG force moved on Yasnohorodka.) On the 9th UMoD stated that “separate units of the 29th, 35th and 36th”. This is referring to the parent regiments of the BTGs in question. In theory each regiment can provide troops/equipment to form up to three BTGs, but @JominiW, who has been tracking reports of individual BTGs since the war’s start, credits this as only five actual BTGs, analysis that even ISW didn’t offer. (I don’t know what his sources are; feel free to ask him!) Taken together this suggests Russian supply situation in the area can support two regiments worth of offensive operations (only half their local force) and for whatever reason they are only moving towards individual objectives at regimental strength. Given the March 8th advance on Bucha was repulsed, not massing two regiments for operations on the 9th hint that the Russians cannot do so, for whatever reason (likely coordination e.g. secure radio communication issues.)

Russia attempted no major offensives in NW Kiev’s suburbs and had a three-company assault repulsed from Brovary on Kiev’s eastern side.

The well-publicized video of a three-company combined-arms assault (one company of ten tanks and two companies of mechanized infantry in IFVs being halted, then forced to retreat by very accurate Ukrainian artillery gives an idea of how Russia fights. (Note these forces represent the better part of a BTG’s maneuver force.) Rushing down a wide road without dismounting the infantry to secure the houses once entering an urban area only to be halted by enemy fire, then forced to retreat by very accurate IDF, is peak blitzkrieg.

UMoD reports retaking Moshchun, 12km north of Kiev and only 8km east of Hostomel itself. Earlier UMoD reports on imminent Russian attack on Ivankiv have yielded no further word, raising the possibility that Ukranian forces could extend a salient north to link up with forces at, and strongly hold the Ivankiv crossroads.

UMoD reports liberating Muraviyka, just south-west of Chernihiv, on March 10th. This follows a report of Russian forces cutting the highway between Chernihiv and Kiev by taking the village of Kozelets about halfway between them on the 9th. If this line is still cut it’s likely it won’t remain that way long enough to weaken the defenders; keeping this road/rail link from effective use by Russian supply efforts.

A reporter for the Kiev Independent claims that Ukrainian forces have re-taken Makariv, 40km west of Kiev. This is the first solid claim I’ve seen on Makariv’s status so far. That Makariv was contested was hinted at, but that Russian forces were strongly holding it is anyone’s guess (see the trigger-happy BMP convoy escort from my last update.)

This source is on-scene (in the city) and is one of the on-scene journalists western media is contacting for information. Regardless I have no independent confirmation of this claim at this time.

UMoD clarifies regional frontline to the northwestern countryside a bit. Finnmap is a mess compared to UMoD statements so here’s mine:

The massive convoy stuck on the P02 and/or P56 (it has never been made explicitly clear) has largely “dispersed and redeployed,” according to commercial satellite imagery. Between the imagery and basic logic this amounts to armored fighting vehicles, not supply trucks, moving overland as best they’re able (with the usual attrition theoretically recoverable since it’s in an area where no TDF have been operating that we’ve seen, so likely only Ukrainian SoF.) This means Russia’s pause in attacks yesterday was likely to reconstitute units using these reinforcements. Whether or not they have the supply to attack with them is another matter; though moving the actual AFVs overland should reduce congestion on that highway significantly.

Note, however, that this is after a solid week of attrition by Ukrainian attacks, and the troops/crews will be at lower readiness due to their extended, unplanned camping trip.

Previous UMoD statements to the effect of Russia shifting forces from the Chernihiv and Russian border north of Sumy axes of advance has been corroborated by anonymous US officials quoted by journalists. ISW’s previous analysis that the Russians are attempting to properly secure their LOC from Sumy to Kiev seems likely, as the atrocious toll Ukrainian TDF and the defenders of Sumy have been wreaking daily on their supply chain is obviously unsustainable. I’ve seen so many ambushed convoys near Sumy it’s hard to keep track of them.

This could also explain the aggressive exploration south of this LOC as noted yesterday; to widen the flank and provide some defensive depth to that line.

Eastern Flank

Izum is still held by Ukrainian troops 72 hours after the first reported Russian attack there. Given Russia’s lack of success it would seem Sievierodonetsk is not in great danger of encirclement anytime soon. No statement to this effect, rather, no UMoD statement that Izum has fallen.

Kharkiv is still taking shelling, but no serious ground assaults. It’s possible that Russian forces are shifting units north to actually take Sumy and end the bleeding wound in the side of their logistics pipeline once and for all. (SW’s analysis.)

Northwestern Kharkiv suburb of Dergachi retaken by Ukraine, according to the aide of President Zelensky. It’s only a few KM outside of the city proper, but given the advance to Chuhuiv a few days ago, it shows a widening of the defensive lines on each side of Kharkiv proper. With Chuhuiv held, Russian forces attacking Izum (or anywhere NW of it up to Chuhuiv) are denied the crossroads.

Southern Flank

Russian forces are attempting to bypass Mykolaiv, according to UMoD and corroborated by commercial satellite imagery. Additionally the Russians are trying to expand their front northward in the region between the Dnieper and the Southern Bug rivers, driving north along the meager two-lane roads available in the area as discussed a few days prior, as well as moving past Mykolaiv along the eastern bank of the Southern Bug:

UMoD claims no serious crossing (i.e. bridge, not just amphib IFVs) has taken place over the Bug, and I haven’t seen evidence otherwise via OSINT channels. Note Ukrainian defenders are (as always) holding crossroads. Given the muddy terrain in this area is going to heavily incentivize, if not mandate an attack similar to the one seen in Brovary (i.e. down the road) and the roads here are only two lanes wide, I don’t anticipate Russian breakthrough efforts having much luck to the north.

Two odd things, Kherson region:

UMoD claimed on the 9th that Russian soldiers in civilian clothes are moving towards Mykolayiv – either new infiltration attempts (also reported in Kiev) or an attempt to infiltrate forces past Mykolayiv, perhaps by using a rope bridge or boats somewhere north of the city, then infiltrating through Ukrainian-held countryside to somewhere else.

This video showing a large convoy of troops, armor and supplies moving south through Kherson, towards the waterfront.

Taken together this could insinuate something is being planned vis a vis an amphibious landing.

This will not go well for the Russians.

Mariupol is still under bombardment but not ground assault. At this point encircling Mariupol is keeping Russian forces pinned down, unable to participate elsewhere.

Still no solid information or even UMoD statements on the southern defensive line between Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia.

There are other things to talk about but they will have to wait till later tonight or early tomorrow. I’m tired.

[anika-ann]

WINSoD - Pt.2

We Move Together...

Type: series, soulmate AU series  (part 1, part 2, part 3)  

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word count: 2400

Summary: In which Steve might get a bit tipsy and jealous in a sweet way. 

A/N: As adertised, What I’d Never Say or Do (Had I Been in My Right Mind) is only refered to as WINSoD. Also - enter Age of Ultron ;)

Warnings: mention of superntural creatures, alcohol, language, briefest mention of death, journalists acting like jerks 

Part 1 (previous chapter)

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

The press conference was a thing from nightmares. You did not enjoy all the flashes of cameras; you were not Tony freaking Stark, all charming and witty when over a hundred reporters stumbled through the doorway of the huge conference room. No, you could only manage to be sassy and fun within a circle of your friends. Which you found yourself in anyway, but boy, the presence of the others was still very much apparent and they were the ones asking questions.

Even Bruce had been forced to come, much to his dismay, but him and Clint were for some reason left out when it came to the poisonous questions, their duo considered only unwilling participants of the whole plotting for and against the poor soulmate pair of you and Steve.

You truly envied Thor who was off to Asgard once more. And while you wouldn’t want to be in Bucky’s shoes, you sure as hell wished you could sit this one out as he did, the public still not aware of his existence safe for one priest who had helped him to find his way to Steve.

It was ridiculous. The tone a question was asked with was enough to distinguish whether it was aimed at you and Steve or at someone else. Hell, when it came to you and Steve, they didn’t even bother asking, just stating the facts instead.

“Such a long recovery. That must have been horrible, especially with amnesia involved, wasn’t it.” (Yes, shockingly. What is it to you, huh?)

“Such luck you were able to remember, isn’t it.” (Luck had nothing to do with it. God’s sister has.)

“You must be angry with Captain’s team too, aren’t you.” (No, they are the best, you idiot, this whole thing is a stupid lie.)  

“I am sure you’re willing to share your story since people were grieving for you in such a worship-like way…” (…fuck you.)

In reality, you tried to word your indignation towards this herd-like aggressivity aimed at the Avengers and the blatant pity for you rather carefully, speaking of hardship but justified, and yes, you were very lucky indeed. They didn’t need to know just how much.

Steve received a pretty similar set of questions, but they were more of anger and questioning whether the team was still able to function after such a betrayal that nearly ended up tragically. Steve was surprisingly convincing in his act of a disappointed teammate and friend and expressed hope that they would be able to continue to exist and cooperate, his team slowly earning his trust back.

“Have the outcome had been different, my reaction would be too. But the love of my life is here with me and that is what matters. I cannot begin to say how lucky I am to have her back and I thank God for that every day.”

You bit your cheek so you wouldn’t laugh at the private joke and smiled at him instead, earning a whispering wave of ‘awww’ from the crowd and a blinding mess of camera flashes when you gathered the courage to lean in and kiss Steve’s cheek chastely. The reporters went absolutely nuts.

Tony and Natasha on the other hand had to face the stoning. Seriously, there were being personally attacked, questions dripping venom. But they clearly had more experience and knew how to answer without the cunning reporters being able to twist their words into something else, much to the vultures’ dislike and annoyance. Duo Stark-Romanoff fought back and very effectively.

It filled your chest with pride, having friends capable in so many ways. They were so freaking badass.

It made the whole experience more bearable; that and Steve’s hand always touching you, grounding you and reminding you that never ever he would let you face the wolves alone.

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

You all knew that a public apology and trying your best to deal with the press somehow wouldn’t be enough. Well, you had hoped it would, but hadn’t quite believed, expecting to have to more in near future.

You were right, of course, which was why you were currently dressed up (or dolled up, as Steve loved to say, because you were his doll, after all) and forcing yourself to leave the elevator once it would stop, with Steve by your side.

“It’s gonna be alright,” he coaxed, knuckles brushing your cheek tenderly, planting a soft kiss to your temple, too worried about smudging your lipstick despite Natasha’s earlier reassurance that it wouldn’t smudge under any circumstances as she had thoroughly tested.

You tried not to think about that kind of testing and clearly Steve felt the same.

Instead, you gazed into the cerulean blue with a drop of green of his eyes, not convinced. He was being sweet and all, which you appreciated, but in reality, he had no way of knowing it would be alright. Mostly because Tony went all the way and invited all the important people who could influence the public opinion as much as rising stars of whom he felt could influence the public in the near future.

So next to a senator and a group of big-shot businessmen, there would hang out a pair of lawyers sticking for the little guy and right next to a supermodel, there would be a girl starting a new food bank. Thinking about it, it was a funny parallel to Steve and you by his side, except you weren’t doing any good, unlike them. Not that you would say that out loud.

To be fair, the Avengers decided to spice thing up a little by revealing Bucky Barnes being alive, very slowly leaking his story of a brainwashed soldier. Funnily enough, in a shadow of your big reveal, his own went rather quietly.

People were so freakin’ weird.

“I guess I’m gonna survive…” you murmured, ignoring the icy shiver that ran up your spine at your choice of words. Steve’s gaze seemed to turn distant for a moment before coming back to you, some of the strength he had been trying to project into you disappearing in the wind because of the painful memory. “Sorry. That was-“

The emotion no doubt twisting his gut caused his inhibitions to fly out of the window and his lips captured yours in a searing kiss that took your breath away. You melted against his muscular frame that seemed to engulf you completely, his calloused fingers grabbing onto your bare shoulders, digging in a bit deeper than necessary.

Your head was spinning with the passion displayed so openly and in the back of your mind, you registered that the elevator stopped, but before you could get to the idea of thanking Tony’s AI, your brain got side-tracked when Steve shamelessly licked into your mouth and backed you into the railing by the wall.

Feeling the familiar heat pool in your lower abdomen, sending sizzling heat through your veins, you instinctively gripped the lapels of his suit jacket when his lips retreated to give you a chance to breathe in.

Who needed breathing anyway?

He grinned against your mouth, the little shit he was, and one of his hands guided your head to a tilt for better access. You most definitely whimpered at that as his body trapped you against the wall completely, not leaving an inch in between.

Feeling him this close would never get old and you thought you might burst by the time his mouth moved to your left ear, keeping you in place while his hand moved from your shoulder to trace the line of your dress, slipping between the high slit of your dress to caress your thigh.

“Watch your mouth, doll. Or I’m gonna have to do exactly this to shut you up every time you don’t,” he whispered and your ragged breath caught in your throat when the perfect comeback popped in your head – a reasonable one, surprisingly enough.

“I bet the press would love that.”

His fingers flexed on your leg and his teeth very carefully nibbled on the skin of your neck, causing your heart to skip a beat.

“Don’t care about the press,” he growled lowly, sighing as if in pain when he slowly pulled back, leaving you clutching the railing so you wouldn’t fall as your legs turned into an uncontrollable wobbly mass. Then, as if he wanted to ruin you completely before the night even started, his lips were graced by a soft smile, his eyes twinkling. “I care about you.”

“And you call me trouble…”

He had the nerve to wink at you and thank the AI for the stop he never explicitly asked for.

“My pleasure, Steve,” Jarvis hummed, sounding amused and self-satisfied.

Your soulmate gentlemanly offered you an elbow to lead you out of the cabin.

“Shall we, my lady?”

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

In all honesty, the party wasn’t that bad, mostly because it wasn’t just to celebrate your resurrection, but also retrieving a sceptre Thor’s brother had used during The Battle of New York.

You wouldn’t go as far as saying you enjoyed the evening greatly, but you had met several interesting people of which only few had weird questions regarding you; however, weird questions when showing up in public was an everyday occurrence.

You finally truly understood why Steve was happy you treated him like an equal (most of the time anyway).

Every single original male Avenger and Sam and Bucky made sure to dance with you as well as with Natasha and for a good measure, when the song got the right beat, your favourite redhead dragged you to the dance floor for a friendly dance; needless to say Natasha was much better at spontaneous dancing than you. Steve assured you about the opposite by a kiss and a rather filthy promise as soon as you shared your thoughts on your lacking skills with him.

Actually--- yes, you might even say you enjoyed the party very much, uncharacteristically for you, considering the insane number of people attending. The penthouse was way too full, but here you were, sipping on your third glass of champagne, listening to Thor’s colourful narrating regarding Asgardian battles. It wasn’t that you were interested in battles, no – it was the man himself creating suspense and gesturing wildly and making the whole clutch of listeners breathless.

“Careful with the admiring, doll,” Steve whispered to your ear, his arm sneaking around your waist out of nowhere, nearly making you jump out of your skin. “I might get jealous.”

Giddy from the alcohol, you turned your head and brushed his lips with yours.

“We did establish I’d marry Thor if you weren’t an option, didn’t we?” you teased lowly, catching the wink Thor sent your direction as if he heard you despite your hushed voice. It wasn’t flirtation; no, it felt more like mischief, as if he was being your wingman, which he excelled at apparently, because Steve might get little possessive if the grunt by your ear was anything to go by. “As if you didn’t know I only have eyes for you.”

“Just eyes?”

“Why, Captain, are you implying something?”

“Maybe.”

“Of course, my heart is yours as well,” you smirked at him, making his somehow annoyed and pleased at the same time. You leaned even closer. “And everything else.”

“Alright, but what about that hammer of yours? I mean, I saw people swinging around Captain’s shield – though not as skilfully – but no one uses your weapon. Why? Is it that heavy? Are you the only one strong enough to… keep it up?” one of the women asked, apparently more than a little tipsy, judging by her implication.

Gee, she had no inhibitions. Were you being like this now? You really hoped not…

“Well, my lady, that is a very complicated matter…” Thor started, clearly pleased by that question.

“Dance with me again,” sounded softly at your ear and your lips automatically curled up in a smile.

“Whatever makes you happy, my love.”

Steve grinned as he swiftly got rid of the glass in your hand and was already pulling you away by the time you noticed the envious or the amused stares of your companions.

“Green’s not a good colour on you, Steve,” you hummed incidentally, earning an actual pout. “This is adorable though. And I’m not gonna complain about you getting a bit handsy more often.”

“Trouble, doll.”

“I love you too.”

“I do love you. I’m sorry if I got annoying. It’s just… ugh. Thor. You got this look in your eyes and I just-”

Oh.

You sometimes forgot Steve could be as self-conscious as you were. It made your heart ache and yet grow with fondness for your soulmate.

“No, Steve. I might get starry-eyed, because of course I do admire him. It’s easy to get captivated by his stories or his manners, just look at the crowd around him. But you… there’s something about you… that strikes me right here.” You tapped over your heart pointedly. “You know me through and through and yet here you are. You must know I’m yours and still – you treat me every day like you’re courting me and at the same time, we’re comfortable with each other and--- yeah, that. Thor is great. But you’re everything. You’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” he confirmed, brilliant eyes shining, the drops of Asgardian liquor he had consumed adding to the glow. “And you’re mine.”

“Meant to be…” you cooed, happily giving in to his lips when they found yours again for a short moment. You barely realized you stopped in your steps as the slow song had made you only sway. You whispered into his lips then, unbothered. “Plus, I bet you could lift that hammer and keep it up too if you tried.”

His rich laughter filled your ears and he spun you both in circle, planting a kiss on your forehead. You already planned on how you’d get him a custom-made mug with a little hammer on it, reading ‘I am worthy’ or something like that. You were sure he’d love it.

Yeah, it was an amazing party.

Here was a funny thing though; when you had already been confronted with the fact angels and God existed, you should have known blasphemy was a thing.

So, naturally, as you had said ‘I guess I’m gonna survive…’, you should have known there would be a thick chance that you wouldn’t.

That was the first thing that flew through your mind the moment something burst through a wall as if it was made paper thin and not metal.

The second thought? Oh shit.

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

Part 3

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

Thank you for reading! 

Like I said, chapters of this fic will be less chronologically tight. Buuut, you’ll see ;) Also, sorry it took me so long.

[faejilly]

I was tagged by @la-muerta​ & @facialteeth​ & @thedivinemissema​ for the WIP/Title Game

rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and interests you and i’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

AND THEN  by @shadoedseptmbr​ @msviolacea​ & @ravenclawnerd​ for the “stories you want to write... but for some reason haven’t yet”

so this will be a mish-mash of both? The WIPs will mostly have blurbs in this case (to fit the second meme) but you are still welcome to ask follow-up questions, if you’d like ;) Assuming you make it through the list, it is uh. Not Short.

Anyone who would like to play with their WIPs, please consider yourself tagged in either or both of these. :D

Misc Fic Folder:

“untitled document” - where I’m working on fictober fills so I have word-counts for my GYWO tracker. I am not working on these because Brains Are Dumb and also Going Back To Work Is Exhausting

I made a file called “YULETIDE!” which has nothing in it but I’m determined to finish this year so that is definitely technically a thing in the Unending WIP List of Doom worth mentioning. (Tho obviously that’s all I could say even if I had started, because anonymous.)

“coda-fics, rewatch!” -yes, that exclamation mark is important! it’s to keep me motivated! (it didn’t work). Much like untitled, this is for putting stuff so I can do word count tracking even if I don’t know what I’m doing. Currently I think it just says “MARYSE” because I was working on my SH 1x6 coda-fic and then got distracted and haven’t typed anything up yet. (Yay notebooks? Boo notebooks? Not even sure at this point.)

WNIP (works not in progress) Folder:

“TOG” - I had one vivid mental image of how Nicky & Joe met (blood-stained evil smiles?) but then no idea for a follow-up story and also the fandom is insane and I’m not sure I want to deal with all of *gestures vaguely* all that

“Shan Xia Notes” -for a TTRPG that never quite got off the ground; she was a semi-tragic selkie who was still in love with the evil queen/lady who stole her skin and I got to play her for like one session and she was surprisingly chaotic neutral, which wasn’t at all what I’d been expecting. But the game never really got off the ground, so I never had enough info to really delve into writing backstory fic

“post-Kruschev” -Kruschev’s List was the last episode of Scarecrow & Mrs King, and I was debating writing an epilogue in place of the s5 we never got, to try and tie up some loose ends, but the fandom’s three old-ladies in trench coats and I never quite worked up the gumption to get it anywhere

“Code Realize warm as silk sequel” -there is literally nothing in this file except “SEX! Only a little angst” because I wanted to write some “we can’t actually touch each other” smut but never actually did. 🤷‍♀️

BioWare (also all Not-In-Progress Anymore)

“seb/adelaide”, “Theia” & “DAI Erana” -these WIP folders were cannibalized for ficlets for the last few times I did fictober, and while originally I had ideas for longer epilogues for all three of them, at this point I don’t think any of the remaining bits could support a story any longer.

”whispers in the dark” -Maia Ryder never really got much fic at all; the cancellation of any further Andromeda stuff was really disheartening, and at this point I’d have to play the game again, and I don’t think I’m gonna manage that any time soon

”TSP” -a Mass Effect 3 Shepard AU collab project that kind of went off the rails, and our mutual brains/lives never quite seem to line up so we can try and rebuild it ��Ngaio & Tane” -my one truly ruthless Shepard (Alliance background, who romanced Traynor) whose father Tane Shepard was, I think, in PsyOps, and I wanted to figure out their complicated relationship but never really did know where I was going with it

”JE Zu & Yaling” -so I’ve rambled about my Tragic Sagacious Zu Romance Thoughts regarding Jade Empire more than once (#Icy Yaling should have most of it) but apparently I want to yell about it more than I want to actually write it? Whoops.

”CI sequel: 5 times fic?” -Cruel Intentions is a kinkmeme fill that I started and then it sat for like five years before I actually finished it, and I liked the ending, but it does leave a giant fucking question mark in terms of how those people got from there to where they are after the game, and I kind of wanted to write a proper h/c fic rather than just... leaving them wallowing in all that trauma?

But I didn’t. I don’t even remember for sure how I wanted to frame the 5/1 of it all, besides it being something sad about allowing people to see you or touch you in some way. (Prayers maybe, since I think there was definitely some Sebastian & Fenris & faith stuff going on in there.)

“candles” -Merribela prompt fill that I never was happy with? Not sure what I might do with it at this point, so it’s just sitting there all sad and lonely and neglected-like.

Shadowhunters

pt1: WIP LIST ONLY

“Persuasion” -so I keep trying to write Persuasion AUs in many fandoms because it’s my favorite Austen, but I think I like it too much, I have no real solid concept of how I’d transform it, and if I don’t have anything else to say about different characters within that framework, I have no push to actually write anything? Also this SH version of it suffered from MASSIVE scope creep when I started outlining and it got too big for me to handle so I like, killed it twice? Whoops. This one is really probably never gonna happen.

“oosdt sequel” -I wanted to write more about the Forest That Eats People and Magnus & Alec as Guardians Between Worlds, and also some background Magnus’ Found Family & Lightwood Family Feels (maybe some clizzy?) and I left a Madzie plot-thread dangling from the first one on purpose even but I think this one had too many ideas and not enough focus so it’s sort of sprawling all over a doc with a lot of “???” in it

“procedural-ish” -this was originally going to be a sex-farce. and then it turned more serious. and then maybe kind of copaganda which was uncomfortable in terms of the Everything That Is The News in 2020, and then maybe it was more a Mafia AU and at that point I had self-inflicted tone whiplash and I wished the voices in my head were a little more forthcoming about their plans so I stopped before I brained myself on my computer monitor in frustration.

“I had rather a rose than live forever” -I started a reverse!verse Malec (Shadowhunter!Magnus, High Warlock!Alec) for bingo last year, and I couldn’t quite get it together in time, so I made a moodboard inspired by the bits I’d started instead. I may see if one of my prompts from Bingo this year help me finish it?

“fall fright fest (practical magic  au)” -exactly what it says on the tin! almost exactly a year old & neglected! IDEK ANYMORE (I talked about this one with the WIP meme last time tho: here)

“priest!kink theology?” -I thought it was gonna be smut? I like priest!kink. I have made other people like it and yell at me even! But then I kept diverging into demon!Magnus thinking about Priest!Alec’s faith and as usual, IDEK ANYMORE *laughs*

(If they’re remotely canon-adjacent or divergent, a bunch of these are in here because I need to rewatch the show to get the pacing/timing/tone right and I haven’t, and I don’t know why, because I enjoy the show, but BRAINS! Are Dumb! So I guess that’s it?)

“I do” -I have tried to write this damnable Malec arranged marriage fic like six different times. I have signed up for fic exchanges and bangs with it, I have rewritten massive sections, trying to change tone or structure or POV or whatever, and it basically comes down to they like each other too fast and I keep not gutting it enough to get back to a useful pace, but by the time I realized that I was on take six and kind of sick of it. I may get back to it eventually

“wing!fic” -canon divergent in early s1, trying to deal with the consequences of Simon’s kidnapping as the Truly Serious Event that it should have been. It uh. Got heavier than I expected with those consequences (considering it was originally just supposed to be Alec’s wings flirting with Magnus) and also see above re: rewatching for pacing.

“2x20 aftermath/date night/pandemonium porn“ -yes that is the actual wip title. It used to be “spite fic” because I was originally inspired by fighting against a lot of fic!Alec characterization that was clearly based more on the books and ATG syndrome than the Alec in the show, which is the Alec I know and like and want to read about. BUT, pacing and etc. again, I think. Also I have somehow entirely lost my knack for writing porn, which makes it difficult to finish something originally intended to be smut!fic. Or even teasing almost!smut.

“rubbish heap” -so this is about three different fics that I realized complemented each other really well so they’re now all in the same file as I try to turn them into the sequel of “with an if in its soul”. It includes amnesia, parabatai lore shenanigans, a s3 rewrite, and some truly awful Owl adjustments that make me wince in horrified authorly delight and pain. BUT, as with the other ones in this file, the scope is large and I normally write short-fic and I kind of just threw up my hands in exasperation. I may have to break it back up into the three different fics instead, if I ever actually want to write it. Them? But also I need to take better notes on s3 to make sure I have what I need in here.

SH Pt 2: Started posting or not yet in hiatus because it’s actually almost ready to be a thing in the real world! maybe!?

“kisses (firsts)” -I actually started publishing this one, a “series of firsts” that was supposed to be kind of relationship milestones and kind of an excuse for smut, and then there wasn’t that much smut and I lost momentum and also dear lords & ladies the timeline is stupid, wtf. I may not ever add to this one, tbqh. It doesn’t stop in a terrible place, and they’re all ficlets so they stand alone all right.

“clizzy epilogue” -this is blank atm, it’s more a reminder for me to keep poking away at my “girls who can’t breathe air, only fire” collection BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO ACTUALLY GET TO THE CLIZZY AT SOME POINT

"mer!alec" -pts 2-4 of a series, but apparently having an actual plan gets in the way of me *writing* the thing, and I haven't managed to throw the half an outline far enough away from my brain to be able to write again. Or something like that.

"ibhww" -if broken hearts were whole is a soulmate fic I started a million years ago, and purposefully set aside to finish some other WIPs because I thought they'd be quick, and now it's just buried under two and a half years of regret and shame so it's hard to get back to it

"iafy" -i am for you is a delightful & frothy semi-epistolary fluff piece that also just lost momentum because Life & 2020 & etc. It's far and away the most popular thing I've ever posted on AO3, which also makes me feel weird sometimes, and I feel like the fact that there's no grand conclusion planned, just a bit more fluff and settling in, might end up being disappointing? Basically, it's the first time I think I've psyched myself out about reader expectations, and until I get over that I'm going to have trouble finishing the last couple chapters. (There really are probably only two more chapters though. IT’S SO CLOSE, I wish I could just... write it. And yet?)

“fake-hating” -I do not like fake dating as a trope that much, I just do not get it, but I love outside POVs and arranged marriages and there’s this delighful tumblr post about how they wished there was more fic about people who were together but had to pretend they werent’, and uh. This may be that? Eventually? I’m not exhausted by my failure to finish it yet, so it’s still in the regular folder rather than the hiatus folder, even though nothing’s been posted for it.

AND I THINK THAT’S IT?

Not as terrible as it could be, but still. MANY WORDS THAT MAY NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY. Posting the equivalent of one’s old ratty sketchbook is always a weird feeling. :D

[ramblinganthropologist]

N7 Day 29 - Legacy

Summary: Sheapard and crew finally get to Archangel. Except... that’s not Omega, and he’s not Commander Shepard. Nor for the matter, is that Archangel. Hooray for TV magic?

---

To say it was hell there was putting it mildly.

“Hurry it up or he's gonna fucking shoot us too!”

Bo pushed him forward as they dove for new cover. All around them, it was chaos as all three merc packs converged on them. Every so often, a clear shot would take one out. One even hit him in the shoulder – thank you kinetic shields, for keeping his arm on. They were moving closer to the stairs, to their goal.

To Archangel.

The last push up the stairs was the hardest as he dove behind a partition and fired at a Blood Pack merc. They groaned, and then went down when Bo shot them again. One more remained, and he was soon put down by their guns. All they had to do now was head in.

He was in first, pounding on the door. Once it opened, they were in the sniper's nest. There he was, in blue armor with a modified rifle. Archangel only paused to aim once before he fired and a man went silent below.

Then there was the quiet as they got a break between waves.

Their small group faced him. He got up, and then his helmet was down on his seat. The harsh lights reflected off his carapace and the blue tattoos that matched the armor. His mandibles were twitching, like he couldn't believe it.

“Shepard.”

Garrus.

“I thought you were dead.”

The glowing implants embedded in his face were proof of that. Still, his heart pounded as he approached the turian. There was still too much space between them – especially with the mercs coming.

“Garrus Vakarian?”

He chuckled weakly – they had hit a few times. “In the flesh, what's left of it.”

His mouth went dry. “What are you doing here?”

The turian shrugged. “Just killing mercs. Nice of you to join me, there's plenty to go around.”

Clearly – the next wave was going to be coming shortly. If they didn't act fast – he glanced over his shoulder to check. They weren't there yet. He had time, and with time came the chance to ask a few questions.

He had been dead, they were warranted.

“What are you doing on Omega?”

Another weak chuckle from Garrus as he shifted position. “I got fed up with...”

And then his face went blank. “Shit... line?”

“Cut!”

There he went again, forgetting his fucking lines. They were never going to get through this scene alive.

At least this time, the director called for a break so the mighty Archangel could get himself together. Only he was pretty sure the real Garrus would be able to get his lines right. He'd probably also carry the fucking rifle right too – a shot like that would take his head off.

And here he thought turians went through training...

Ok, so he wasn't actually Alistair Shepard either, and this wasn't Omega. Instead, his name was Alex and he was still on the Citadel. They had gone to Omega for planning, though – Aria had even given her input. How they had gotten it out of her, he didn't want to know. He didn't need to know either; all he had to do was act and remember where he had to shoot.

“Is that the third time today he fucked his lines up, or am I seeing shit?” Bo – actually named Beau, ironically enough – was eating something to get her energy back. “Doesn't he normally have a stick up his ass about that?”

Alex rolled both his eyes and his sore shoulders. Even though it was just prop armor, it was still fucking heavy. He had been working out, but clearly it wasn't enough yet. Maybe he needed to do a few more push-ups...

Ugh, he hated push-ups.

“Maybe he had another one night stand and forgot to learn his lines.” He shrugged. “It's no business of mine.”

Beau rolled her eyes. “It is if you ever want to get out of here. Maybe you can bash his reason out of him.”

Ah. So they were sending him in. Last he checked, he didn't have Alistair Shepard's ability to talk someone to death. Still, they had time. So he shrugged his shoulders as he headed off to give his costar the come to Jesus moment.

Though was it still called a come to Jesus moment if the person getting the talk came from a planet where Jesus wasn't a thing?

Alex was soon on his way, looking around the set of the popular historical drama Mass Effect. It wasn't the first show based on the Reaper War of 2185 and what came before it, but it was being touted as the most accurate thanks to relying on primary sources and journals from the participants. Why nobody had  read the journals before, he wasn't sure. Even before getting the role, he had practically memorized them.

Maybe it was the whole gay, transgender man saving the universe thing that had interested him. Wasn't like he was also gay or trans... oh wait, yeah, he was.

Well, whatever. He was in armor, and he was trying to hunt down a turian who didn't want to be found. Most of his costar's usual haunts were empty. So he was forced to keep going, wondering how uncomfortable the real N7 armor must have been to walk around in. His fake version was really starting to ride up a little in some crucial areas.

It was one of those “glad he didn't have testicles” times.

“Virius? Where are you, you couldn't have gotten far in 5 minutes!”

This set was empty. It was supposed to be Afterlife, but not even the asari playing Aria was lording over it. Instead, he found a turian sitting towards the back, half hidden in shadow. He too was still wearing uncomfortable armor – or at least it looked that way.

Turians just looked uncomfortable in general.

There was his costar. Normally, Macen Virius was the consummate professional bitching at him for every minor mistake. To say they hated each other was putting it mildly – the two couldn't stand each other on a good day. Every moment they weren't acting, they were sniping at each other. Maybe it was a difference in personalities, maybe the turian didn't like humans.

Either way, the feeling was mutual and he was a fucking bastard.

“I didn't ask to be followed, Jones.”

His voice was shaking. So was the rest of him for that matter. Alex cocked an eyebrow as he realized Macen was actually shaking the table he was in front of. Maybe if they had been friends he would've noticed and been worried.

Mostly he was just annoyed.

At least the couch stopped shaking when he added his weight to it. “Well, tough. For some reason people think a dye job and the fake implants give me Commander Shepard's gift of gab.”

“I'm here to inform them they missed the mark.” Macen's voice was a little stronger, though he was still shaking. “Here to gloat? I'll get it right when we start over, don't worry. Just remember to sound appropriately horny when you get there, it felt a little flat.”

That got Alex rolling his eyes. “Appropriately horny? Are we reading the same damn journals, Virius?”

“Yours may have been downplayed because Shepard was easily embarrassed.”

Yeah, and he doubted Garrus had written down 'Shepard wanted to get into my armor on sight' in his. The long-dead turian was a total sub, first off. Besides that, both of them were trying not to get killed by the merc alliance from hell. Even if they had been horny, there really hadn't been time to lay it out on the table.

Besides, Alistair had been dead for two years. Horny was definitely not one of his problems.

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Virius.” Alex rolled his eyes as he brushed hair from his eyes. He hated the season 2 look, but it was what the records said. He was having bad flashbacks to older roles, ones he didn't like to think about. “So, do you have a vibrator in there or something to make you shake so much?”

Macen scoffed, but he didn't stop shaking. “I believe a vibrator as a tool is in your character description, not mine.”

His voice lowered. “Shit... it won't stop.”

Honestly, Alex was amazed he hadn't noticed earlier just how tense the turian looked. His talons were clenched so tightly over his prop greaves that it was a miracle he wasn't puncturing right through the lightweight metal. His voice was coming out higher too – the translator was struggling to keep up.

If he didn't know better... he'd swear Macen was nervous.

…

“Shit. This is really freaking you out, huh?”

The words came out before his brain really had time to think about it. Even Macen looked surprised that he had said it – that made two of them. Alex had to wonder if he had been temporarily possessed by the ghost of his role to make him say it. Nope, it had been his accent...

Shit.

“Why do you care?”

That got the human groaning. “Because you're shaking like a fucking leaf and it's not like you! Something about this scene is freaking you out and I want to make sure we don't have to keep redoing it, because I know we're both fucking uncomfortable in this damn armor.”

Seriously, he had one hell of a wedgie and he was pretty sure he had a blister forming in more than a few places.

Much to his surprise, Macen chuckled weakly. “Well at least you're honest. I can give you that, Jones. No bullshit here.”

He stood, leaning over the railing that overlooked the fake club. “Playing Archangel... it's a  really big deal. No one's really gotten him right over the years. He's either mad with power or lost with grief. They never get close to the mark and then suddenly it's thrown into my lap and they tell me good luck with it.”

His talons rasped against the metal as he twisted his hands uselessly. “If I mess up... I'm not doing one of Palaven's greatest heroes justice. Garrus' story deserves to be told the right way. And it scares the shit out of me to think I screw up and be one more fuck up in a long line of them.”

Briefly, Macen looked back. The look he gave almost knocked Alex back. To say he was desperate was putting it mildly. The turian was absolutely terrified as he felt the weight upon his carapace. No wonder he had been shaking so badly, it was a miracle he hadn't been crushed by it. Yet there he was, still in one piece.

…

“It's a heavy weight, getting it right.”

Alex joined him at the railing. He sighed, leaning forward. “I kind of get it... I mean, it's probably different playing Garrus... but Alistair's difficult too.”

Much to his surprise, Macen nodded. At least they could agree on that.

“Like... I'm playing one of the most famous transmen in human history. Somehow I have to pull it together and be the hero everyone expects. If I fuck up... shit, it's going to be nasty.”

Now he was starting to shake a little. “But... we both have to do it, don't we? We have to push through the anxiety and get it right. They gave us the job... so it's up to us to do it right. We have to bear the weight of history and make it look easy.”

He gripped the railing as tightly as he could. There, in that darkened set they both felt the weight pressing down on them. Though they were dressed for the part, neither probably felt anything like what they were supposed to portray.

But... he supposed that was the part of actors. They had to step into the role and do it right. After all, people had put faith in them. And there were countless people waiting for this scene and getting to see Archangel in action.

No pressure or anything.

“You know... maybe you have a little Shepard bullshit in you after all.”

Macen's voice was a little bit stronger as he straightened up. “Bear the weight of history, huh? What a human way to put it.”

Alex felt his cheeks color as he glanced to the side. “Excuse me for not knowing how a turian would refer to it.”

Another chuckle rang out through the dark room, but it didn't sound nervous. Nor for that matter was it particularly malicious. If he had to guess... maybe Macen sounded relieved? With turians, it was hard to tell. They had all that subvocal shit going on that he would never pick up.

But he had stopped shaking.

“You did your best, Jones. Nobody's ever going to come to you for a motivational speech, but you tried.”

There was that tone back. Yep, Macen was back to being an asshole. He was on the mend at last. Now maybe they could get back to wrapping this scene up. They had plenty of fight scenes to get through before Alex would enjoy him getting shot in the face. Oh... he was living for that moment right then as he stood up.

“You coming or what? Our break is almost over.”

Alex jogged to catch up, his shorter legs having to almost double to catch up to his turian costar. They shared a brief dirty look as they left Afterlife behind, heading back to where people were waiting for them.

“Also... thanks.”

Macen was gone before Alex could register what had happened – someone needed to touch up his makeup, his actual orange tattoos were starting to show under the blue face paint. He was left standing there, confused.

That... was weird.

Oh well. He returned to his original position, slamming his prop helmet back on for the reshoot. Beau was next to him, also setting up. Both got to watch as their turian costar moved up the stairs with the gait of a man on a mission. At least he was holding his gun right this time.

Good, someone told him.

“Whatever you did, it worked.” Beau had whispered that – the lights were dimming as things set back up for the big reveal. “Nice going.”

Sure... he wasn't sure what he had done, but why not?

Anyway, it didn't matter. In that matter of seconds, Alex had gotten himself back into Shepard's mindset as they started rolling. There were mercs in his way keeping him from Archangel, and he wasn't going to let him down.

Just one wave to go... and then the door would be safe to approach.

“And action!”

Time to become the guy who saved the universe again. No problem.

[g-29astarothtrinity]

ASW-G-XXV Gundam Kimaris Venandi

Custom Retrofitted Gundam Frame - High Mobility Type General Purpose Mobile Suit

Pilot: Spike Spiegel

Affiliation(s): Guild of Bounty Hunters (GBH), United Federation (former), Red Dragon Syndicate (former).

Powerplant: Ahab Reactor x2

Armaments: 

Experimental 140mm Dual-Stage Linear Rifle: A high caliber semi-automatic rifle for mobile suits that utilizes a chemical propellant as the first stage and an integrated electromagnetic rail system as the second stage of acceleration. Rounds have enough kinetic yield to rip through most mobile suits in a few shots. Intended as a mass produced battle rifle, it was deemed too expensive by the United Federation Armed Forces and funding was cut. The few that were produced would end up on the black market, and with one lucky owner being a certain space cowboy who uses it as a last resort.

75mm Pistols (x2): Intended for close range combat and can double as point defense against missiles and rockets when loaded with flak rounds. Spike’s go to weapons when attempting to capture targets preferably alive.

 Mobile Suit Vibro Knives (x2): Vibrate at high frequency to assist in cutting through armor. 

 Feet-Mounted Blades: a pair of blades are integrated into each feet, and deploy by folding out. 

Special Equipment/Systems:

Alayna Vijnana - Assist Type “Julia”: a pseudo variation of the Alayna Vijnana man-machine interface system that allows the user to tap into nearly the full potential of the interface without putting severe and crippling strain on brain and body nervous system. User maintains full control, with the system acting as an assist by providing the necessary additional “computing” power necessary to offset any neurological strain from the interface. Assist Type Alayna Vijnana of this kind are rare. Inspired by the Alayna Vijnana Type Eins.

Multi-Purpose Launchers: A pair are mounted in the side skirt binders, these multi-purpose launchers are primarily used to fire homing harpoons to latch into targets, especially when they attempt to flee. A voltage can be channeled through the wire into the harpoon. The homing harpoons can be switched out for explosive sabot rods which are fired to best effect at close to medium ranges.

Hyper Jammer + Cloak: A powerful military grade jammer and cloaking device. This helps the Venandi stay mostly undetected from most radar and scanners while scrambling enemy communications when active.

Supplemental Ahab Reactor: A third Ahab reactor is mounted in the backpack to provide additional supplemental power to systems such as the hyper jammer and cloaking device. It’s true purpose, however, is to conceal the signature frequency given off by the Gundam’s two Ahab reactors which is unique to each Gundam frame. 

Operational History Overview

Spike’s personal mobile suit in his bounty hunting endeavors and mishaps across the known Mily Way, Gundam Kimaris Venandi is a custom retrofit of a legend from the Calamity War. One of the Gundam frames thought to have been completely destroyed, it was supposedly found among war wreckage with its frame still in optimal condition. Initially, the mobile suit was repaired and retrofitted for Mobile Suit Racing by engineer and old friend of Spike, Doohan. However, it was instead gifted to Spike sometime after he had left the Red Dragon Syndicate, and was modified for high mobility combat with an emphasis on pursuit and capture. It was at this time that the Gundam’s Alayna Vijnana system was also modified and converted into an assist type. Spike often refers to the Assist Type Alayna Vijnana as “Julia”, after a past love interest of his.

Post-Build Notes:

I’m really happy with how my first custom gunpla build came out, despite all the setbacks. I used the HGIBO Gundam Vidar as the base, and customized it with parts from Gundam Kimaris Vidar and Gundam Bael, along with additional vernier thrusters on the side skirt binders and back skirt. Also modified the back skirt for installation of a weapons storage rack for either a sword or two knives.

As per usual with High Grade Iron-Blooded Orphans Gundam kits, the articulation of the inner frame is very good. However, there are some areas that could be much better. First, I’ve heard about how the back binders from the HG Vidar are loose, but my issue is that they are too close to the shoulders thus restricting backwards movement of the arms. The front skirts have a similar issue, but not as severe of course. It’d be better if the pelvis section of these kits was just pushed out a little further to give just a little more leeway between the front skirts and the legs. I’ve already accidentally scratched some paint off one of the upper leg parts, but at least those red painted parts have no decals so reapplying paint will not be much of a hassle.

I’ve built the Venandi with upgrades in mind already, so this is just Phase 1. Goes along with its backstory I’m creating as part of a larger crossover Gundam universe. The Phase 2 upgrade package will fix the backpack issue for sure, in addition to other changes.

[annakie]

An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Four

Wherein we make it to the Citadel, and do a lot of running around.

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

So right away, we meet Udina and the Council, way to throw us right into it.  

It’s a brief introduction and gives us an idea what Humanity is up against and who is representing us.  Basically, we’re supposed to get the idea that it’s a lot of bureaucratic bullshit, I guess.

This is also the first time we see Asari and Salarians, and they’re in reddish-brown and white, which really isn’t the best look.

Bioware continues to push the story forward.  We get enough to know that Udina is kind of an ass, and the Council isn’t going to just trust what some guy says even if he is the representative for billions of people.

And finally, after this, we’re set free.

The Citadel I think is one of the coolest locations in like almost any game I’ve ever played.  They do a great job of both making it feel huge, but also accessible.  Enough bridges to get across to places you need to get to, and after you walk somewhere once, Citadel Rapid Transit is great.  I still choose to take elevators about 80% of the time even when I can CRT somewhere, just because I like the squad conversations and news updates. There’s a shorter elevator rides mod that helps, too.

There’s so much to do and see, and having one of the main areas just be such an awesome combination of scifi futurism and lush greenery + water is both trippy and breathtaking.  I think, especially with the updated graphics mods/settings, the Presidium especially holds up fairly well.  I mean it definitely feels more populated and modern in ME3 but, I just consider this to be more of a residential / professional area of the Presidium and most of what we see in ME3 is a more retail section.

It’d be annoying to be a groundskeeper here, though.  Lots of green areas that you’d really need to climb to, or garden on a steep slant. :p

I always found it interesting that the natural first place to head to is into the ambassador’s office next door, where we find some friendly aliens, and one not-so-friendly one.  But honestly, this is a great place to find out the different ways other species view humanity, and how there’s apparently tiers of respect given to various species.

I always kind of hoped the Elcor would feature more prominently into the world in future games, but at least we got Hamlet.  I have SO MANY QUESTIONS about how Elcor like... do things?  We never see it but you have to assume that their hands have opposable thumbs and they’re able to stand on two legs, right?  I want to see what an Elcor ship looks like and Dakuna specifically.  Give us more elcor, Bioware!

BTW, the Mass Effect: Annihilation (aka the book that was supposed to be based on the Quarian Ark DLC that never happened in Andromeda) is totally worth reading just for the elcor character in it.  It’s also probably the best of the Mass Effect books, in my opinion.

Din Korlack’s got a point though, they not only have to share an office, but their view isn’t nearly as good as the human’s.  This is especially bullshit for the volus, who could stand on that railing and probably STILL wouldn’t have a view.

I love how Mass Effect 2 takes her from a completely forgettable character to making me think  “Sorry you’re gonna die in a few weeks, your mom’s really gonna miss you.” every time I see her.

PALIN DESERVED BETTER.

I don’t remember which ME3 mod it is, maybe the Spectre Expansion Mod or maybe EGM, but thank you whichever modder it was who made Palin’s story and death more clear in ME3.  Sorry Udina got you killed.

Also, it was good to get a dissenting opinion on Spectres from him.

Avina is such a good, optional way to get more loredump.  Yes, you can again ask them about Spectres if you want to hear about them again.  But I liked that each Avina terminal taught you a little more about whatever you were nearby, and the state of the galaxy in general and since they were programmed to be information dumps, it felt more natural to get information this way.

Don’t these people have jobs?

I love the Krogan statue, and the Avina terminal nearby telling you about it.  But now every time I see it, all I can picture is Grunt and his buddies climbing it.  So good.

Managed to get a clean shot of the crew without the UI in the elevator, thanks Flycam!  You have about a half a second to get this shot though, because the camera is stationary while the elevator is not.

Oh hell-lo Pailin, who is your charming-looking friend there?

This entire conversation needs to be longer. It’s a nice, quick introduction to Garrus, but, well, let’s spend a little more time with the main characters!!

I mean how can you not just not immediately love that?  Hey remember how bad Garrus’ face texture used to be?  Thanks, modders.

I just really love the Citadel tower.  Absolutely beautiful and atmospheric.

SO the thing is, if you can pretend that Saren isn’t, you know, already half Reaperized, 100% the Council is right to not just go throwing one of their longer-term agents in jail because Shepard had a bad dream and a random dockworker said the guy who killed Saren looked like this.

Honestly though, this and OH A GOOD CHUNK OF MASS EFFECT 2 would be so much easier if Shepard wore a bodycam. :p

Also, I wonder who took the dockworker’s testimony?  Did Kaidan run back real quick while Shepard was sleeping?

This was an embarrassment for humanity, and I agree with Udina that we needed more to go on before making demands of the council.  The council is right to not convict based off a bad dream Shepard had.  Go get some real proof!  Also, do a bunch of sidequests!

And scan some Keepers for this shady guy!

Which is actually good quest design, because you really have to go to every nook and cranny in the Citadel to find them all, though it would have been nice if they showed up on the minimap.   Really gets you to explore and get to know the area like the back of your hand.

This time around, I forgot to grab the one outside Dr. Michele’s office and had to hunt for it before heading up to grab the last one at the docks.

Thank you, though, Barla Von, for telling us all about the Shadow Broker and telling us about Wrex.  See u in ME3.

Bioware please give us diverse-suited volus in a remaster.  Maybe I’m reusing a pic of Din Korlack, you’ll never know! :p

Thanks, texture modders, for really highlighting what the end of the hanar’s noses look like. 

The hanar are another species I wish we got more of throughout the series.  They are probably the most alien of all the aliens we interact with.   I mean, at least we got Blasto.  I’d really love to visit Kahje someday.  I know it’s in the comics, but you know, in-game.

Annnd let’s go visit Sha'ira.

I have very mixed feelings about Sha'ira.  On one hand, she’s clearly very respected, is probably making bank, in control of her own destiny etc.  On the other hand, she’s probably the asari we have the second most interaction with in this game after Liara, and after just seeing Benezia’s boob-tastic clothing and then heading to Chora’s Den soon to see the dancing asari we’re getting a very slanted view of the species.  I think Bioware course corrects in later games but oof this is such a dude-fantasy alien species in ME1 it hurts.  Especially since Liara is almost a born-sexy-yesterday trope.

Also... don’t touch me if I don’t wanna be touched. =\

Noveria advertisements... that just say Noveria.  I guess this is effective marketing in 2148.

Look how great those shadows from the tree are... actual definition in shadow... wow.

Raise your hand if you’ve missed this conversation in a playthrough before and reloaded like an hour or more past to make sure you get it.

It’s one of those little moments that they didn’t have to put in.  Just a little conversation reflecting on humans and humanity, and our place in the world, and showcasing Ash’s wit and Kaidan’s adorkableness.  Also making sure you appreciate all the work that went into this particular view.  It’s a pause in the action and all the things you have going on, and it’s so great for characterization and making you feel a part of the world.  

Speaking of the view... I decided to flycam it.  Warning, I spoil some of the “magic” below.

Pretty quickly, you see that the arms are actual objects, untextured on the non-visible side.

I decided to head for the closest line of “cars” on the bottom center-left to see what those “cars” looked like.

Flycam feels pretty fast when you’re trying to frame a specific shot just right... but when you need to travel a great distance, it feels verrry slow.

It took me probably close to five minutes of traveling to make it all the way there.

What I discovered was... a few of the buildings are real, the rest are a very good painting.

This is how far away the citadel is from the rest of the map. That grid would be that entire view from outside Dr. Michele’s office all the way to the edge of the shops on the other side, plus some extra.

So both the building that those “cars” (the string of white lights) are coming from and going to are... on the painting.  Neither one are physical objects.

Made some gifs.

You can see the lights moving at a mostly-downward angle, while it looks like they’re just heading south when standing on the Citadel.  Also you can see other lights moving farther up the map.

And here you can see the lights “disappearing behind a building” but they’re really just hitting an invisible wall, the dark angle of that building is just a part of the wall painting.   

Looking up from the wall...

So that was a fun distraction.

Emily Wong deserved:

Better.

An entire shirt.

A mention in ME3 after she gave her life on social media defending Earth against the reapers while keeping her cool reporting on the invasion the day before ME3′s release.

That day before launch though... was amazing.  Bioware did such a great job on social media with the reaper invasion happening on twitter.  I loved that lots of fans got into it, too, posting photoshops and their own reaper invasion stories.  I remember being at work that day but not actually working very much.  A few friends and I had a google hangout going on to report in on anything we saw happening on social media and keep up with it and to be very hyped together online.  

We reblogged a bunch of it on fuckyeahbioware starting about here and working backwards through numbers.  

One of the ME3 mods, and again, sorry, don’t remember which, does give Emily a nice tribute through an email.  She deserves it.

Okay that’s enough for this post!  Will try to finish up the Citadel next time!

[scars-of-the-hart]

Mass Effect 3: From The Ashes -Chapter 2: Burnout

Chapter Two

Burnout

She knew she looked like shit.  The dreams had come again last night, with a vengeance. She could barely look Garrus in the eye as they ate together in the mess, the rest of her crew cheerfully discussing their options for shore leave when they arrived at Palaven. She had done her best to show the usual “Shepard” bravado. Ordered Ash and Vega to get a room in a different building than hers so she didn’t have to hear any of their “recreation,” asked what the best sushi restaurant was, and made comments about taking in the “native scenery” with a pointed, slow scrutiny of Garrus that she swore had actually made him blush.  If Turians could blush… to her horror, she had learned they could bruise.

Once upon a time, once upon a different “Commander Shepard,” she probably wouldn’t have been so casual with her crew. Would have kept her liasons - no fuck “liasons,” her dating life - more private and encouraged others to do the same. She never would have striven for the uptight (in her opinion), stupid professionalism and lack of… liasing… that she knew other officers expected. These were warriors. All of them. Whether they charged out behind her with a gun or made sure the water-filtration system stayed funcional, they had all faced death day in and day out.  And… it was a bunch of mostly humans stuck together in a tin can flying through a vacuum, with things outside (and sometimes inside) that wanted to kill them - spirits knew they needed to take the edge off somehow.

“Spirits”… she’d started swearing like him… well… like he did when he thought she was asleep and couldn’t hear him.

But trying to keep that “professionalism” in the face of so much death, loss and destruction, to stifle anything that might make someone laugh, feel something other than fear, make someone blush... that pursuit seemed petty now.

She felt exhausted at the thought of trying to keep up that bravado when they reached Palaven.  Garrus had assured her that she would have a place of honor among Turians till the end of time for what she had done to save their planet, not to mention the personal services she had done for the Primarch. He told her that she’d better not worry what they thought. But to be honest, that just felt like more pressure.  She had a feeling she might miss being the rogue, back-from-the-dead Spectre everyone thought was crazy, saying that there were monsters hiding under everyone’s cars, rather than the all-saving “Shepard.”

Maybe she should just spend a few months on Tuchanka. At least if she threw a fit and yelled “GO AWAY I SAVED YOU ALL I’M TIRED STILL” she would get some begrudging respect for her level of aggression. She had a feeling the same behavior on Palaven would have them looking at her with pursed mandibles and thinking her “primitive.”

But she wanted to go back now, for his sake. He tried to play it cool, but she knew he was worried. He never for a moment gave any sign that he wanted to be anywhere but her agonizingly slowly healing side. You would think being “synthesized” and full of these little… strands of… something (it was infuriating that no one could tell her what they were) would make you heal fast or some shit like that, but no. The organic part of her stuck with being very organic and patched up at a snail's pace. But she could tell that he felt he urgently needed to get back to Palaven. His father and sister had made it out when the Reapers attacked, barely, but his sister had a broken leg, and the two of them had been very guarded when discussing the health of his mother.

Waking up in his arms in the engine room that morning had been like taking a punch to the gut. He must have taken a seat on the floor at some point, back resting against the wall of the control panel. She had awoken to find herself folded in his arms, her cheek against his bare torso, a sheet from her (no… their bed) half tangled around her but still showing far too much of her underwear-clad body.  She had no memory of being brought into the engine room, no understanding why he was topless; thank the spirits, at least he was wearing pants. She was mortified. She knew he had found her when she had fallen asleep here earlier this week.  She’d woken briefly as he walked down the hall from the engine room, perhaps when she could no longer feel that gentle thrum that surrounded her now.

After waking she had just sat there. Listening to the slow, strangely soothing beating of his heart. At least he was sleeping. After all these fucking dreams… letting him sleep was the least she could do. He was starting to look like shit too. 

And oh god, did she look like shit, she thought as she passed a painfully reflective wall panel, as she made her way towards the bridge.  An engineer passed her with a respectful nod which she returned with a slight smile. They seemed tense, but thankfully said nothing. Well, maybe that was the upside of dying in universe-saving wars… twice. Your crew were impressed or scared of you enough to avoid commenting when you looked like crap. 

She snorted to herself.  She’d have to tell Anderson to use that strategy the next time he had to deal with all the damn politicians. Maybe they could take some shore leave and she could bring him up to speed over a long night of drinks; although he’d probably drink her under the table, coming from London…

The city's name in her head was like a biotic blast to the chest. London. Anderson. Her steps faltered and she grasped the walkway railing with one hand for a moment. Had she really just….was she that stupid? She cursed herself. No, no. There would be no telling Anderson. No seeing that twinkle in his eye behind his Spartan countenance; no hearing him grumble dryly, “I knew it was a bad idea letting them make you a Spectre.”  The pain at that thought was… heavy, as if his absence left yet another mantle of responsibility on her already straining shoulders. Well, she would just have to settle for giving him something interesting to watch from wherever he was now.

She neared the helm and heard EDI and Joker laughing up ahead. Now that was a sound she would never tire of. Garrus thought EDI’s laugh had become eerily human since the synthesis, but Shepard thought it had become delightfully human. She owed the AI an eternal debt of gratitude for what she’d done - not to mention the fact that it meant that Shepard wasn’t the only one changed in ways that no one could understand.

“Hey Shepard!” called Joker as she drew level with them, “Ash told me you were asking for sushi recommendations on Palaven. I’m really sorry but I have something super important to do at the exact time you’re going, so you’ll have to find someone else to be your decoy this time - I mean date.”

At hearing this, EDI began to - no… really? Yep, Shepard wasn’t seeing things - the AI had just rolled her eyes at their pilot.

“Joker continues to think that any kind of combat training, including simple target practice, is a terrible idea,” she said. “Despite Garrus’ and my recommendations.”

“Look,” chided Joker, “I have lived through all these disasters as a pilot. No way am I messing up my survival streak with this one still around and wreaking havoc.” He grinned at her, “With all due respect Commander, I for one think the galaxy would actually be a whole lot safer and quieter if you would stay dead one of these days.”

Her lip twitched. Things would suck without Joker. It would be a hell of a lot harder to deal with all this without him: someone who knew when she couldn’t take any more gentle voices, respectful nods, or awe-filled stares and instead needed a good old ribbing. Needed to feel human for a few minutes.

“I’ll take your feedback into consideration, Lieutenant Moreau.” Shepard said dryly.

“If you want a quieter galaxy, you should accompany her on a mission, Jeff,” EDI offered. “Your lack of cross training is probably the most efficient way to get her killed.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” he shot back at her.

“Well, Lieutenant,” Shepard asked, “Are we still on schedule for our arrival on Palaven? Or have you drifted several days off-course while griping about your untenable world-saving workload?”

EDI snorted. Now even that one surprised Shepard.

“No, Commander. We are on schedule, Ma’am.” he answered. She cringed despite herself. She was fine with that usually, but it never sounded right coming from Joker. “Although, we’ve had a message from Tali.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, she was wondering if there was any way we could make a stop on Rannoch on our way to Palaven.” Shepard frowned. “She said she had something she wanted to discuss with you and Liara in person about the… Reapers settlement.”  His voice tensed as he mentioned the Reapers. She had shared her full account of what happened on the Crucible with the closer members of her crew after they picked her and Garrus up from Sur'Kesh and began their current journey. It had been a long night and somehow, despite being in a private room of a Salarian bar, there hadn’t seemed to be enough alcohol. Joker, despite being obviously horrified by the option to destroy all higher functioning synthetics and the ramifications that would have had for EDI, still seemed very distrustful of the idea of giving intellectual freedom to the Reapers.  She didn’t blame him. The damage they had wreaked on Earth’s surface had been horrifying, but she heard several people, even Garrus, say that the carnage in the skies, Reapers ripping through dreadnaughts like they were made of paper, was like nothing he had ever seen before. And Joker had been in the heart of that maelstrom the whole time.

“Did it sound urgent?” she asked. She hated the thought of Garrus waiting longer to see his family.

“From her tone… yeah.” he sighed. She wondered if, underneath all his blustering, he was as worn out as she was. Garrus had talked about retiring on a beach. But you needed to be able to breathe on your own, and walk on your own to go to a beach, and that had taken her a while. Then there were questions to answer, and people to check in on and… oh well. She’d never spent much time on beaches. Maybe she’d have hated sand and it would have been a waste of time. 

“Alright,” she said. “I’m going to check in with Garrus, see if he thinks we can spare the time.” She started towards the back of the ship, “Don’t have too much fun you two,” she called back over her shoulder. “Moreau, you have the bridge.”

As her footsteps rang on the walkway she heard poorly restrained laughter and grumbling.

“You got Moreau’d” sniggered EDI.

“Yeah well you-”

“Twice!”

“Shut up!”

*     *     *

“The engine room?” Liara asked incredulously. Garrus rubbed his eyes and squinted at the equations he had been pretending to try and pay attention to. He should really just throw in the towel. He was only kidding himself at this point.

“Yeah…” he sighed. “Two nights in a row now. So I guess that’s progress.”

Liara gave him a long disparaging look. She pushed off the wall of the main battery where she had been leaning and took a step towards him.

“I’ll talk to her about assisting with her sleep,” she said.

“No. We’re not there yet.” He sighed.

“I don’t think that’s your call to make,” she said softly.

He closed his eyes, shook his head to clear it and continued after a deep breath, “I… look that’s not what I meant.  She’s proud.” He fixed his eyes on Liara. “You know she is. Do you really think she wants to be asked that now? When who the hell knows who is going to want to meet with her when we get to Palaven?”

She frowned. “All the more reason for her to actually be getting rest on the way there.”

Garrus felt trapped. “Maybe we put a cot in there...”

Liara snorted. “Oh, so having everyone on the ship knowing-”

“We could hide it and when she’s ready to go to sleep-”

“What? Have her sneak into the engine room? That’s better for her pride than biotic assistance?”

“I don’t know, ok? I’ve had as much time to work on this problem as you have!” he snapped.

“And I’m telling you I have a better solution for her,” she retorted.

Garrus could feel his irritation growing. “And, why exactly do you think you know what is going to be better for her?” he growled.

“Because I actually-” she stopped herself and let out a long, suffering breath.

Garrus raised his brows, leaning forward on the console with his forearms, fingers laced before him to prevent them becoming fists. He forced nonchalance and drawled, “Oh? Because you actually what?”

Liara just stared at him coldly.

“What?” he pressed, his temper getting the better of him. “Come on, what were you about to say?”

“It’s not important.”

“Really?” he stood up, crossing his arms, “Because I’m pretty sure we were just fighting about how to best protect and help the Commander of this ship and the person who just saved the whole damn galaxy... and whatever it was you were about to say seemed to be the crux of your argument for your recommended course of action… so I’m pretty sure it’s at least a little noteworthy.”

“It’s not.”

“Then we go with the cot.” 

“Are you really making jokes about this?” she scowled.

“A little humor can’t hurt.” 

Liara shook her head. “A little humor? She’s having traumatic night terrors and you’re cracking jokes-”

“Don’t you judge me! I’m the one watching her wake up screaming-” he snarled.

“Oh poor you!” she bit back. “If it's so hard on your precious sleep then let me-”

“Liara, that dependance is going to crush her-”

“How do you know until you ask-”

“Because I know her-”

“NO YOU DON’T.”

It was his turn to go silent, to freeze as the anger coiled within him. “Is that what you were going to say? “Because I actually know her?” Better than I do? Is that it.” He could feel his head pounding.

Her jaw was tight. “You two had one fling nearly a year ago and now a few months of-”

“But your fling years ago makes you the expert-”

“It wasn’t a fling,” she hissed. “I was completely invested-”

“But was she?” He cut back. Liara’s face stilled. Damn. He… he knew it had been a low blow… he was just so-

“At least it didn’t take her dying the first time for me to notice her.”

 Cold outrage filled him, but also a whisper of fear, or regret. She seemed to sense it, she laughed bitterly.

“Incredible.” She walked towards the door but stopped before it, not even bothering to look at him, like someone taking a shot there was no way they could miss; someone who knew there was no outcome besides the bullet finding the mark. Quietly, she added, “and I never would have waited to further things with her. Not if there was even one chance that we might not have much time.” 

She tapped the panel on the wall and the doors slid open. Good, he thought. Leave. Leave him to do something useful and distract him from the all-to-real fears she had mocked. But to his frustration she closed the panel and looked at him, this time with the barest trace of pity, which actually pissed him off more.

“She needs sleep, Garrus.” she said, her first words without venom in a while. “And so do you.”

“I sleep fine.” He growled.

“No you don’t.” He opened his mouth to retort but before he could, she added, “And I know you don’t because I’ve been sitting outside her cabin doors at night, and I can feel you lying there watching her,” she sighed. It did nothing to dispel the air of tension in the room. Her pity deepened, “and you said that you're the one who’s ‘watching her wake up screaming.’”

The doors to the battery snapped open and Shepard stared at them.  “Did I miss something about a meeting?” she asked dryly.

“Ah - no we -” stammered Garrus.

“You sure? I’ve been sleeping like shit, it’s totally gonna make me miss something. I need to see Chakwas or someone about it later…”

“No,” Liara said smoothly, stepping past Shepard, “Garrus was having some trouble with his calculations.” She gave him a meaningful look. “...but I was just able to show him he was wrong.” And with that she left, sealing the door behind her. Garrus seathed silently. He’d have to see if the shooting range had a blue practice dummy.

Shepard gazed at the closed portal for a moment, looking perplexed, “Ok,” she said at last, then crossed to him. “Garrus, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Anything for you, Shepard.” he said, forcing the damned Asari from his mind and focusing on the woman before him. Damn, she looked more tired than she had been earlier that morning.

She smiled at him, then grew serious. “I know that we were trying to get back to Palaven as quickly as we could to check on your family. But… we just got a message from Tali. She needs Liara and I for something on Rannoch. I think it has something to do with the Reapers, and Joker said it sounded urgent.”

The Reapers, of course she’d have to deal with them even now. His chest was tight but he purred mischievously. “Commander, you flatter a grunt like me by coming here, but our headings are your call.”

“You’re pretty, but don’t think you’re that important,” she said, smacking his arm lightly, then adding seriously, “I just know you’re worried about them and it's been a while since we had any news.”

His heart warmed at her concern. “They’re Vakarians, Shepard. We’re hard to kill. Haven’t you dragged me through hell enough to learn that yet?”

“Clearly not,” she laughed, “Guess we’ll have to keep getting into trouble till it sinks in. But seriously, you’re sure?”

“Yeah,” he said, squeezing her hand. “It’ll be fine. Besides… Reapers.... who else are they going to call.....”

She groaned and rolled her eyes. Then squinted at the calibrations on the screen. “So you really needed math help from Liara?” 

“No!” He snapped, before he could help himself, “Uh- well- she was exaggerating.” Yeah, he had definitely seen a blue target practice dummy in the back of a locker somewhere….

“Oh my god, you did!” she teased, “Wow, you must be more worn out than I am.” She squinted at him. “You look like shit, Vakarian. I’ve learned by now Turians can blush and bruise but I didn’t know you could get eyebags too.” He growled at her. “You’re lucky I like scars so much.”

That was it. He grabbed her and pinned her to the wall. 

“Really, Shepard?” he breathed. “Well, then let’s take a look everywhere and see who has more….”

The light dancing in her eyes made his mouth dry. He pushed away his worries and the small, self-conscious voice Shepard had just woken up, and focused on her. Although, it was a bit of a struggle. Did she really have to go there? He knew he looked like shit.

[journal-of-an-outlaw]

Get to know me tag

Thanks for the tag @fangirl-ramblings !!

Name: Carrie

Height: 5’ 7"

Wearing: Just got off of work so a skirt, tights, boots, and my bulky cardigan that I just broke out for Fall ya’ll 

Introvert or Extrovert: Extrovert (like a dumbass Gryffindor) 

Siblings: One younger sister 

Following: 355 

Followers: 205 apparently. I didn’t know I passed 200 but it’s probably all bots!!

Degrees: Anthropology and art history. My emphasis was in archaeology, and I was obsessed with the Mayans. Although here I am at 26 not using either so be careful what you wish for kids. 

Instruments: I sing mostly. Used to play piano, flute, and a variety of percussion instruments all through school. Also dicked around with the guitar for a bit. 

Favorite author: I’m always stuck on this, but probably Libba Bray. Her A Great and Terrible Beauty series literally changed my teenage life. 

Last Google search: “what Greek god/goddess is your parent” sue me. I love those quizzes 

Recommend a videogame: LMAO like my whole blog isn’t dedicated to Red Dead 2?? Other recommended would be Until Dawn, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, or Tomb Raider. I really like video games lol. 

Recommend a music album: My two favorite albums of all time are Babel by Mumford and Sons, and Viva la Vida by Coldplay. I know, basic white girl music, but those are two of the greatest written albums I’ve ever heard and the words resonate with me to this day. 

Recommend a book: If you’ve never read it, A Great and Terrible Beauty. It’s a trilogy about a boarding school in 1895, and a girl who has magical powers that she inherited from her mother. On the surface it’s her and her three friends running around basically an old castle and trying to change their lives and be happy but it is so much more. They rail against the confines of their time and station and how utterly unfair everything is and what they wish they could do to change it. It’s how they find love in every part of their lives even if they hate it, and what that love means and how it grows. It taught me to fight with every fiber of my being even if no one supports you because doing what is right isn’t always easy. I could literally go on and on about this book and that series but I’ll wrap it up haha.

Recommend a recipe: ooh I love this no bean turkey chili that I found. Please ignore that blog title I couldn't find it anywhere else

 https://www.skinnytaste.com/no-bean-turkey-and-sweet-potato-chili/

Share a creative thought that you had today: that one about Hosea being Woody and Dutch being Buzz and Hosea leaning in and being like “You. Are. A. Toy!” 

Tagging: @the-awkward-outlaw @smithandrogers @lady-death-herself and anyone else who wants to do it! <3 

[thedistantstorm]

A Steelponcho Dawning - Part 3

A Dawning romance featuring the Commander and the Clan Steward, their feelings for each other coming to a head during the first Dawning celebration following the Red War, featuring Lord Saladin, city food, eventual smut, and a whole lot of pining. Continues from: part 1, part 2. 

The still-recently awoken Traveler always seems to cast a pale light into the sky while it silently guards the city beneath it. Too often, Suraya finds herself staring at it in astonishment: easily distracted from work and her duties as she watches its pieces spin around in a quiet orbit around the largest part of its mass. Some said the great machine looked ugly, but she liked it better this way. Imperfect, yet beautiful in a way that spoke of the challenges it and all of those who protect and were protected by it faced everyday.

Some nights, when she feels overwhelmed, she makes a large loop around the Tower, lingering at the points where the Tower’s catwalks and balconies face toward the great white ball in the sky and the rebuilding City below it. The combination of this time of year’s crisp, cold air and the view is perfect weather for thinking things through. More so than usual. The dusting of snow across the top of the Tower and the crunch of it beneath her boots makes her feel more like she’s in the wilds rather than domesticity. It makes it easier to stare out at the concrete and the oranges-yellow-whites that made up the lights of the City carrying on below.

She often finds herself standing where Zavala stands, during the daytime. One would never notice unless they looked for it, but there are small, barely noticeable dips in the steel railings from his iron grip and the anxious bang of his fists against it. She sometimes puts her narrow, smaller hands in the dips, the metal cold, but worried smooth by his might. It’s soothing, in a way.

Much like he is, to her.

It’s been several days since she’s seen him for more than a minute, and she’s kept her messages with him to strict business. The flames of the Iron Banner roar well into the night, and she finds herself listening to the sage words the last of the Iron Lords gives to lingering Guardians who seek reward packages after he’s stopped announcing the day’s matches. She suspects that Zavala has been busy tending to his guest. If Zavala treats Saladin at all like he had treated her when she first took up residence in the City, she is certain he’s been busy.

There is a quiet crunch in the inch or two of snow behind her, and she does not need to look to know it is the man she’s been thinking of. He steps around her, lingering just close enough that the bottom of his pauldron brushes the top of her shoulder.

“Evening,” She greets quietly. “What’re you doing out here so late?”

“Waiting for you.”

She turns her head to the left to regard him. He’s looking down at the City lights, twinkling in oranges and yellows, the jet-trails of sparrows and ships a shade of blue lighter than his eyes.  “For me?”

“You’ve been making yourself scarce,” He tells her. And then, quietly, “I’ve missed you.”

“I miss you too,” She mumbles back, leaning against his arm. He's always been good about letting her come to him, or knowing when she's ready for company. “Been busy.”

“Avoiding me, perhaps.” Suraya glares up at him and he grins though he doesn’t tip his head down the little ways it would take to look at her. She knows he wouldn’t so openly smile if they weren’t reasonably alone, and he certainly wouldn’t be teasing her so.

“Y’know,” She says quietly, “I like our friendship. Gets a little lonely when we're too busy and only get to act all professional and distanced. Makes it feel like this is some big secret.”

He chuckles, though it’s mostly a rumble that she feels through his arm, quiet-like. “I wouldn’t want to frighten the Guardians,” He says softly. “Likely for the best that they continue to believe us to be colleagues who spend entirely too much time working.”

“That part’s true though,” She laughs. “We’re both. By the way, you still have to finish that blanket you started at my place,” She reminds him. “I can’t curl up with it until you’re done or else I’ll ruin it.”

“You are ridiculous.”

“Actually, I am cold,” She corrects, smiling now. “And I’ve been tucking my feet under that blanket while you’ve been knitting it. So maybe I could tuck the rest of me under it, if you ever finished it.” She waggles her eyebrows in a strange type of insinuation, a playful request.

It has the desired effect, and the Commander’s purpose seems to be realized, for next he says, “Come then, let’s go.”

“Now?” Suraya looks surprised. “It’s so late?”

“Do you have something to do in the morning?” Zavala’s gaze is fond. “I thought we both have a later shift.”

She shakes her head, agreeing with him. “No, I’m not doing anything before work, unless you count making breakfast in the morning.”

He smiles, turning her around with an arm on her shoulder. “See? Come, Suraya,” He murmurs quietly.

“Twist my arm,” She grouses as she relents, as though she’s made some grand concession. She laughs as he frowns, serious in the eyes of the rest of the Tower as they head toward her apartment walking just close enough that their arms touch.

Above them, Saladin Forge’s eyes follow the pair’s tracks through the small accumulation of snow. He has no idea what they’ve been saying, they are quiet, but his curiosity is beyond piqued.Their body language, despite how hard Zavala tries to remain professional, is comfortable. They are companions, Saladin realizes. Perhaps lovers?

Zavala was never one to keep companions around, and certainly not ones that worked with him. It’s good for him, the Iron Lord thinks. He’ll push his former student to set up plans for them to meet in the morning. It is late, which only further creates intrigue, but there are some things he does not care to know.

-/

Zavala wakes with a pleasant warmth against him, easily drifting back to sleep. A few moments later, when his eyes blink open, he finds again that he is heavily weighed down by that same feeling of warmth and comfort. It’s odd, his sleep addled brain thinks, because he so very rarely feels this cozy upon awakening. A gentle reach for the blanket, has him reorienting, because it is a crochet blanket, he is definitely not in a bed, and there is a weight on top of him - a body, soft and pliant - also asleep.

Vaguely, he recalls that he’d finished the blanket with Suraya dozing next to him, head lolling onto his shoulder occasionally. Once he’d tied it off, he should have told her to go to bed - he had - but she had wanted to stay on the couch, use the blanket for a bit since he’d finished it and the yarn was soft and cozy(and so was he, his brain reminds him of her half-asleep mumbling).

This was her fault, not his, he lies to himself when she hums into his chest and tightens her arms around him in her sleep. He breathes deep. She is clearly comfortable and needs the rest. They both do. He pushes the thought away that they would be more comfortable sleeping in their beds. He is content here, with the soft rise and fall of each of her breaths against him. A little while longer then, Zavala reasons. Not too much, though. He smooths a hand down the side of her face, wraps his arms around her (just to keep her secure, of course), and lets himself go.

The next time his eyes open, it is because of the light of morning coming through the windows, illuminating her flat. He looks down, surprised to find that he is not only alone, but the blanket is tucked around him tightly.

There is sound coming from the kitchen, the sizzle and spatter of something cooking. Something delicious. Eggs, and… something else. It smells like dough and butter. He leans his head back, closes his eyes.

He has no idea what time it is, but he's sure she would wake him up if it were late. He lays back against the arm of the couch and summons his ghost. She informs him quietly that all is well, around the same time Suraya pads quietly into the living room wearing the same clothes as the night before, with the addition of an oversized sweater to combat the cool morning air.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

He sits up and stretches, grunting in reply.

“You wanna stick around? It's early and I made enough for two. Coffee’s brewing.”

He nods. “Let me freshen up.”

When he returns to the small kitchen area, his breakfast is already plated and waiting for them, but she's coming up behind him, his tablet in hand.

“Sorry,” She says, handing it to him, “It was dead when I woke up. Figured you'd want it charged.”

“Thanks,” He replies, taking it back. “And for this,” He gestures at the omelette and pancakes on his plate.

She laughs. “This is nothing. Sorry to fall asleep on you. You seemed pretty content when I got up, but I'm sure you didn't sleep great.”

“I can assure you I've slept far worse.” He takes a bite of the omelette and has to pause. “This is incredible.”

He always says that about her cooking. “It's an omelette,” She says flatly. “The pancakes are my specialty.” She winks. “Also, you're an excellent pillow.”

He hides his cough with a sip of some freshly squeezed orange juice - preferable to burning his mouth on coffee. “You're not a horrible blanket, yourself,” He replies after a moment, and she blushes furiously. Turnabout is fair play.

He could absolutely do this more often, he acknowledges. He just wishes he could ignore the voice of reason inside him, the part of him that's more Commander and less Zavala, that says they should not.

[aion-rsa]

15 Best Nintendo Franchises Ranked

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Sony and Microsoft super fans will have a hard time admitting it, but Nintendo has created the most incredible catalog of properties in the history of gaming. They may get made fun of for their slow development time and occasionally repetitive entries within their biggest franchises, but people just can’t get enough of that feeling they get when they re-discover Mario jumping on Goombas or Kirby transforming into his nemeses.

With nearly four decades of game creation to explore, it’s hard to rank the absolute best franchises from Nintendo’s considerable history, but that’s exactly what we’ve set out to do. To clear up any confusion, this isn’t a list of the best characters in Nintendo’s history, so you may see Mario starring in multiple entries in this hierarchy (he’s dipped his gloves into just about everything). This also isn’t a ranking of individual Nintendo games, though the overall quality of the individual games within these franchises obviously influenced their ranking.

From sci-fi foxes and pink puffs to mascot brawlers and pocket monsters, these are the 15 best Nintendo franchises ever:

15. Mario Party

Board games have sometimes struggled to battle the popular perception that they’re an outdated form of entertainment. People (sometimes falsely) believe kids don’t have the attention span required to sit still and enjoy them for more than a few minutes, and adults sometimes get tired of trying to get enough people together to play one. Of course, before Mario Party, few people realized how strong the relationship between video games and board games could be.

For over two decades, Mario Party has been delighting families (and driving them crazy) with its wild hijinks, creative minigames, and whimsical board designs associated with the Mushroom Kingdom and its colorful inhabitants. Some entries are obviously more memorable than others (Mario Party 2 is the arguable high point of the franchise), but all of them have the same objective: to encourage in-person multiplayer gaming with people you care about.

14. F-Zero

Before he was known as a Super Smash Bros. staple, Captain Falcon and his iconic Blue Falcon racer led a franchise that many racing fans still call one of the most intense ever. The franchise combines strong gameplay with revolutionary characterization and world-building in a genre that typically isn’t known for either of those qualities. 

Sadly, it’s hard to talk about F-Zero without eventually addressing the fact that it is a mostly defunct relic from Nintendo’s past. There still hasn’t been a mainstream series release since the critically acclaimed F-Zero GX for the Gamecube in 2003, but the fire that fans have for this series’ unique futuristic environments, blazing speed, and racer backstories still burns bright in 2021. 

13. WarioWare

Humor is sometimes severely lacking in gaming, especially at a time when so many violent and cinematic franchises command the attention of the masses. Thankfully, Wario has always had enough fart jokes, snarky comments, and crude companions to make up for the dearth of humor on the gaming market. Of course, WarioWare is so much more than a few laughs and the five-second microgames that compose the core gameplay of the series. 

The franchise has been a pioneer in creative character building, multiplayer functionality, and innovative game design since 2003. Up until the Wii U, audiences could expect Wario, Jimmy T, Mona, and Dr. Crygor to showcase the technological potential of a new Nintendo console. We’ll all be treated to that zaniness again when WarioWare: Get It Together! launches on September 10 for the Switch.

12. Star Fox

It’s hard to emulate the sci-fi/fantasy mix of Star Wars with anthropomorphic animals and not have the whole thing feel corny, but Shigeru Miyamoto pulled it off when he created the Star Fox franchise in the early 1990s. Fox McCloud and his ragtag cohort of pilots introduced sharp-as-nails on-rails shooting to the Nintendo universe, and the gameplay of the first two (officially released) titles in this series has been hard to beat in the decades since. 

This franchise briefly attempted to explore third-person action gameplay with Star Fox Adventure and Star Fox Assault, but the series sadly fell into the abyss in the 2010s. Despite those recent shortcomings, the furry friends that fly through space will always hold a special place in Nintendo gamers’ hearts for as long as people can access a SNES and Nintendo 64. Do a barrel roll! 

11. Pikmin

The Pikmin series is one of Nintendo’s most daring ventures. It’s essentially a mish-mash of genres that ultimately feels like a strategy/adventure/platform/puzzle/collect-a-thon game. Against all odds, the series combines all of those unique elements rather well and even adds a surprising amount of emotional baggage to the equation. There’s nothing quite like the horror of watching the nickel-sized Captain Olimar and his resilient Pikmin soldiers get snuffed out in a second by a Red Bulborb (shudders). 

The franchise has only had four true entries (three on consoles, one on handheld), but that just keeps everyone hungry for more. The third title was also re-released for the Switch in 2020, and there have been rumors of a fourth console entry in the works since 2015. Hopefully, that sequel becomes a reality soon, because few games in the Big N canon offer so much variety. 

10. Donkey Kong

This franchise essentially gave birth to the entire Nintendo empire as we know it today. After all, the original Donkey Kong arcade game gave Nintendo the financial resources it needed to go on to do even bigger and better things. Better yet, DK became a charismatic fan-favorite character in his own right who has been severely disrespected and forgotten about in recent years.

Always in the shadow of the Mario platformers, and even occasionally demoted to sports and party game fodder, the Donkey Kong franchise still features some of the best games in Nintendo history. Donkey Kong Country and its sequels on the SNES revolutionized 2.5-dimensional graphics, Donkey Kong 64 was a peak 3D experience on the Nintendo 64, and Donkey Konga forced millions of parents to buy plastic bongo drums for their living rooms. It’s too bad we didn’t get anything good for this series’ 40th anniversary this past summer. 

9. Kirby

The “Super Tuff Pink Puff” and his large library of games have an enormous following largely because they can lay claim to being the ultimate representation of what gaming should be: flat-out fun. Kirby’s joyful exterior pairs with a fierce interior to create the perfect balance of a cuddly badass. His trademark mechanic (acquiring the abilities of his enemies on the fly) was revolutionary in the 1990s though it admittedly grew a little stale in the three decades since. 

Nintendo seemed to eventually realize that the franchise was growing repetitive and has since tried to spice things up with entries like 2010’s Kirby’s Epic Yarn (an artsy alternative to the typical platforming in the series) and several brawling-style games (i.e. Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Kirby Fighters 2). No matter the genre, this franchise remains one of the most accessible properties in Nintendo’s portfolio.

8. Animal Crossing

There’s no way Nintendo could have known that was initially seen as their spin on The Sims would turn into such a phenomenon. That title effectively introduced many of the hallmark traits of this series that both casual and hardcore fans have come to adore, such as a real-time internal clock and the ability to interact with animals of all kinds as a curious villager in a town that you get to mold and watch grow.

Most recently, Animal Crossing: New Horizons demonstrated gaming’s ability to bring the world together even when they’re separated by thousands of miles and incredible circumstances. The coronavirus pandemic destroyed lives, careers, and economies, but 32 million copies of that title circulated the planet and even provided a little bit of carefree immersion amongst some very dark days. There’s really no greater feat that a video game can possibly accomplish. 

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7. Mario Kart

The racing genre is hard to get right, but sticking Mario and all of his friends into some wonky karts and letting the items fly has been simultaneously fun and infuriating for decades now. The franchise has brilliantly found ways to tweak and improve a tried and true formula with each new installment, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe may just be the perfect racing game. 

We all know that Nintendo has had a difficult time competing with the other major players in the industry when it comes to online play, but Mario Kart 8 is one of the only examples of the Big N creating a truly great experience in that department. Ruining someone’s morning with a blue shell halfway across the world right before you go to bed is something that can’t be replicated in any other game series. 

6. Fire Emblem

Long before Marth and Roy joined the Super Smash Bros roster, the Fire Emblem franchise became the pinnacle of tough-as-nails strategy gaming in Japan. As the strategy series started to trickle into the homes of more gamers, the entire Western world finally got to experience its brilliantly designed character development, storytelling, and tactical game boards set in visually creative fantasy lands. 

Fire Emblem Awakening essentially saved the entire property when it exploded in sales for the 3DS in 2013, and it’s only been up from there. Fire Emblem: Three Houses expanded the series’ secondary and tertiary elements to great success, but we all know that the foundational reason for the fun is always the chess match between the gamer’s army and the CPU’s enemy faction. This franchise has one of the brightest futures in the industry. 

5. Super Smash Bros.

When Masahiro Sakurai led development on the original Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 he probably had no idea he was working on the ultimate fighting event in gaming history. Every sequel that has followed has expanded on the original’s revolutionary mechanics and style that quickly broke the boundaries of what many believed multiplayer fighting games could be. 

By the time we got to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it became clear to everyone that this series is now a celebration of not only Nintendo as a company but characters previously outside of the conglomerate’s giant grasp. The franchise’s inclusion of Sonic the Hedgehog, Solid Snake, Cloud Strife, and many others demonstrate the power of Smash‘s orbit to bring the entire industry together for one very special gaming experience. 

4. Metroid

Nintendo’s incredible catalog lacks atmospheric, dark, science-fiction properties. Thankfully, Samus Aran’s three-decade-long struggle to take down Space Pirates and battle Ridley has always filled the void. There’s nothing else in gaming that quite challenges Metroid’s ability to combine adventuring, platforming, and puzzle-solving into one incredible entity. 

The series features multiple games that are in the running for the best of their generation, and the anticipation for Metroid Dread shows that fans desperately want to explore the moody depths of Brinstar, Zebes, and Tallon IV for as long as Nintendo will allow them to. 

3. Pokémon

We’ve finally hit the big three Nintendo properties. If you account for all the Pokémon apparel, TV series, movies, trading cards, and more that have spawned from the video games, it’s certainly easy to argue that this franchise is worthy of the top spot on the list. Honestly, though, this series is worthy of at least the third spot on this list based purely on the brilliance of its original adventure. 

Pokémon is special because it focuses on the relationship between humans and animals. Even though the pocket monsters you capture aren’t technically your pets, they sure feel like it after you’ve formed a connection with them after hours and hours of play. This franchise will continue to flourish for as long as Nintendo can think of new types of Pokémon for us to catch in each new generation of games.

2. Super Mario

Nintendo’s mascot has expanded into so many different waters that we sometimes forget just how brilliant his main franchise is. The Super Mario platformers have grown gaming’s potential with nearly every new release, and they have made millions fall in love with the medium for 35 years now. 

It would be easy for Nintendo to rest on Super Mario’s laurels and pump out the same thing year after year, but that almost feels sacrilegious. Instead, every new entry has its own signature style that is ultimately duplicated and admired for years to come. Super Mario continues to open up countless possibilities for platforming and the rest of the gaming industry.

1. The Legend of Zelda

Link’s adventures in Hyrule get the slight edge over Mario’s adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom because no other franchise in gaming has demonstrated that videogames are art on the same level as literature, film, or television as consistently or for as long as much of The Legend of Zelda has. This franchise is more than a game; it’s an experience.

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Boss battles, weapon upgrades, niche characters you meet along the way, and complex dungeons that double as playgrounds for the mind are all trademarks of this series that will never grow old. With this series’ recent evolution into an open-world experience that is changing the ways we think of that genre, there’s no telling how many more incredible gaming experiences we will ultimately owe this franchise in the coming years.

The post 15 Best Nintendo Franchises Ranked appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[fapangel]

Syrian Chemical Retaliation 2 - More Than Cruise Missiles Boogaloo

By now everyone's heard that Syria has once again used chemical weapons against their own civilians, and this time the scale of attack is pretty big. Twitter has been absolutely ablaze today with RUMINT relating to White House meetings and Syrian/Russian forces scrambling about, but one need look no further than Trump's own tweets that name Putin explicitly and promise a “big price to pay” to know that the fecal matter is indeed growing more authentic by the hour. There's been decent evidence that the Syrian regime has engaged in repeated use of CW even after last year's warning from the US, but this attack wasn't only far larger, but also came on the one-year anniversary of the US's retaliatory strike on Shayrat air base; punishment for just such an attack. And if that wasn't enough, this comes only days after Trump announced his desire (and a 6-month timetable) for leaving Syria, now that ISIS is (mostly) licked. It's quite possible this timing was mere coincidence, as the attack achieved a real military goal, scoring a victory for Assad in a months-long struggle with a major enemy force. But all that matters now is appearances, and all things considered it's almost certain that Trump's about to crank Assad's mouth open and force-feed him a heaping helping of FREEDOM. Here comes the airplane!

And it will be airplanes this time - not just cruise missiles.

What's the Goal?

The punitive strike on Shayrat air base was effectively a slap on the wrist; even if it did destroy 20% of the SAAF's operational aircraft. Compared to what we could have done, 60 Tomahawks was a restrained measure, and by targeting the airbase the chemical attack had been launched from, we were sending a message. The message was “this is what we can do with exactly two DDGs and nothing more. Imagine what happens when we get serious. Do not do this again.” Since they've done it again, now we're going to get serious.

This entails punishment. The goal is to make Assad bitterly regret crossing this line by blowing up things he really, really doesn't want blown up - things vital to his regime and its ongoing fight for survival. The target list is extensive and endless - anything from actual Syrian military assets of any sort to important government buildings to vital resources and infrastructure (oil wells, port facilities, etc.) are viable targets.

The target list is expanded by the Syrian war's current ground situation. Last year, the regime's survival wasn't seriously threatened, but it wasn't a sure thing, either. Nowadays the Americans seem set on splitting Syria down the Euphrates, with their Kurdish allies controlling all the major oil fields (i.e. revenue sources) in that area, and after repeated clashes with coalition forces - including the shoot-down of a Syrian Arab Air Force Su-24 and the Wagner group massacre - they've made it clear they intend to keep them, even in the face of concerted Russian-supported efforts to the contrary. This likely prompted the refocusing on long-standing western Syrian rebel strongholds like eastern Ghouta - the land grab is over, now it's about consolidation. In short, the US can inflict a higher level of pain on Assad's regime without seriously endangering its very existence, something that's fairly evidently not in US interests at this time. (It'd be a gift to Iran, who's already set up shop in Syria, and Iran's continuing efforts to control Iraq's new political order is a sharp lesson in what post-Assad Syria would likely look like.) The era of pivotal pitched battles is over, but the slow grinding attrition that remains was painful enough to induce Assad to use CW; ergo, weakening the regime (and lengthening the grind) will sting badly without risk of deciding the whole conflict.

A final consideration is visibility. The reason Assad used chemical weapons is because they're hideously effective and cost-efficient. This is indeed the point of any Weapon of Mass Destruction. This is also why they're terrifying - there's a very strong incentive for any military force to use them frequently; the poorer and more desperate the force, the stronger the incentive. So powerful are they that they're effectively the only counter to themselves; the only good military reason to hold them back is the risk of receiving like attacks in turn. (This kept gas off most battlefields for all of WWII.) Likewise, against those that cannot retaliate in kind, they have been used frequently - see Imperial Japan against China, Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, or even Saddam's gas attacks on Kurds. The only thing keeping the WMD genie in the bottle is, and always has been, the threat of punishment. Letting Assad get away without punishment would indicate to all that no punishment from the US or other major players of the international order will be forthcoming, and then things will get ugly. Thus Assad's punishment has to be something dramatic and memorable. This is worsened by the US's obvious need to avoid deposing Assad - many might conclude (as Assad likely has himself) that since the US cannot afford to remove him, he can use chemical weapons without fear of the ultimate penalty. The punishment must belie that reasoning; must inflict negatives so strong that they blatantly outweigh whatever gain Assad reaped from using WMD. (It's worth noting that Assad's regime and Assad aren't the same thing - if the regime's stable enough to survive without Assad, then he's got a bullseye on his back as we speak.)

Therefore:

What Are The Targets?

* The targets will not necessarily be strictly military: government buildings, dual-use resources, sources of revenue for the regime, are all valid targets. Russia's vested interest in keeping Assad in power works against them here; even if the US miscalculates and deals the regime's support network lethal blows, the Russians (and Iranians) will have to pony up to avoid losing their significant sunk cost.

* The targets will include infrastructure: Assad's regime has to feel the impact of this punishment for it to be effective; it has to impose consequences in daily life for months after the fact. Power plants, national infrastructure (ports, roads, rails,) are all fair game. This is similar to the strategy shift that produced results against Serbia. This requires fine planning and target selection, as one's splitting the line between imposing privations on Assad's civilian support base and imposing starvation, but the US's intel coalition (“Five Eyes”) is easily up to this task.

* The targets will include key personnel: The best way to pose an existential threat to a regime you can't afford to actually destroy is to kill key decision makers and commanders - though their regime will live on, even the most idealistic and patriotic of commanders tend to take the prospect of a JDAM landing in their lap rather personally. If key military and government officials pay for their complicity in CW usage with their lives, it'll send a strong message to anyone else contemplating their use in the future. This targeting needn't be explicit; it could be spun as collateral damage consequent to striking known military sites, for instance.

Taken all together, this means the US will be heading into downtown Damascus.

What's the Defenses?

I've taken a keen interest in the Syrian air defense network and especially how the ravages of civil war has affected it; but even with constant monitoring, it's hard to say with high certainty what its current state and disposition is. The pre-war Syrian IADS was one of the most impressive in the Middle East; while the usual mixed bag of SA-2s and SA-3s with a few SA-5s was present, the system really stood out for its extensive use of SA-6 Gainful's in fixed, hardened positions. (It might seem silly to use a system with fairly good mobility as fixed emplacements, but the rugged terrain of western Syria constrains effective deployment locations, and the SA-6 outperforms the SA-2/SA-3 even when tethered.) Even then the defenses around Damascus, Syria's capital and most important city, were notably dense. And while the subsequent civil war played merry hell with this extensive network's readiness, the importance (and relative security) of Damascus has ensured that its defenses remain especially robust. This only applies to Damascus proper; the defense-in-depth their network used to enjoy is gone (for instance, the known SAM/EW locations near/south of Daraa, which used to guard Damascas's southern approaches, have been in rebel-held or bitterly contested territory for years now.)

Syria's legacy systems aren't the only threat anymore, however. Scattered reports of Iranian assistance have given way to confirmed aid and equipment transfers from Russia; that Syria now operates some Russian-supplied SA-17s and SA-22 Greyhounds (Pantsir-S1) is well documented at this point. The SA-17 is a vastly upgraded SA-6 (Buk) system firing more accurate missiles at longer ranges, and the SA-22 is one of the best point-defense SHORAD systems around, well-suited to defending high-value point targets against cruise missiles and PGMs.

Long-range options are decidedly lacking - the Syrian's legacy SA-5s still pack impressive range and performance despite their age, but even if they've received significant upgrades from their Russian benefactors, they're unlikely to triumph against American ECM assets. The Russians are highly unlikely to commit suicide by firing on US aircraft, but firing on incoming weapons in defense of their allies is fine. They have two S-400 systems (one at their airbase at Latakia and another recently deployed to their port facility in Tartus,) and an S-300VM battery (purpose-built for cruise-missile intercept) somewhere further east (pinpointing this has been difficult, but RUMINT places it near something important further east in the country, which makes sense.) Unfortunately for Syria, the rugged terrain in western Syria (and around Damascus) limit LOS horizons against cruise missiles even more than normal. The Syrians will benefit from these systems superb radars, since Russia's officially claimed to have integrated their air defense networks together, but they suffer the same LOS issues.

Generally, against cruise missiles SAMs can only defend what they're parked next to - especially in the mountains of Syria. Since Russia's S-400s are parked near bases filled with Russians (which the US won't shoot at anyways,) they're mostly a non-factor. Much more significant is Russia's two A-50 AWACS aircraft, and to a lesser extent their 12 SU-30SM and 4 SU-34s and their superb air-to-air, look-down/shoot-down radars. These assets will provide the Syrians with much better early-warning of incoming cruise missiles; the Syrian EW network had low-level coverage gaps even before the war and now they're terribly pronounced. They may even have time to scramble the SAAF.

The final factor is simple standoff range - simply put, between US standoff weaponry, ECM support, stealth options and the ranges involved in-theater, the Syrians will only be shooting at incoming PGMs, not American warplanes. (Note how last night's attack on T4 airbase in the center of Syria was carried out by Israeli F-15's firing Delilah cruise missiles from over Lebanon.) It's only 150 nautical miles from RAF Akrotiri to Damascus - an F-18 could fire a JASSM or SLAM-ER about thirty seconds after going wheels-up.

In short, this will be mostly a battle between American standoff weaponry and ECM against a mix of legacy Syrian SAM systems and modern Russian SHORAD.

What's the Problem?

Normally, an air campaign like this has to crack the hard nut of a well-woven Integrated Air Defense System, focusing on vital nodes like hostile runways, major radars and long-range SAM systems, and increasingly, vital communication nodes (radio, fiber-optic, etc.) to start unraveling the overlapping defense and degrade it to something the attacking force can then pick apart piecemeal. In this case, there's no real overlapping defense for a multitude of reasons; with each important target guarded by its own contingent of point-defense systems - and what wide-area coverage there is, is Russian, and thus verboten to attack. Worse, the majority of likely targets are in or around Damascus; the SA-17s have the range to provide fairly good area coverage of the city and environs, freeing up any SA-22s (and whatever SA-8s they have left,) for point defense of the most likely high-value targets (or SA-17s themselves.)

Defended cities are a unique challenge to assail from the air, as Berlin, Hanoi and Baghdad have demonstrated. It's primarily a matter of area; cities tend to be big enough to disperse targets (and their AA defenses) enough to increase their survivability, but are compact enough that medium-range systems (SA-6, 11 and 17 included) can cover much if not all the area no matter where they're positioned. Thus defensive firepower is concentrated and overlapping, but attackers can't simply knock a “hole” in the defenses or pick it apart by eliminating key radars or communication nodes (even if they can't coordinate target assignment for best effect, they can all turn on their own radar and shoot at something.) Worse, this relative proximity means that single long-range systems aren't responsible for area coverage; so point-defense systems near high-value targets will almost surely benefit from enemy salvo attrition before their “Hail Mary” defense begins.

“Salvo attrition” is the big problem here. Cruise missiles are very accurate, smart, and have a fantastic ability to deliver a nasty punch in places you'd never risk a manned aircraft, but they're expensive and heavy; fighters can carry far more bombs than cruise missiles. Last night's Israeli attack on T4 airbase is a perfect example of the math - two F-15Is fired four Delilah cruise missiles apiece, and the Russians claimed that 5 were intercepted, and 3 struck their targets. Assuming the base was defended by an SA-22 Greyhound, that's exactly what one would expect (given the 57E6's twelve mile range and  the flight times involved, it'd only be able to shoot once at each incoming. Even great point-defense is still a Hail-Mary pass.) This attrition imposes a minimum round count expended per important target - either to get through and destroy the target, or to destroy the SAM itself. Which is more efficient depends on how many targets the SAM is defending - and how many missiles it can actually engage. This is where the SA-17s prove problematic - their greater range (26nm; about twice the SA-6) is somewhat mitigated by terrain around Damascus, but still affords a longer window to shoot at incoming PGMs and reasonable magazine depth (considering a battery,) and since the radar vehicle is a TELAR (Transporter, Erector, Launcher, Radar,) it can pair with a Greyhound to form a fully self-contained, highly-mobile, layered range point-defense unit.

This mobility further complicates the weapons assignment problem; as target saturation is a key part of breaking through these defenses, and that's obviously time-sensitive. If you don't know where defending SAMs are, you can't know how many will fire on the cruise missiles assigned to any one target - so you've got to fire extra at all targets to guarantee enough make it through. You could simply do Bomb Damage Assessment and re-strike as necessary, but that might be even costlier. Consider the Greyhound again - 5 out of 8 intercepts is a 62.5% intercept rate, so with four remaining missiles, you can expect two or three more intercepts. That means you're firing three more weapons just to soak up the defenses - if they'd been launched with the first salvo, they would've done damage directly to target.

All the above demonstrates why the USN's ability to disgorge 50+ Tomahawks from a single DDG at a moment's notice is so powerful - it can take a lot of cruise missiles to do real work. A lot will ride on drafting an optimal attack plan to maximize damage from the ordinance expended; ensuring that everything the Administration wants destroyed, is destroyed. That's going to ride heavily on three factors:

* Unparalleled ISTAR capabilities,

* Sheer saturation capacity with Tomahawk missiles,

* New purpose-built penetration weapons like MALD-J and especially JASSM.

JASSM Is Kind Of A Big Deal

Usually a tough nut like Damascus is best attacked with overwhelming force; a lot of Wild Weasels firing a lot of HARMs, which can handily engage previously-unknown “pop-up” targets without a problem. Sadly, the HARM/AARGM's 70nm range would require US aircraft to get too close for comfort. The USAF has a new option, however - the JASSM.

The JASSM is an air-launched, fully-stealth-shaped cruise missile. Not low-observable, but stealthed. “Low-observable” aircraft (or weapons) have had their RCS reduced significantly, but not to the point of allowing reliable deep penetration of hostile radar coverage. It mainly describes engineering priorities - stealth platforms place a priority (and a price tag) on achieving minimal RCS. Low-Observable platforms aren't primarily engineered for it, but have still achieved significant reductions without compromising performance, sometimes impressively so (the Rafale is a good example, or the Super Hornet compared to the Hornet.) Even if it makes no impact on actual detection range (say, against a peer adversary with good radars,) LO is still desirable, as a reduced signature makes it harder for radar-guided missiles to lock on.

Naturally, this goes double for the far smaller RCS of a “full stealth” platform like the JASSM. Stealth shaping on cruise missiles is primarily for infiltration; so it can get close to its target without being detected by AWACS aircraft and pounced upon by CAP fighters. But it also benefits the weapon during the actual attack run. Firstly, the weapon can get well inside the theoretical maximum 25nm range (approx. the horizon distance on flat terrain) before being detected. The inverse-square law is a particularly harsh mistress here; it guarantees even a weak radar will pick up even a stealthy missile in the last few miles before impact; but also means that RCS reductions enjoy (almost) exponential effectiveness in decreasing maximum detection range. Exactly how an SA-17/SA-22 vs. JASSM matchup goes weighs heavily on best-guesstimates of comparative capabilities (radar versus supposed JASSM RCS) and the models you use. The best civilian-accessible tool for this that I know of is Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations, both from a mathematical modeling and performance-guesstimate standpoint, and it suggests a maximum detection range of 5-8 miles, which seems pretty reasonable. Once OODA loops (the time required to shout “oh shit” and punch the auto-engage button,) are factored in, this means the JASSM presents defending SAMs far less time to shoot back than a Tomahawk would.

Secondly, once the missile's actually detected and engaged, its vanishingly small RCS will make life difficult for radar-guided interceptor missiles; lowering their pK%, depleting enemy magazines - or, if they don't have time to fire twice, increasing chances of penetration. Projects like CHAMP exist to destroy radars at a few miles range, to eliminate that last-mile gauntlet completely - and there's evidence that simpler single-use explosive pumped EMP bombs are already in use - but one need not speculate on classified warheads, as the JASSM's stealth makes it more survivable, even in the last mile, than a Tomahawk, JSOW or JDAM is.

Then there's the MALD-J. Originally designed as a simple decoy (Miniature Air-Launched Decoy,) the -J mod introduced a powerful offensive jammer. A small, disposable missile can only pack so much jamming output power, but the inverse-square law works in its favor here; being disposable, it can get as close as it pleases; even escorting missile salvos into the combat area. If that's not enough, it's recently gained a secondary kinetic kamikaze attack and more importantly, a two-way network link; allowing operators to exploit it as an offboard sensor platform, redirect its path in flight, and generally make it work “with” similarly networked Tactical Tomahawk missiles to respond to changing situations. The TLAM-D's two-way link allows it to loiter for a time till controllers give it a target, or to switch targets mid-attack if needed - now the MALD-J can provide responsive OECM support as well.

Combined, the JASSM and the MALD-J offer US forces two very, very potent weapons for overcoming the salvo attrition problem; between offensive jamming and passive stealth, their ability to efficiently penetrate and destroy SAM defenses is unparalleled. 

What's the Plan?

Now that we understand the problems and the tools, we can see how the planned solution will likely look. Simply put, it entails kicking in the door with JASSMs and MALD-J to open the way for a hellacious torrent of Tomahawk missiles.

The USNI's Fleet and Marine Tracker, (which conveniently updated earlier this afternoon) shows that 5th fleet doesn't have a carrier in the Med right now, and the one in the Gulf (the Roosevelt) was recently withdrawn after several months of anti-ISIS airstrikes. Even without a carrier nearby, there's no shortage of assets and bases nearby for the US to use. RAF Akrotiri is barely 150 miles distant from Damascus, and of course Incirlik in southern Turkey is perfectly positioned as well. With tanker support, a strike from Al Udeid using Strike Eagles isn't hard to contemplate either. The US Bomber force is especially flexible - I believe some B-52s are still forward-stationed at Al Udeid, but a long-range sortie from Diego Garcia or even CONUS isn't impossible, though the required tankers would make it more challenging on such short notice. B-52s can carry 12 cruise missiles (or MALDs) on external pylons (if they're one of the handful with the new Conventional Rotary Launcher, they can carry up to 20.) A B-1B (which can also sortie from CONUS) can carry a whopping 24 JASSMs. Strike Eagles typically carry two.

Then there's recon assets. The usual twitter jewels spotted RC-135 Rivet Joint ELINT aircraft sortieing from Souda Bay to sniff the radio waves near the Lebanese border, but there's also more close-up capabilities to consider. The RQ-170s public reveal - and the more advanced and all-but-officially acknowledged successor, the RQ-180 - provide stealth options for actually infiltrating hostile airspace to scan for SAM units with FLIR and/or GMTI radar. Combined with other options like tiny sub-launched drones, one may presume US target intel will be pretty robust.

The initial wave will probably involve B-52s and F-15Es from Al Udeid, flying up the Gulf, tanking over Iraqi airspace and launching a mix of MALD-J and JASSM over eastern Syria at safe standoff ranges. The F-15Es might have relocated to RAF Akrotiri; or UK forces from there may participate in a joint strike with low-observable standoff weapons of their own (MBDA Storm Shadow.) USAF Compass Call jamming aircraft will probably support the attack, and Marine F-18s from Incirlik will likely contribute strike mass (missiles) and certainly Growler jamming support (that is, I certainly hope they have some Growlers there, and not Prowlers...) This opening attack will have four main objectives:

* Destroy a significant number of Syrian SAM systems in and around Damascus, focusing on the newest, most capable systems, and ones with the most optimal positioning,

* Destroy crucial C4 nodes to degrade the data cohesion and thus quality of Syrian defensive responses,

* Disable runways at select Syrian bases to prevent them from sortieing CAP fighters to engage follow-on TLAM strikes,

* Stimulate enemy defenses to enable more thorough air defense network degradation during follow-on strikes,

* Outright destroy select priority and/or high-value targets (including key personnel.)

The follow-up attack will come very soon from US Navy assets in the Med; the Donald Cook is rumored to be in attack position as we speak and I expect at least one converted Ohio-class SSGN and its 154 Tomahawks are in the area. The Tomahawks will do most of the real damage; directly striking desired targets as well as performing secondary strikes on newly-identified air defense sites, plus a few suppression strikes on Syrian regime airbases to convince all parties involved that the cool embrace of a sturdy air raid shelter is the best place to be, and not servicing priority targets in an attempt to sortie them. At this point the French and UK forces might add their contributions, if any; their Storm Shadows are better suited to tackling SAM sites than Tomahawks, and they'd be well-used if kept in reserve for follow-on attacks after the first wave stimulates air defenses.

F-22s will likely see use; both as BARCAP (protecting tankers, ELINT aircraft, AWACS, jamming aircraft and other high-value assets that the Syrians might unwisely try to challenge with fighters) and as direct attackers. With the Small Diameter Bomb, the F-22 becomes a deep-penetration fighter-bomber platform armed with low-observable standoff glide-bombs that can penetrate moderately hard targets. The SDB isn't ideal for attacking point-defense SAMs (it's slow and not stealthy, though it is fairly low RCS by simple fact of being small and pointy,) but an F-22 can pack a surprising number of them, making them excellent for saturating SAM defenses. They're also excellent against Hardened Aircraft Shelters, for that matter. Their stealth characteristics also allow them to operate far forward in what'd be denied airspace to any other aircraft; enabling a very aggressive sort of BARCAP, to the point of shadowing hostile fighters and engaging them from close range if they make aggressive motions towards friendlies. I personally believe we'll see more F-22s in strike roles than BARCAP roles, but that all depends on just how many Strike Eagles and B-52s we have forward-deployed in theater right now; information that's not easy to hunt down on the web (for obvious reasons.)

The most difficult part of the strike will be playing cat-and-mouse with Russia's AWACS/EW assets; they've the most capable sensors, we can't simply shoot them down, and the Russians know that and will exploit it. The early warning their aircraft can provide will be of tremendous use to their Syrian allies, so inhibiting it will likewise be critical. I predict a delicate dance of US/NATO jamming aircraft versus Russian AWACs/CAP, with a side helping of targeting spikes from their S-400 batteries to try and rattle morale. (Not that they'll be spooked, because the S-400s' maximum theoretical range is based on the radar-equipped 40N6 missile, which probably isn't operational yet, much less deployed to Syria.)

In Summary

I think we're about to see a demonstration of the balance between higher-end and lower-end capabilities - a relatively small number of advanced weapons opening the door for an onslaught of cost-effective Tomahawks. We're also going to see why ISTAR capabilities are so important, and given the nature of the mission, it's highly likely targets won't be strictly limited to just chemical weapon depots or related infrastructure. It might be, but I predict a Message Will Be Sent.

It's 9PM, and the RUMINT on twitter says I'd better post this before the strikes actually happen and all eight pages of random musing are wasted.

Let's see what happens.

[drewpaints]

Fiorina Campaign: Battle Group Felix Operation III

+++ASTROPATHIC DATAPACKET RECEIVED: URGENT: TEXT ONLY+++

Inquisitor Hilgen Nar Tormen of the Ordo Hereticus made request to Captain Felix to undertake with the Inquisitor the detainment for questioning on matters unknown Imperial Fist Captain <REDACTED> who was known to be active in the Fiorina Cluster.

Though within the Inquisition’s power to make such request it ill behoves for them to dictate the manner in such their requests are carried out. It was Captain Felix’s belief that it would serve no good to the honour of the Scions of either Dorn or Guilliman to meekly submit to detainment when no charge was leveled. It was decided by both brother Captains that due respect dictated an honour battle be undertaken upon which the request would be decided.

Inquisitor Nar Tormen was noted to be not pleased by this course of action. Though he was advised that he could seek alternative forces to assist him should he so wish, he did not. Chapter Master to be made aware that it is probably the Inquistor will file a missive of complaint.  

+++REPACKAGE AND DISTRIBUTE TO CHAPTER MASTER+++

Narrative play mission based on the ‘Limitless Authority’ scenario released alongside the Eisenhorn mini. An Inquisitor was fielded in an observation roll (the coward) and had no abilities.

Rolling to see who the Inquistor had taken an interest it was decided my opponent’s Imperial Fists (in blue to deceive enemy intelligence) would be the defender, deploying in the center of the table round the ruins of a damaged Imperial rail terminal. My deployment was two narrow strips on both short edges of the board. Remembering my previous issues with splitting a Primaris force I deployed in a block and hoped that I could maneuver quickly enough should my opponent make for the unoccupied side of the table.

Bending to the Inquisition's will, honour must still be satisfied

Very similar to normal forces for me, I’ve pretty much stopped using scouts, particularly against Imperial Fists. A new addition is my Relic Contemptor Dreadnought and Company Champion. The Imperial Fists fielded a heavy mass of armour, Tactical Marines, Stern Guard, and deepstriking Terminators and Assualt troops; both of whom I have a fear of.

A heavy defensive line about the old town square.

What followed was a pretty bloody scrap that was over in about 2-3 turns. The attacking Ultramarines were able to claim the first turn with a lucky roll of a 6, though the majority of their movement just had them push forward to be better in range for the Imperial Fist’s shooting. If there hadn’t been so many tanks on the Imperial Fist’s side I might have tried to go for a longer range shooting duel and hope the Primaris weapons’s range advantage carried them through but, as it was, pushing up was the only option.

The starting deployment was very close to optimal for range both marine armies and a lot of fire was traded. It was also pretty intense so I forgot to take many picture until the end. Mostly the game covered both forces pushing forward into rapid fire range. The Imperial Fist Contemptor came steaming down the table and was determined to make a mess of my Aggressors, who with a very respectable advance roll had pushed ahead as my vanguard. Fortunately they were able to only lose one of their number in the fight phase and using the Ultramarine chapter tactic fall back and continue to shoot into the defending Imperial Fist Marines in the next turn.

The Imperial Fist Terminators and Assault troops came thumping down with a crackle of teleport ozone and roar of jet packs in turn 1 and 2 respectively. My only hope was that the Relic Contemptor and Company Champion could delay the Terminators (scary murder bastards) for long enough to have the Ultramarine main force defeat the resistance at the center of the table.

Part of the rules for this scenario are that the defending warlord must be taken alive, and therefore can only be defeated in close-combat. If I hadn’t been unlucky/lucky and failed to shoot-off one last defending Tactical marine I would have forgotten the Inquisitor's instructions and sent a volley of hot plasma death in the direction of the Imperial Fist Captain.

The dust settles

As the forces closed on each other Imperial Fists were able to slay the Aggressors and destroy the Relic Contemptor, a mass assault of jump pack marines delivering the killing blow and turning the venerable piece of chapter history into a smoking wreck. Where a few seconds later it’s drive core overloaded killing the last Terminator, a pair of Assault Marines, and injuring the Ultramarine Company Champion, let’s hope the Tech marines can salvage it. In return the Imperial Fist Contemptor that was towering over the Ultramarine front-line was destroyed, but it took an entire barrage of fire from the severely damaged Redemptor.

As the remaining Imperial Fists surged forward Captain Felix offered his brother Captain the chance to finish this in single combat, which was accepted only for the Imperial Fist Lieutenant and Tactical Marine to join in to nobly defend their Captain, who can fault their loyalty.

A clash of power weapons later and a crackle of energy fields and it was all over. The Imperial Fist Captain was captured; marine had faced brother marine but at least the Inquisition could take some satisfaction that their inscrutable goals had been achieved.

+++RESULT: VICTORY+++

Conclusions: What a good scenario, would make for a great last stand mission but I’d love to see it played with Guard vs a horde of Tyranids or similar.

Starting to get a feel for 40k under 8th edition, it’s certainly not as simple as it first looks once rules start interacting but it’s still pretty fast, though remember stat lines is still a bit of a process. Having laminated my Battlescribe printouts though helps a massive amount to have a stack of A5 reference cards.

Though I did a lot of damage to the Imperial Fist forces this game I’m aware that some of that came from some very lucky dice rolls that kept things like the Relic Contemptor in the fight longer that it could have done. Though I had my common problem of rolling 1’s and 2’s on d6 damage rolls, possibly keeping me keen on weight of fire rather than single high damage shots even when dealing with vehicles etc.

The Relic Contemptor is an expensive lump of points but it’s probably the most resilient thing I can hope to field short of a land raider.

As often is the case the Aggressors had the potential to do massive amount of damage but they’re so visible they’re a frequent target of incoming fire, particularly from heavy weapons. If I’m going to make an investment in keeping them alive I’ll need to lose something else from my list, though a second squad of Aggressors is tempting too.

Didn’t make much use of Stragems this game, discovering the Auspex scan is limited to infantry mid-game didn’t help my Contemptor who was supposed to be guarding my flank. As I’ve found before, counter attack is always useful.

Whilst I had my Company Champion on the table for the first time in a ladder game he wasn’t much use on his own and was only there as I couldn’t afford the points for Chaplain Ventris

My Interceptor is another thing I wonder about the value of, it’s got a lot of shooting but it costs a lot of points and has its effectiveness blunted by its air-to-air focus. Though as it’s my only really mobile unit I’m loathed to swap it out unless I was getting a lot of flexibility in return. Maybe it would be worth swapping it for little Gunship instead, though I’m also keen on getting through the shame pile at the moment.

[ieechans]

Tea Leaves | Witch!AU | Pt. 8 (FINAL)

Summary: As a witch trying to make a living in a town that absolutely despises witches, you and your familiar find a group of boys that make your time there a little more bearable. [playlist] Word Count: 4,365 Genre: fluff, comedy Member: Lee “Dino” Chan TW: none i can think of! tell me if you need anything tagged

Pt.: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 (FINAL) 

A/N: this entire part summarized in one word: SIKE anyways thank u all for sticking around to read the fic that’s most dear to me :’) it took me an entire year to finish this and im sorry that it took so long, but i’m happy to say that im actually.. satisfied with something ! i swore i planned on having a much ore meaningful spiel but... oh well. keep an eye out on the ‘tea leaves’ page on my master archives, i’ll be updating that with info soon. that’s a wrap on tea leaves, folks ! onto the next one !

The last day of the month only meant one thing to Joshua: it was time to clean. It wasn’t like he minded, it was routine for him. That, and he didn’t have anything better to do majority of the time. Every person under the roof was busy in one way or another, so he took the liberty of making sure they wouldn’t get consumed by the mess that accumulated in their rooms every month. He had cleaned up every room so far, and the final room left was the lone door at the end of the hall: Jihoon’s room.

Joshua gently knocked on the door and waited for a response. Upon hearing no footsteps, he carefully twisted the knob of the door and entered, mumbling a “sorry for intruding” under his breath as he did so.

He walked over to Jihoon’s desk and sorted out the piles of paper to make neater stacks and placed the pens and pencils back into their appropriate holders. He drew back the curtains and opened up the windows, allowing for a fresh breeze to blow into the room.

Jihoon’s room was never too messy, so there wasn’t much he needed to do. He quickly scanned over his surroundings before heading back over to the door. Just was he was about to exit, he realized that he had forgotten to change the sheets. He briskly walked over as he stripped the bed, neatly folding the sheets and placing them aside.

He lifted up Jihoon’s pillow and began to remove the case until he heard a clatter against the ground. He winced at the sound of the impact and got onto the floor, curious to see what could have dropped. He reached under the bed, feeling around until his fingers touched a smooth, cold surface. He furrowed his brows as he pulled it out from underneath the bed and held it up to his face. It was an empty glass vial.

His eyes widened upon realizing where exactly it came from and he immediately got up from the floor, quickly leaving the room. He walked in strides to the end of the hall where Jeonghan’s study was and threw the door open, not even bothering to knock. Jeonghan jumped in his seat at the sudden entrance and frowned at Joshua.

“You know you should always knock when I’m in my study, Joshua,” he said.

Joshua said nothing and walked up to Jeonghan’s desk, placing the vial right on top of his current work. “Look what you did,” he said accusingly. “There isn’t a single drop of that emotion left in this vial.”

Jeonghan picked up the vial and examined it all around. “Oh. You’re right.”

“Do you realize what you just did? Jihoon literally downed an entire vial of emotion and all you have to say is ‘oh’?” Joshua glared at Jeonghan, his frustration rising. “This was too dangerous, but you decided to play around anyways!”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Joshua’s eyes widened, and he had to sit down in order to process what Jeonghan had just said to him. “What did you just say? Who even let you be a witch?”

Jeonghan waved his hand. “I had everything planned out. The charm I gave him was supposed to nullify whatever intentional or unintentional effect that Y/N happened to put on him. That vial? Mostly useless,” Jeonghan said nonchalantly. “The green tea that you told me he made should already be lessening the effects since it’s already been a week. But because he drank the rest of the vial, he’ll probably have one final emotional outburst before it’s out of him completely.”

“Of course, classic Jeonghan. Making things more complicated than they need to be.” Joshua narrowed his gaze, positioning himself so that his legs dangled off the armchair of his seat. “What about the party? How’ll you think that’ll go?”

The witch pursed his lips, his attention returned to the work in front of him. “I don’t know, but it’ll be fun.”

Chan tugged at the collar of his dress shirt, the fit suddenly being too tight. He let out a sigh as he smoothed down his blazer, examining his reflection in the mirror. He gently pat his hair that he so meticulously gelled up and looked over to the wall clock. It was time to leave for the party.

He quietly stepped out into the hall and peered down both ends, making sure Soonyoung’s master wasn’t home. He then briskly made his way to the staircase and descended, quickly leaving the house. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding once he was outside, taking in the cool evening air. The sun almost touched the horizon, streaks of orange filling the sky that faded into soft pinks and purples. Despite the beautiful scenery, it only reminded him that he had until midnight to fix everything.

As he began to walk down the sidewalk, he felt the invitation in his pocket getting heavier. Although he did want to return to you as Dino, the fear that you didn’t like him as Chan still lingered in his mind. How would you even react to the news? He recalled the path to the mayor’s home, making a left at one intersection, turning right at another. The large villa came into view, the sound of orchestral music reaching the streets. He approached one of the men at the gates and pulled out his invitation. Once looked over, he was admitted and the gates were closed behind him. There was no going back. He had to kiss you before midnight.

Despite being sick the week before, Jihoon had insisted that he walked you to the party. He told you that he didn’t want you getting lost, and you appreciated the kind gesture. Once you were admitted past the gates, you stopped to converse with another individual who complimented your dress. When you looked back to your right, Jihoon had seemingly disappeared.

You shrugged it off and assumed he had gone off to talk to someone he knew. You didn’t mind. You figured you would go look for Chan, seeing as he was supposed to be your date. Your eyes scanned through the crowd in the ballroom, mainly looking for the suit that matched your outfit. You let out a huff of frustration. He was nowhere within your line of sight. With nothing better to do, you decided to explore the mansion. You decided that you’d have better luck finding Chan that way instead.

“Don’t steal anything, Jun.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Jun responded with a roll of his eyes.

The pair found the ballroom a bit too stuffy for their liking and resorted to walking around the halls and mindlessly wandering in hopes of finding something that piqued their interest. Initially, they didn’t plan on going to the party. They weren’t invited. However with the knowledge that it was d-day for Chan, Minghao managed to get both him and Jun inside undetected. They knew he’d need help, and they were correct. Jun stopped and stuck his arm back, stopping Minghao.

“Someone’s in the halls, too. They have an aura,” he said quietly.

A figure walked into the hall the pair were in, but they didn’t seem like they had a destination. They were wandering, just like them. When the individual came closer, that was when the two realized it was you. Despite confidently sneaking into the party with the goal of helping Chan, the pair froze up on the spot. That was when they realized that they didn’t actually have any sort of plan.

You were walking with your eyes trained on the marble tiles, paying very little attention to your surroundings. It was until you heard the hitch of a breath when you looked up and your eyes met with two other pairs. It was an awkward staring contest from there, neither party knowing what to say. You didn’t know why two fairly attractive strangers were looking at you. Jun and Minghao didn’t know why you were examining their faces for so long. Your head slowly began to tilt to the side, your eyes narrowing.

“D-do I know you two from somewhere?” you stammered.

That seemed to break the spell, resulting in Jun elbowing Minghao sharply. Minghao turned to glare at Jun, but the familiar’s eyes had a look that screamed “now’s our chance”.

Minghao cleared his throat and stood up straighter. “You’re friends with Chan, right?”

“I am,” you replied slowly. “Who are you guys?”

“We’re also his friends,” Jun interjected. “He actually told us he was looking for you awhile ago.”

The confusion on your face was replaced with a bright smile. “Really? Where is he?”

“He…” Jun’s voice trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

“He told us that if we were to find you – which we coincidentally did – to tell you to meet him on the balcony on the second floor,” Minghao said, a forced smile on his face.

“Oh, okay, thank you!” you chirped, turning back around and walking back the way you came.

Once you were out of their line of sight, the two let out a simultaneous sigh.

“I’m not even sure if this place has a balcony on the second floor,” Minghao groaned, rubbing his temples.

“Whatever, we have to go find Chan right now,” Jun mumbled, grabbing Minghao’s arm and tugging him in the opposite direction you went. “Hopefully she gets lost looking for that balcony.”

Chan stood at the top of the steps that lead down to the dance floor. He leaned onto the railing, hoping that he’d be able to find you at a higher elevation. He looked down at his suit and scanned the crowd for a matching dress, but the giant mass of vibrant colors did little to help him in his search. He let out a dejected sigh and left the steps. Knowing you, he figured that you’d probably be wandering right about now.

The orchestral music began to fade away as he walked further from the ballroom, the empty halls only amplifying his tendency to overthink. Just when he visualized you getting on your broom and leaving him behind, he collided with another individual. He shook his head profusely, removing the thoughts from his head. He looked up to realize that he didn’t bump into one individual, but two: Jun and Minghao.

His eyes widened. “What are you two doing here?”

“Helping you,” Jun replied almost immediately. “Y/N is somewhere on this floor of the mansion looking for a balcony. We told her you would meet her there.”

“You ran into –”

“No time for questions,” Minghao interrupted, grabbing Chan by the shoulders and turning him around. He then began to push Chan forward. “She’s not on this side of the building, we’ve made sure of that. Check the other side.”

“W-wait just a second –” Chan stuttered, all the information coming at him too quickly for his taste.

“Chan, it’s a quarter to eleven,” Jun said urgently.

“Please tell time like a normal person,” Chan groaned, turning back impatiently.

“Ten forty-five,” Minghao clarified. “You have an hour and fifteen minutes.”

And with the time given to him, Chan took off down the hall, a “thank you” echoing off the walls.

Chan let out a frustrated huff as he passed a painting he swore he had passed at least six times before. He ran a hand through his hair, his initial sprinting now more of him dragging his feet. He glanced up at the wall clock he had also passed at least six times to find that exactly fifteen minutes has passed. He had been going in circles for fifteen minutes, yet you were nowhere to be found.

He reached the same godforsaken intersection for the seventh time and weighed his options once more. Left lead him in a circle. Forward was a dead end. Right lead back to the ballroom. There was no winning. He turned left once more with the sliver of hope that there was yet another intersection that he could have possibly missed. Just as he did, he saw two figures coming his direction. It wasn’t Jun and Minghao for sure, as one of the figures was visibly not as tall as the other. As they neared, he realized it was Jihoon and Joshua.

“E-excuse me?” he asked, hoping that he didn’t seem too out of breath from running earlier.

The two stopped and gave him a once over. It was Joshua that spoke first.

“Chan, right? You’re Y/N’s friend.”

“Yep, that’s me,” he responded nervously, avoiding their eyes. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but have you seen her around? I’m supposed to be her date –” Chan stopped mid-sentence to better his choice of words – “no, her plus one, but I haven’t seen her all night.”

“She’s on the balcony. Go straight down and make a right at the end of the hall,” Jihoon said curtly, looking at Chan with some sort of disdain in his eyes.

Chan seemed to shrink under Jihoon’s gaze. He managed to stutter a small “thank you” before excusing himself down the hall, but Jihoon stopped him before he could even get two steps away from the pair.

“You like her, don’t you? It’s obvious.”

Chan froze, the tips of his ears heating up. He didn’t dare turn around.

“I just wanted to say that I don’t think she’d be interested in a rascal like you,” Jihoon continued. “She clearly likes that boy Hansol more. I’m sure you know who he is. Give it up.”

Joshua quirked his brow at Jihoon’s statement. Chan balled his hands into fists, digging his nails into the palm of his hands.

“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think, Jihoon?” Joshua said quietly.

“I’m only stating facts so that Chan here doesn’t get the wrong idea,” Jihoon replied, saying Chan’s name as if it were some sort of poison in his mouth. “I don’t want him to get disappointed.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to –”

“I know.”

Joshua stopped and turned his head to look at Chan, whose shoulders were shaking.

“I know she’d never like someone like me. I know I’ll never be able to impress her or be anything more but a friend to her,” Chan whispered, his voice quivering. “But you clearly don’t know how much she means to me to have me running after her like this.”

Before the two could say anything else, Chan quickly made his way down the hall and turned left. Joshua let out a hum before returning his attention back to Jihoon, who had his brows furrowed in confusion.

“W-what just happened?” he asked slowly. “Did I say something to make that kid upset?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Joshua responded reassuringly, draping an arm over Jihoon’s shoulder and leading him back to the ballroom. “Everything from here should fall into place.”

It had taken you forever to find the balcony, and you let out a large sigh of relief as you felt the cool night air blowing down the hall. You followed the breeze leisurely, happy to have found Chan before the party was over. You did want to get one dance with him before it ended. After all, he was supposed to be your date. You reached the balcony, grinning when you saw a figure standing at the railing and looking out to the sea. You were about to call out Chan’s name when the figure turned around, revealing themselves to be Hansol.

“What are you doing up here?” he asked as you stepped onto the balcony.

“I don’t know, what are you doing up here?” you asked playfully.

Hansol rolled his eyes. “I live here.”

“That’s fair,” you said, nodding. You two then burst into a small fit of giggles and you joined him at the railing. “Chan told me to come up here. I was expecting him, not you.”

“I guess you could say I was expecting someone else, too.”

“Are you disappointed?”

“No. Are you?”

You let out a hum. “Nope. The more the merrier, I guess.”

You and Hansol stood there for what you assumed was at least thirty minutes. Thirty minutes and there was no sign of Chan. Just when you were about to give up and go back inside to continue your search, you heard someone step onto the balcony. Your face lit up and you turned around in hopes of seeing your best friend, but luck just didn’t seem to be on your side that night.

“Hansol?” a girl said softly, taking cautious steps towards you two.

“Umji!” Hansol exclaimed, motioning her to come closer.

The girl smiled shyly as she stood next to Hansol and gave you a small wave. “You must be Y/N. Hansol talks about you a lot.”

“He does? That seems like news to me,” you remarked. “What’s your name?”

“Her name is Yewon, but I call her Umji because there’s another Yewon in our class,” Hansol explained. He then slowly took her hand into his, a shy smile appearing on his face. “We also… started dating a while back.”

Umji began to blush and used her free hand to hide her face. “Don’t just say it like that!”

“How else would I say it?”

“Aw, how cute,” you mused. “I guess I’ll leave you two alone then, I need to go look for Chan.”

“Oh, wait!” Umji exclaimed. “Is he wearing a suit that matches your dress?”

You nodded. “Did you happen to see him?”

“Well, he was walking away from the balcony when I came,” she replied. “He was thinking out loud. I heard him mumble something about leaving and someone being right, but I could have heard incorrectly.”

“If he’s thinking out loud then that’s definitely him,” you murmured, pursing your lips. “Thank you, I’ll see you two around!”

Hansol and Umji bid you goodbye as you made your way back into the mansion. You didn’t know why Chan wanted to leave the party so early, but you did have a feeling that you knew where he was headed.

Chan sat at the edge of the docks, his socks tucked into his nice shoes and placed beside him. He had rolled up his slacks just enough so that they wouldn’t get wet while he let his feet dangle in the water. He bit his lower lip as he looked up at the moon. In about five minutes, it would be midnight. In about five minutes, he’d be stuck as Chan forever.

He then stared at the water, watching the moonlight sparkle against the soft waves. He felt his heart ache a bit, being reminded of the time you and him walked along the shore. It only hurt more when he realized the same smile on your face that night wasn’t special to just him. He saw with his own eyes. You gave the same smile to Hansol.

He felt the back of his eyes sting, but he was all out of tears. He just wanted things to be over with. He inhaled deeply and shut his eyes, waiting for the town clock to signal that it was midnight. In about four minutes, it was all going to come to an end.

He felt someone take a seat next to him, the shift in the wooden plank being the giveaway. He heard their feet dip into the water, and silence ensued after. He let out a sigh, his eyes still shut.

“I’ve failed, Soonyoung.”

Soonyoung didn’t reply.

“She’s with Hansol. I never had a chance, and I don’t even know why I tried so hard. Was it the circumstances I was in or was it something more? Either way, I’m an idiot, Soonyoung. The world’s biggest, hopeless idiot.”

Chan then tensed when who he assumed to be Soonyoung gently placed their head on his shoulder, the feeling being all too familiar to him.

“I may not be Soonyoung, but I don’t think you’re an idiot.”

Chan opened his eyes, his cheeks burning up when he realized you had heard his whole spiel. You were sitting right beside him, your arm linked around his. Your temple rested on his shoulder and you stared at the sea with a content look on your face.

“Though, you are an idiot for leaving the party without even letting me know.”

“Y/N, I –”

“You’re an even bigger idiot for thinking that I’m with Hansol,” you continued, a smile playing on your lips. “And you’re the biggest idiot for thinking that I don’t like you, because I do. But still, I don’t think you’re an idiot.”

You removed your head from his shoulder and looked at his now flushed face. You grinned and reached up with your free hand to pinch his cheek gently.

“Cute.”

“W-was it obvious?”

“No, not really,” you hummed. “I didn’t notice it. At least until Hansol mentioned the possibility, of course.”

“So you don’t like Hansol?”

“I don’t. I like you.”

Chan felt his stomach burst into butterflies that flitted all throughout his body. Hearing you say those three words made him feel as if he was on another plane of existence. However, he was brought back to reality when he realized there was only two minutes until midnight.

“Y-Y/N.”

“Hm?”

“I need to tell you something really important,” he said quietly.

“Go ahead.”

“Something that might change your whole view on me.”

“Yes?”

“Something that might –”

“Chan,” you interrupted. “Make your point.”

“R-right,” he stammered. “I only have around a minute and thirty seconds to explain but basically…” his voice trailed off at the end of his sentence.

“Basically?” you repeated slowly.

“Basically the first night you were here you said you wanted to understand me better so I snuck out and found Soonyoung who gave me a spell that turned me human except I won’t be able to turn back into a cat unless I kiss the love of my life within thirty days and it just so happens that the love of my life is you and I guess what I’m trying to say is that I need to kiss you before midnight if I ever want to be Dino ever again,” he said all in one breath, bracing himself for whatever you had to say to him.

He felt you unlink your arm from his and readied himself for the worst, but much to his surprise, he felt your hand gently touch his cheek. What happened next felt surreal. Your touch trailed to the back of his neck and you gently pulled him towards you. You stopped when his face was only centimeters away from yours, a gesture that you both knew was not hesitation, but an innocent form of consent.

“Why didn’t you just say so?” you whispered.

With that, your lips met his and the space between you two that felt universes apart ceased to exist. Chan felt himself melting into your touch, the chime of the town clock worlds away from the two of you. It was eleven fifty nine when you two kissed. It was eleven fifty nine when Chan had kissed the love of his life.

“Did you make the tea?”

“Chan made it,” you said proudly, reaching over to pinch your familiar-slash-boyfriend’s cheek. “And he didn’t set the kitchen on fire,” you cooed.

Chan pouted and scooted away from you. “But I didn’t start a fire last time!”

“You almost did, trying to use your magic.”

“Steeping takes too long.”

“But that’s what makes it good!”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “You two bicker like a married couple.”

“We could be,” you joked, batting your eyelashes at Chan, who was rubbing his red cheek.

“You wish, witch.”

“I am what I am,” you shrugged, getting up from your seat. “I’m delivering books today. Does Chan want to come or does Dino want to come?”

Chan grinned at you. “I would rather stay home, but Dino’ll come if he can take a nap in your satchel.”

“Typical Dino,” you sighed, unhooking your satchel from the back of your chair. You moved a few of the parcels aside and held it open. “Whenever you’re ready.”

In a blink, the boy in front of you was replaced by a black cat. Jihoon watched curiously, the book in front of him forgotten.

“I still can’t get used to that.”

“Hansol and Umji can’t either,” you joked. “‘Oh my god, you’re dating a cat?’ No, I’m dating a boy that can switch to and from a cat. There’s a difference. It gets so tiring.”

“I don’t think they’re even used to the idea that you’re a witch,” Jihoon remarked. You heard a meow of agreement from Dino and you giggled.

“I’m sure they’ll get used to it sooner or later. I mean, his dad was nice enough to remove the whole witch ban thing.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Jihoon concluded. “Anyways, have fun delivering. Safe flying.”

You beamed at him in response and gave him a wave as you left through the garden door. “Thanks, Jihoonie!”

You walked over to your shed and retrieved your broom that rested against the wall. You carefully positioned yourself over your broom and shut your eyes. In a matter of seconds you found yourself in the air, the bookstore being the size of your hand.

“Where to first, Dino?”

He meowed and you groaned in exasperation.

“Really? Her?”

Another meow.

“Fine. I guess we can pay Soonyoung a visit while we’re there.”

Meow.

“Yes, his cat form still gives me the spooks,” you sighed, leading your broom in the right direction.

There was a slight pause before he meowed once more. You smiled, your cheeks heating up ever so slightly.

“I love you, too.”

[enchantmentb]

Review GoT S07E07

Warning, this is a looong ass rant. Only writing this to somehow get my growing frustration with the show off my chest.

What I actually liked:

The music. Ramin Djawadi is a genius. Honestly, it’s like he’s writing the score for a different show by this point. Truth is beautiful, it elevated the D@ny/Jon/Rhaegar/Lyanna scene to so much more than it actually was.

The scenography. The way the camera glided over King’s Landing (great CGI lol) in the beginning was stunning and the falling of the wall at the end impressive. The image of snow starting to fall over KL at the end was beautifully done. You can say a lot about D&D but they do know how to do their visuals. (So where was Ghost? Nevermind.)

Jon Snow being allowed to actually be Jon Snow for a moment with the line: “Why would anyone want to live that way?” about living in King’s Landing - as the true Northman’s he’s supposed to be. (Newsflash: you’ll have to live there eventually if you get together with D@ny).

Brienne and the Hound meeting again. They both so evidently care for Arya, aw. 

Lena Heady. My god this woman can act. Give her an Emmy already. Both Lena and Cersei outplayed everyone at that Dragonpit meeting. 

Cersei’s scene with Tyrion. Best scene of the season. It actually reminded me of the GoT-that-used-to-be in the early seasons. Finally some depth, some character exploration, some inner conflict, some kind of nuance. Despite everything - despite everything that’s happened between them with Tywin, Myrcella etc. - Cersei couldn’t bring herself to kill Tyrion and I love it. They are family. There is still some kind of bond no matter how ruptured. This is honestly why the Lannisters are one of my favourite houses. Yep, they are dysfunctional af but my god do they make up some of the most interesting characters on GoT - not to mention the best actors. The relationships between them are all fascinating. (You could argue that Cersei probably played Tyrion in this scene, but still... I just love their dynamic.)

Cersei actually making some sense. I was surprised I found myself agreeing with her a lot in this episode. Like, why do D@ny & co even need her to be in on their plan to begin with? D@ny could have easily dracarysed Cersei right there and then in the Dragonpit, not to mention Cersei hardly has any armies or support left - so what is the big deal? Cersei is right, the smartest thing for her to do is to let D@ny & co take on the NK in the North while Cersei does her best to secure her power through the Golden Company in the south. Jaime certainly had a point about them having to fight whoever wins “The Great War” - but if it’s the NK they are all f*cked anyway and if it’s D@ny & co the chances they are weakened by all the fighting are pretty high. The big fight might even cost D@ny her dragons. Tbh this is Cersei’s only chance to stay in power or even survive (D@ny will never let Cersei live) and she knows it. It’s a high gamble for sure, but if might pay off. I mean, we all know it won’t - Cersei will be killed - but I can see where she’s coming from. (Btw, I think the Dragonpit meeting also shows that Tyrion as D@ny’s Hand is - in a way - a liability for her since some part of his heart will always belong to the Lannisters.)

Alfie Allen. Sometimes I feel he, Lena Heady and Peter Dinklage are carrying the show. (I actually love Kit as well and think he’s excellent - but the Jon/D@ny dynamic needs to be explained before I give him any more accolades.) Theon finding his strength again - no matter the silly no-dick-is-sometimes-a-good-thing “twist” - almost moved me to tears.

I actually liked the boatbang scene for several reasons: 1) the music, 2) Kit Harington’s amazing hotness &  3) the juxtaposition with Bran’s information about Jon being the rightful heir put the inherent conflict in the Jon/D@ny relationship right smack there in the middle of their coupling - which made it quite an effective & angsty scene.  It’s obviously building to problems later on.

What I didn’t like:

Phew...where to begin...?

D@ny swooping in on her dragon.🙄  We have seen this 100 times already, everyone and their uncle has seen this - why is it even a moment in the episode? (Jesus, save the CGI for something better, like, I don’t know Ghost.)

Jon not lying to Cersei/bending the knee to D@ny in public. (Or whatever the eff he was doing?) Like...we get it writers, Jon Is Dumb™ . I can’t even begin to tell you how sick and tired I am of the writers dumbing down Jon to the point of being unrecognisable compared to his book counterpart, but what’s even worse: Jon going on and on about Ned’s sense of honour and “I’m not going to swear an oath which I can’t uphold.” Really? 🤔  WHAT ABOUT YOUR OATH TO THE NORTH? I’m just asking. What about that oath? Don’t give me “I’m doing as my father would have done blah blah” as long as Jon is freely giving away the North to a Targaryen queen. Just don’t. Not to mention....Ned DID lie. To everyone around him, for more than a decade, about Jon. (Granted, Jon doesn’t know that.) And to everyone in KL about treason in season 1. So, it’s not like it’s unprecedented. Nope. But the writers continue to depict Jon as dumb to ~keep up the suspense~ and now also disloyal to his own country/family...? Or what the heck? I get it, he wants to protect the North from the NK and being in an alliance with D@any is obviously a smart way to achieve that goal, but where is the inner conflict about bending the knee? This should be HUGE. And not only for Jon for that matter but for everyone around him. And why on earth didn’t he just make do with D@ny supporting him without giving away his crown & country in S07E06? I can’t with this writing, I just can’t. Either Jon is subtly playing Dany or he’s gone off the rails OOC. 

And yeah, about that: no one mentioning Sansa at that meeting? 🙄  Or any of the Starks...? And why wasn’t any of the other houses in Westeros present? Or the maesters from the Citadel? Seems like pretty important information for all the important players in Westeros.

Jon and D@ny’s scene in Dragonstone. Okay, so once again during a “bonding scene” they’re only talking about her. Only. About. Her. Ah what a romance, I guess this is how great love is built? And she mentions how ~totally unfair~ it was for the dragons to be kept locked away in this place. Really? They are weapons of mass destruction which only she can control, and then just barely. God... I hardly know what to say about the logic in GoT anymore. Are the dragons supposed to be depicted as beautiful creatures who *deserve* to be kept free now? Nevermind them casually burning and eating innocents as we saw in Essos? Or is D@ny supposed to be viewed as deluded? She locked them in herself in Mereen - so what about now? About a possible baby: okay, so Jon thinks the witch perhaps was wrong. Fair enough, she might have been? But why then has he no qualms about having sex with D@ny later? Obviously he might get her pregnant and normally (?) Jon surely wouldn’t risk that? Honestly, where is Jon Snow? This is the question I will be asking forever until he returns (if ever). I will say this though, I Iiked D@ny saying: “You were right from the beginning, if I trusted you everything would be different.” I took this as a possible clue Jon might actually be playing D@ny and is now getting her where he wants her. But who knows.

Unpopular opinion alert: the whole plot in Winterfell. I hated it. It didn’t make much sense. Everyone was acting OOC: Arya, Littlefinger - even Sansa. Arya and Sansa and Bran could have talked to each other. And apparently they did - off screen. The only question is when? How long did this deception go on? And what was their plan? To gain information from LF to get him convicted in a trial? Smart. But they didn’t even get him to say very much, we mostly saw Sansa and Arya fighting with each other. Not to mention this whole thing makes LF look stupid. And in the end pathetic. I just can’t imagine GRRM giving him this sort of ending in the books, he’s supposed to be this mastermind lolol. (I must say though that Aidan Gillen nailed his performance in LF:s last scene.) Sansa: “I’m a slow learner.” Ugh, does that mean she and Arya didn’t see through LF:s plan until the very end? That makes Arya look terrible. And Sansa not very bright tbh. And what kind of “trial” was that, Yohn Royce & the Vale just believed in Bran’s supernatural visions lol? I must say it was great the Vale was present though, now the truth is out there which strengthens the Vale’s bond to House Stark. That was a smart move from Sansa. I just feel slightly robbed tbh of 1) a more deserving ending for LF & 2) a better Winterfell/Stark story overall. I fully expected LF - if anybody! - to be one of the key players right up until the end. (It will be very interesting to see how this is handled in the books.) Anyway. I can live with him dying. It was satisfying to see Sansa finally and openly go against him & Arya slitting his throat. What I can’t live with though is the abysmal writing for the Stark family this season. Both Arya and Sansa were ready to kill each other? 🙄  Without talking to Bran who they both know sits on all this knowledge? And Bran...doesn’t he care his sisters are at each other’s throats? No matter his “robot status”? Not to mention Jon giving up the North to a Targaryen without much - evident - thought of his family (as far as we know). 🙄  It’s just awful. I sure hope “a time for wolves” is soon here or I will finally give up on this show. House Stark deserves better.🐺

The scene with Sansa and LF “reacting” to Jon bending the knee. Yeah, because there wasn’t much of a reaction?  Shouldn’t this be HUGE for Sansa? For Arya and Bran? For the North? And what, Sansa hasn’t considered that Jon needs to marry? Of course he needs to marry and get heirs, he is the the Warden of the North (as per his letter). LF is wrong about Jon marrying D@ny though. Jon has already bent the knee, she is his queen, what purpose would a marriage serve politically? The only reason D@ny would marry Jon now is for lurve. Or if she gets pregnant I suppose? Politically, there is zero need for a marriage. The smartest thing for D@ny would be to marry Jaime tbh. That would secure an alliance with her arch enemy the Lannisters. Or Gendry for that matter, if he gets recognised as the heir to House Baratheon. Or even Sam lolol, as the last heir (??) of the Reach. House Stark is already secured politically. Unless Sansa is playing LF in this scene? And unless LF is trying to get a reaction from her by mentioning Jon/D@ny? Well, that would be basically the only sign of some sort of Jonsa in this entire episode? Who knows. The writing is so bad at this point it’s hard to get a grasp of when characters are simply out of character/behaving illogically or when they are actually doing something smart.

The Dragonpit scene. Oh god, give me strength. This was basically just a setup for boatbang.🙄  “It’s your decision your grace, but if we are going to be allies in this war it’s important for the Northerners to see us as allies.” WTF Jon, make up your mind. You are NOT allies - that would actually have been logical🙄  - she is your queen. You have bent the knee, you are her subject. No matter how much you *sail together* I doubt that will go down well with the northerners. D@ny: “I’ve not come to conquer the North, I’m coming to save the North.” Okay, fine, so no need for Jon to give up his crown then? The North will continue to be independent? Either the writers are trying to whitewash D@ny here, are totally illogical or...Jon is slowly succeeding with (a very subtle) game in getting her to do what he wants? That last option would be brilliant, but frankly I think it’s too smart for this show. I hope I’m wrong. Well, anyway, so the conflict between the North and D@ny is over then? Good to know going into season 8. 

Theon/Jon scene. Jon: “You betrayed his memory!” to Theon about Ned. Unless Jon is actually playing D@ny, I can’t with this apparent hypocrisy. Is it awful writing? Or is Jon playing the game?

The Jaime/Cersei break up scene. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that Jaime rediscovered his character development and finally broke free of this very dysfunctional relationship, it’s just how it was done which left me slightly underwhelmed. After everything, after blowing up the Sept, after Tommen dying, after sleeping with Lancel, after Cersei treating Jaime like garbage for so long THIS is Jaime’s breaking point? Cersei making a deal with Euron he didn’t know about? I can buy Jaime staying with Cersei for longer than was ever healthy for anyone - after all, that is usually the case with dysfunctional relationships - but him abandoning her seemed a bit sudden, almost rushed. And surprisingly unemotional. It had made more sense a season (several seasons) ago. It would have felt more earned after Cersei blowing up the sept and Tommen dying because of it. Also, I didn’t like that Cersei didn’t seem more affected by it. Yes, she’s a manipulative narcissist/sociopath, but the show has shown her being vulnerable and having feelings before. Jaime abandoning her should affect her immensely, if only on a purely selfish level. I would have wished for a more Gone With the Wind ending lol with Cersei desperately rushing after Jaime and him delivering something akin to “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”. 😊  Then again Scarlett O’Hara wasn’t pregnant when Rhett abandoned her I suppose. Cersei’s pregnancy could explain her apparent indifference.

Bran/Sam/Jon/D@ny/Rhaegar/Lyanna: Yes, overall I liked the scene, but Sam and Bran’s meeting was so incredibly rushed. My god. And how come Bran behaved more warmly towards Sam than any of his actual family? 😂  And Rhaegar... Just no. Sorry, I’m sure the actual actor is wonderful and all, but this wasn’t how I pictured Rhaegar at all - as some poor man’s version of Viserys lol. Just. No. “Robert’s rebellion was built on a lie.” 🙄 🙄 🙄  So what about Aerys burning Ned’s father and brother alive? I swear to god, if this is yet another attempt to whitewash D@ny and the Targaryens me and GoT are so done. It’s over. “He loved her. And she loved him.” Oh so J & D love each other now? Lmao when did this happen? Tbh if that is what D&D are trying to sell I can just laugh about it at this point. Like I can buy that D@ny is totally smitten even though she actually doesn’t know Jon. (They only ever talk about her.) Who wouldn’t be? He’s insanely hot and honourable and all that. I can buy a “Targaryen pull” leading to attraction between them. (Genetic Sexual Attraction.) But Jon? Two episodes ago he couldn’t care less. 😂  Either this is yet another example of incredibly crappy writing or something is up. And “Aegon”. 😂  Yeah, we can all agree that it doesn’t make any sense. 

I actually mainly loved Sansa and Arya’s last scene together so perhaps this shouldn’t be on my minus list, because finally some Stark bonding. Loved Sansa repeating Ned’s words and how the sisters finally connected other over how much they missed him. Loved how they recognised each other’s strength and how much they’ve both been through. But no mention of Jon...? Of him bending the knee? Like, the most important thing which has happened to their house in years? Or does Arya even know? Shouldn’t she be livid in that case? Bran does, is she the only Stark who doesn’t? For me it’s just such a glaring omission from their talk it puts a damper on the whole scene.

The NK bringing down the wall. Tbh I couldn’t care less. Episode S07E06 just removed the feeling of imminent danger when it comes to the NK & the WW. (Compare that episode to Hardhome! After Hardhome I felt genuinely scared.) There seems to be nothing more to know about them. They just have to be defeated - and they obviously will be. *shrugs* There is no mystery, no suspense left when it comes to the NK & the WW as far as I’m concerned. The only thing left to know is how many characters will die in “The Great War”. That’s it. 

All in all a disappointing episode, especially for a season finale. For me it all comes down to what D&D are doing with the Stark family in general and Jon’s character specifically. If they are truly going for the Jon-falls-in-love-with-Dany-and-therefore-gives-her-the-North I am so done. I’m out. I am SO out. If that is the case I am also shocked. Not in my wildest imagination did I ever think D&D would make Jon betray his own family, betray Ned and Robb’s memory, because he falls in love? Wtf? I can take a lot of crappy writing in GoT since overall I honestly love the show, but THAT, just there, is my breaking point. I want Jon Snow back, the character he used to be. I want the Starks and the North to become strong again after everything they have been through. I want A Time for Wolves. 🐺 

If it actually turns out Jon has been playing D@ny to get her to do what he wants to secure the North & his family I’ll give D&D credit for pretty brilliant writing. If not, I’m done. When the real Jon Snow is back on the show, I will be back caring.