#thankful my squadmates can’t hear the same lines i’m hearing

[candycityy]

based on @pufferssss' discord headcanon of levi taking care of petra while she's on her period. just fluff, because my babies deserve it, sue me.

(You can also read this on AO3!)

==

She's off her game today.

He'd noticed it earlier that morning, during PT. He'd assigned them to complete a circuit, and most of the squad had groaned and complied, but she'd remained silent, just turned a shade paler.

"Something wrong, Ral?" he'd asked, when her face twisted into a pained expression. For a second, she'd looked at him entreatingly, like she was trying to communicate something with her gaze.

When he just stared blankly back, she'd sighed and shook her head. "Nothing, sir," she'd grumbled, before turning around and going off on the ten-kilometre jog.

But now – something's definitely wrong, he's sure of it. She looks distracted and self-conscious, her eyes flickering between the guys and him, and she keeps adjusting her uniform even though as far as Levi can see, every strap is perfectly in place. She's pale, too, looking far too drained for one measley circuit –for all her flaws, Petra's never been one to back down from a challenge, let alone show a sign of weakness.

He watches as she maneuvers robotically towards the end-point, slicing at the rubber-foam targets in an almost absent-minded way, wearing that pained, distracted expression. When an Abnormal emerges suddenly from the side, plywood arm raised for attack, he waits for her to snap to attention and dodge.

Instead, she turns, much too slowly and goes, as if in a daze, "Huh?" The arm slams down on her wires, and she lets out a shriek as she struggles to recalibrate her position while dangling mid-air. His irritation mounting, he swiftly swings over and plucks her out of the air, ignoring her protests, and dumps her unceremoniously on the ground. Following his lead, Eld, Gunther, and Auruo alight on the ground, expressions tight and wary.

"What the hell was that?" he demands. But instead of looking sheepish like she usually would, she shoots him a venomous glare. Like it's his fault she failed to dodge a damn piece of plywood.

"Sorry," she mutters, sounding not the least bit apologetic. Levi stares at her in disbelief. They've been together for a while, sure, but she's never been insubordinate like this, let alone in front of their squadmates, in the middle of drills.

"Ral." His tone is frigid. "I'll say it once more. What the hell was that? You're being out of line, and your drills were atrocious." His tone is harsh, and her gaze snaps to his, bright with fury.

"I said," she hisses, "I was sorry."

He's angry, now. "Well, you sure have a fucking funny way of showing it."

"Oh, fuck you, Levi," she spits, and there's a sharp intake of breath all around – Petra never curses, and she never calls him by name during training.

"Petra!" Eld exclaims. "Sir, as second-in-command, I'll take care of this – you can continue with the drills –"

"Fuck you too, Eld." She gets to her feet, dusting herself off, and glares around at her squadmates.

He's had enough. "Ral, I don't know why you think it's okay to speak to us this way, but –"

"I'm on my period," she finally bites out. She spins around, eyes flashing, and everyone but him takes an involuntary step back. "And I don't know what I did wrong but this time it feels like I'm being stabbed in the abdomen by a thousand daggers and I'm pretty sure I've bled through these stupid fucking white pants and God help me I'm so done with all of you insensitive fuckers."

There's a beat. He finally finds his voice, and says, lamely, "You should have spoken up earlier. You could've gone to the sick bay if it was that bad."

At that, she honest-to-goodness snarls at him, baring her teeth and curling her lip like a cornered animal. "Then. I'll. Go." The words come out in a low growl, and it's all he can do to keep his expression flat and unreadable.

"Go, then." For a second, her mask of fury cracks, and her eyes fill with tears.

But then she turns on her heel and stalks off, her boots crunching in the dust. He notices, belatedly, that there's a smudge of red on the back of her pants.

His squad stands there, shocked into silence. "You go tell her, Auruo," Eld says finally.

"What? No way, you do it, you're second-in-command –"

As the guys argue between themselves, Levi presses his head into his hands and wonders briefly why the universe seems to hate him.

==

Later, when he knocks on the door, he's not surprised when he doesn't get a reply.

Steeling himself for the worst, he pushes the door open a crack. She's not on the bed. Maybe I'll just go in and wait for her, then, he thinks, before a soft moan makes his gaze snap to the ground.

It's Petra, curled up into a fetal position on the ground. She's sweating despite the mild temperature, and her skin has taken on a deathly pallour.

She groans again, and the sound startles him out of his reverie. He opens the door and steps in. "What the hell, Petra?" he mutters under his breath, kneeling on the ground next to her. Her eyes are closed, and he thinks he hears a muffled fuck off before she sighs, turning onto her other side and pulling her knees even more tightly to her chest.

Despite her mumbled protests, he lifts her carefully back onto the bed and pours her a glass of water. "Open," he orders, gently lifting her head and thumbing her lip. She bites his thumb halfheartedly, and he lets out an irritated grunt.

"Dammit, Petra, it's just medicine for the pain. Quit being a stubborn brat and open up already." She mumbles something unintelligible, maybe another curse, but obediently opens her mouth and swallows the small white pill dry, ignoring the glass of water and grimacing as she does it.

Her eyelids flutter weakly, and she looks up at him through half-lidded eyes. "Go away, you ass. Don't wanna talk to you. Ugh, it hurts." She lets out a high-pitched whine, the sound somehow both irritated and agonised at the same time, and he snorts – it's just so Petra for her to be frustrated at her own pain.

"Lie down," he orders, pulling a hot water bottle out his bag and tucking it roughly into her arms. She presses it to her abdomen and curls into the warmth, making a small, pleased sound, and even though her hair clings to her damp forehead and her clothes are a rumpled mess, it's still inexplicably, ridiculously cute.

"Better?" he asks. She nods sleepily – and then, a few moments, just as she seems on the verge of dozing off, she sits up abruptly, almost shoving him off the bed in the process.

She looks at him with wide, panicked eyes. "You – oh, no," she groans. "You can't be here. My room is a mess, I'm a mess, there's a pile of bloody laundry in the corner..." Levi inwardly recoils at that, but manages to keep his face carefully composed, "...and – ugh – just, get out get out get out." She collapses back into bed, throws a pillow at his general direction (he dodges), and lets out a cry that's somewhere between exasperation and embarrassment.

"You're welcome," he deadpans, and she drapes an arm over her flushed face, covering her eyes. "I'll leave soon. Just as soon as you tell me you're okay."

"I'm okay, now get out." Her words are muffled from underneath her arm. With an irritated sigh, he gets up, pausing only when she peeks out from under her arm (again with the ridiculous cute) and asks, "where'd you get the hot water bottle from?"

"Nifa." He frowns, recalling the thinly veiled disapproval on the girl's face when he'd confided in her the morning's events.

"Oh." Her voice is small. "Um. Captain – Levi," she amends, and hesitates.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. You know. For everything. And, uh, sorry for freaking out earlier." Her arm goes back over her face.

"It's fine." Levi lets out a short exhale, and against his better judgment, leans back over her slight figure to gently brush the tangled hair out of her face. Her face is still fever-hot, and she sighs at the coolness of his touch.

"Feel better, Petra," he says, quietly. As he gets up to leave, his eyes flicker to the pile of laundry at the corner at the corner of the room.

Every cell in his cleanliness-obsessed body screams in protest.

Oh, what the hell. Without making a sound, he lifts the bundle into his arms – keeping it as far away from his face as possible – and leaves, closing the door quietly behind him.

Levi Ackerman, he thinks grimly to himself, as he makes his way towards the laundry room, you are such a fucking loser.

==

The next morning, Petra wakes up to a pile of clean, perfectly pressed laundry outside her door.

There's a note. Ral, it says, in a familiar, elegant script, you owe me a new bottle of bleach. Let me know when you're better, because I'm still giving your insubordinate ass a week of latrine duty. C.L.

Carefully, she folds the piece of paper and closes the door behind her. She flops onto her bed, feeling an irrepressible smile spread over her face – and somehow, all of a sudden – the ache in her abdomen doesn't feel quite so bad.

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 22 (Geten X Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 22: Lost Memories

AO3 Link

Previous Chapters: 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

–––––––––––

On Friday, Dabi found himself surrounded by four figures, recognising only one by his still-long silver hair like strands of moonlight, his hardened, battle-scarred face and calm expression. 

“This is a nice reunion. I can’t say I remember all of you – mostly because I don’t care to do so, but if Nine let you guys into his special club, you guys are likely decent.” Dabi smirked, eyeing each of them in turn. 

The rightmost one, an imposing wolf-man gave a growl. “Decent? I’ll show you decent.”

“Chimera,” Nine, to his left, spoke softly. To Dabi’s surprise, the subordinate huffed and stayed silent. Turning back to face Dabi, Nine said, “It has indeed been a while. You understand the logistics of this experiment?”

“Shigaraki put me to it, of course I do.” 

“Then let us proceed.” Nine stepped towards him, while his minions tensed up. 

“Nine, are you sure about this?” The skinny man directed a glare towards Dabi. Dabi didn’t need that to tell him they were suspicious of him. 

“I’ll be in safe hands. We will meet at the location I’ve given you all. Take care, friends.” Nine gave a wave of dismissal, and with some reluctance, the remaining three departed in silence. 

“Alright, let’s go.” Dabi pocketed his hands and began leaving the forest clearing, heading back towards Deika City. He heard Nine’s footsteps behind him. 

“Your demeanour has certainly shifted. What happened to the old Vengeance?”

“Who?”

“You, obviously.”

Dabi racked his brain, but the name didn’t ring a bell. “Well, I don’t call myself that horrible name now.”

“I’ve heard. Numerous cases of burnt corpses or piles of ashes, blue flames. They call you Dabi now. I thought it was peculiar, but it made sense when I could no longer contact your old mentor.” 

“Your squadmate.” Dabi corrected, the fact returning to his memories. As Nine’s voice entered his head, it hummed in resonance with old recollections where he had met the man in his teenagehood. He now recalled the one encounter, out of the few, where Dabi had first seen that calm, controlled countenance contort with rage, born from the ideology he stole. 

“It confused me initially. I wondered why a man you respected and perhaps even cared for would be subject to your flames. The possibilities ranged from hallucinogens to collateral damage. But no.” Nine murmured. “You killed Dabi intentionally, didn’t you?”

Dabi was silent for three seconds, the air cold as winter storms. “You were right,” Touya said. “He left me for dead, but I escaped, and then...yeah.”

Nine sighed. “How poetic. To die by his partner’s hands, as he let his squad die all those years ago. But that brings me to my other question.”

They were drawing near to civilization, weaving through pine trees and stepping over brooks. 

“Why take his name?” 

“Figure it out yourself,” Dabi said with a forceful tone of finality. “We’re almost reaching the place.” 

To his credit, Nine dropped the subject. Perhaps he did so because he needed what Shigaraki had to offer. Antagonising Dabi wouldn’t be smart.

They were reaching one of the tunnels that led to the Liberation Front’s assembly square, now empty. It was empty, likely only watched by Skeptic’s surveillance. But a few raised eyebrows is all it would draw; Skeptic was too cowardly to question Dabi’s tasks or Shigaraki’s plans. 

“Here?” Dabi heard disgust in Nine’s tone as the musty air rushed out of the opening doors. 

“Can’t let anyone see us. This is good.” Dabi shut the doors behind them. Tapping his earpiece, he said, “We’re good, Doc.”

“I’ve been waiting for a while now,” Ujiko huffed on the other end of the line. “Give me a second.”

“Have a safe trip, Nine, I’ll see you on Monday.” Dabi waved, concealing a grin. 

Nine gave a nod, before Ujiko’s teleportation took hold of his form, and Nine’s body disappeared within the swampy goo. 

Dabi leaned against the wall, feeling more memories return of the other Dabi. The first Dabi. Did I ever know his name? I don’t think he, nor Nine, ever told me. Special forces… all that secrecy. 

He felt his fire ignite on his arm out of instinct. He willed it to die, and instead, let the past engulf him. 

––––––––––

“What’s your name, kid?” 

“Touya.” I rubbed my hands out of instinct. What time is it? How long did I sleep?

“Quirk?”

“I can shoot fire.” 

“Was it you back there? The fire at that mall in the afternoon?” 

“No,” I lied. 

The stranger cocked his head. “I ain’t gonna report you to the police, kid. I’m not exactly on best terms with them myself.” 

“Are you…” The word on the tip of my tongue was like a matchstick to a fuse. 

“A villain?” He scoffed. “I just fixed you up and gave you a place to sleep for the night. Do I look like one?” 

I looked him up and down. Grey coat, green goggles on his forehead, a cigarette in his hand. “No,” I said. 

“Well, your perception needs some work.” He leaned back on the creaky folding chair. “Officially, I’m considered one, but unlike the thugs in alleys like this, I have standards. And I don’t take kids hostage, even if you’re Endeavour’s kid.” 

I backed away, my back slamming against the mouldy bricks. “How did you —“ 

“Please, a fire quirk, and recent sightings of Endeavour at the same mall that was set on fire? Don’t play dumb with me.” 

“That was his doing,” I argued. 

He took a puff and clucked his tongue. “Now you’re blaming it on your dad? Not very filial.” 

“I hate my dad.” The venom coursed through every word I spat out, which seemed to startle even the stranger.

“Hm, some spirit in you. Well, take that bravado and run off now, why don’t you?” 

“What?” 

He quirked his eyebrow. “You heard me, shoo.” 

“But…” My head drooped. “I’ve nowhere to go. I’m running away.”

“Well, you should have thought of a plan before setting fire to a mall, using that as an escape, and nearly choking to death in the flames you made.” Every word in that sentence made my skin shudder. 

I was desperate, I wanted to say, but desperation would only paint me as prey in the underbelly of society, my next stage of hell that the gods were benevolent enough to throw me into.  

“I can help you,” I decided to say, raising my head, mustering the drops of defiance in myself.

The man snorted. “How exactly does a 13 year old kid benefit me? I don’t do teams, boy.” 

“What if I beat you in a fight?” I clenched my fists, which still stung from the wounds. 

He scanned my form and the guise of confidence on my face. “Oh, so you were trained by Endeavour. I thought you were one of those prissy boys enjoying a rich life.”

My face drained of heat and colour. How did he know?

“Look, I’m not a smart guy, but I’m smarter than you. I can make my own assumptions, one of which is that I’d win you in a fight. No contest.”

“I…” My voice trailed off.

“How about this?” The man said, throwing his cigarette behind him. “You know hide and seek?” 

I frowned. “Yes. It’s a childish game.”

“I don’t think so. I think it’s one of the best strategies for its simplicity. Let’s play that game. Give me a minute, then go to the nearby park. It’s midnight, no one will see you. And if you get caught by a stray policeman, I’m not saving you again. Anyway, if you can find me, I’ll let you in. Got it?” 

I gulped, hoping this wasn’t dangerous for myself, but considering how I’d be unconscious for a couple of hours and he hadn’t done anything, I felt a sense of trust in this stranger. 

“Ok, tha – thank you. How long do I have?”

“60 seconds. Start counting.” With that, he left the alley. 

1...2...3

Ten seconds in, I wondered if he was simply leaving me as a twisted joke. How far could he run in a minute? What was his quirk anyway? 

Twenty seconds in, I contemplated scrounging this hideout for whatever I could find and running from him, but the guilt of betraying his hospitality stopped me. 

Thirty seconds in, in a moment of panic, I thought he was going to turn me in. What if people died in the fire? I would be held responsible, wouldn’t I? What if everything he said about himself being a villain was a lie?

The minute felt stretched into eternity with the unceasing torrent of worries flooding my mind. But after being frozen in one spot throughout, I heard myself say 60. Taking a deep breath, I got up and left the hideout, entering the cold night. 

––––––––––

Dabi heard the door groan open. He opened his eyes to see a familiar form, shrouded by a recognizable parka hood.

“You?” Dabi frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Geten’s form went rigid, like a burglar who had been caught by a flashlight. 

“I thought...there was a meeting,” She said. 

“And you chose to enter by this tunnel?” His tone was acidly amused. 

Geten didn’t reply for a couple of seconds. “Yes.” 

Dabi sighed. “For a lieutenant, you’re shit at lying. You were following me, weren’t you? Why would you enter an empty place where you know your entrance would be heard so goddamn clearly?” 

“You were in there for a while. I thought,” She caught herself, but relented. “I thought something happened to you. That man. He looked dangerous.”

Dabi’s breath was stuck in his throat. It was his turn to be stunned. “I was fine, alright. I’m just thinking. So, how much did you hear?” He folded his arms in annoyance, but he found it suddenly difficult to muster anger against her.

“Next to nothing, apart from your farewell. What are you doing when the Festival starts?” 

“I’ll be there during the Festival. Don’t worry.” Dabi figured Twice could simply generate a copy of him. Technically, it was the truth. 

“You’re a liar.” The emotion in her words took him aback, as if that really struck a painful chord in her. “You wouldn’t sound so reassuring. What’s going on?” 

Ugh. Shigaraki won’t be happy if I told her. 

“I’m not going to divulge this to anyone. I’ve no intention to, anyway,” She added.

“It’s just a side task, okay? You can handle the regiment just fine.”

Geten was quiet, then she spoke, “Can we continue this somewhere else?”

“Why?”

“Wouldn’t want to make the amateur mistake you did when speaking to that man.” She gestured around them. 

Ah. Dabi had an idea what she intended to say. “If you say so. Where’s a good place?” 

But Geten responded only by opening the door and motioned for him to follow. 

[redschillzone]

I Don’t Fucking Care (Iden Versio x Reader)

(Gif found here!) Pairing: Iden Versio x (Gender Neutral) Reader Word Count: 2.0k Words Warnings: A couple cuss words  Summary: Iden has had enough of you disobeying orders and being reckless, she finally snaps.

A/N: Sorry it’s so short, was having a very rough day. I hope it’s okay, please enjoy! Maybe a part two will follow? :)

You had done it again, and she was livid this time. You had disobeyed her direct order to retreat and insisted that you could handle the threat alone. She knew what you wanted, and it was to go down in a blaze of glory any chance you could get; You wanted to be the hero that the Republic would talk about for years to come, and it pissed Iden off every time you did it. When she first saw you, she could tell right away what kind of pilot you were. Reckless, daring, headstrong; You were someone only flying to run off of the adrenaline it gave. She was sure you had joined the Republic with good intentions but whenever she was paired with you for missions, you were always throwing yourself recklessly into the middle of the fight. It was always the same thing with you; Her giving you a command, you completely ignoring it and doing your own thing that would damn near get you killed, and you two would return to the base and argue it out in the hangar with the other pilots and mechanics standing around to watch. She would always tell herself she wouldn’t work with you any more if it meant you putting your life on the line, yet she was always dragged back in. She just assumed that maybe Leia thought she could straighten you out, but Maker was she beginning to lose help with you.

“(Y/N)!” Iden’s voice rang out through the hangar, and you couldn’t help but sigh and turn to her as she began to make her way over. You crossed your arms as you leaned back on the x-wing that was marked as yours; It’s paint chipped and covered in so much soot and ash you could make art out of it with your finger if you so wanted. You raised an eyebrow at the commander as she stopped just a few feet in front of you; She was wearing her usual orange pilot suit, the top half tied tightly around her waist and her grey long sleeved shirt fitting her form nicely. You couldn’t help but scan her over, noticing the rage that filled her eyes as she stared you down with a look that could probably kill you if looks could kill. You gave a hum before you replied.

“Yes, Commander Versio?” You spoke, remaining cool and level headed even though you were sure you were about to get your ass chewed out for your little stunt. 

“What was that little stunt you pulled out there, huh?” She hissed out, putting her hands on her hips. She was going to get an explanation from you, whether it be the truth or your little lies you liked to tell. It’s how it always seemed to go, you would either lie your ass off to try and make it sound like it was the truth or tell her the honest truth. You couldn’t help but sigh as you pushed yourself off the x-wing, standing with your back straight and your eyes locked on her as you put your arms down beside you.

“I wasn’t about to let my squadmate die out there, Versio.” You hissed out. And you were speaking the truth this time. 

The battle was a long one, and it seemed the Empire just wouldn’t run out of ships to send. You had noticed your squadmate had at least three TIEs on their tail; Their engines were already beginning to smoke and you could still recall their screams for help, that they were being chased down by a couple of TIEs. You had heard Iden’s call to retreat and that they’d formulate a better plan, but if you were to listen to her command and retreat instead of going and saving your squadmate, they would surely be dead. So, you kicked your ship into overdrive and flew after them, turning your comm off after hearing Iden yelling at you to return to base. 

You spun your ship several times to avoid debris that floated about around you; Debris that had once been ships you had seen close friends fly alongside their droids, also with several Imperial  TIE fighters which now floated by in pieces. But you also spun to avoid the TIE fighters that still flew about the area. A few did spot your ship and even flew after you, but you made quick work of them; You used the debris around you to your advantage, flying in as close as you could before spinning away or going straight into the air. You look back just in time to watch as the TIE fighter would explode, crashing into the debris as if they didn’t see the pieces of metal flying about them. A small laugh escaped your form each time; They always fell for the same trick, you noted after many attempts at it. It wasn’t long before you were behind your squadmate and took out the TIE fighters. They gave you a thanks once they spotted your x-wing flying beside them, said that they owed you their life but you just said it was nothing and returned to base with them. 

And here you currently were, having this talk with one of your commanders. You had this talk with so many other commanders on base, but eventually they learned there was little to no hope of stopping you from such reckless flying; But Iden thought differently. She thought that maybe she could get you to at least get the thought out of your head that reckless flying got you nowhere, to tell you that there were people here who cared for your safety and hated that you were ready to throw your life away at a second's notice. 

“I don’t know how you guys ran things back in the Empire, but we do things differently here. We don’t leave our squadmates behind if we can do something about it.” You spat back, watching as Iden couldn’t help the frown that appeared on her face. You were touching on a subject she really didn’t want to go back and look at, but if this was how you wanted this argument to go she’d gladly bring it up if it meant keeping you alive longer .

“We knew what we were getting into then. We watched out for our squadmates and that’s what I’m trying to do for you, (Y/N). You’re getting yourself into more and more dangerous situations with each risk you take and it’s going to put you to an early grave! I can’t be there to save you each fucking time” She said to you, taking a step closer to you as you scoffed at her words. There was no way she cared for you, she came from the Empire after all; They were trained not to form attachments, weren’t they? It always seemed that way when the Empire would retreat and leave several of their own soldiers behind. Regardless, you shook your head at her.

“I don’t want your sympathy, Versio. I’m here to help win this war, and if I die trying to do what is right then so be it. Nobody here cares for me, so why stick around, huh?” You snapped back, watching as her hands turned to fists. She was beginning to shake a bit. She hated that this is what you were doing to yourself; She had read your file, Leia had given it to her. That thought she had of you having good intentions was still there as she read through it alone one night in her room. You came from a decent family from Naboo, your father having been a pilot for the Rebels and your mother worked at a cantina just nearby. Sadly your father was killed in the line of duty, leaving your mother to raise you by herself. Your mother had succumbed to drinking to forget your father, and it began to take over her life. It didn’t take her long before she crashed and burned, going and joining your father in the afterlife and left you in the hands of your aunt and uncle. They lived on Naboo as well, but supported the Empire more than the Republic. You hated every minute of it and once you were of age you joined the Rebels and took over your father's place as pilot, and here you were. Trying to live out what was left of his dream of stopping this war so you could live a peaceful life, whether you were to live that peaceful life by yourself or with someone by your side was up to your stubborn self. But as you had just said, nobody cared for you, so what did it matter. Right?

All Iden could do was stare at you with wide eyes; You were ready to die here and now and it shook her to her core. She loved you, she was falling for you and she hated it because you were so stubborn, but at times you had a caring spirit. She would occasionally see how you would help out the newer pilots by teaching them where everything was on their x-wing, how you would often share your food with some of the others when away on recon missions. She loved seeing that side of you, but this side? This reckless, adrenaline junkie side of you? It hurt her, and it hurt her bad. You didn’t care what happened to yourself during those missions and if that was the case how would you care for someone you actually loved? Would you treat her like you did your fellow pilots and soldiers, or would you treat her how you treated yourself? She was beginning to have enough of it, and her eyes began to well up with tears before she snapped at you.

“Do you ever think that maybe we don’t want you to die? That maybe we actually want you around?” She snapped, stepping towards you until your back was pinned against the x-wing. You stared into her brown eyes, watching as they glazed over with tears. 

“Do you ever think that maybe, just maybe, that there’s someone out there who actually loves you? Who actually cares for your well being and safety? Who panics each time you go out there and has to almost see you fucking die?!” She snaps at you once more, tears running down her face in streaks. If this was how you wanted to be, then that was fine with her. She’d at least get everything off her chest.

“I fucking love you, (Y/N). I love you so damn much but it seems like you’re too damn stubborn to notice how much I love you. So hyped up on adrenaline to notice that when I call for you to come back to base, to step away from the fight that I’m doing so out of my own being. Not as your Commander, but as a friend and a potential lover.” She hissed out, to which your eyes widened once more. Iden loved you? How long had she loved you, and how long was it going to take you to realize that? You swore to yourself you wouldn’t let anyone get close, afraid of losing them like you had your parents. You were afraid if someone else got close to you, they would be ripped away from you just as quickly. 

You clearly missed the signs now that you thought about it; Her arguments were her telling you to knock it off, that she was the one waiting for you to come back from those missions and your crazy suicide runs. She was the one who would wait well into the night to make sure you arrived back at the base in one piece and if you were injured she would be there to patch you up and tell you off, telling you to be more careful and to knock off the crazy stunts. You just swallowed hard, watching as she just shook her head at you and began to back away.

“I was wrong to fall in love with you, (Y/N)... You clearly have given up on yourself.” She hissed, turning and began to storm off, wiping her eyes as she did. You watched as her shaking form left the hangar, leaving you alone with just your thoughts and a broken heart.

[capngabnthelivingshitpost]

My abandoned TF story.

So this was a tale lost to the einds of time I created many a moon ago. It's Grabuge (transformers pun YEAH!). So without further ado here it is.......... Millions of years ago on a distant planet………… “-eports indicate that the Decepticon movement is gaining more popular-*click*WE NEED TO STOP THESE UPSTARTS AND PUNISH THEM FOR WHAT THEY'VE DON-*beow*” “Hey, Flameflash why the frag’d you turn it off? I was watching that!” A brown & magenta bot in front of a giant multi screen monitor asked his comrade, scrunching up his blue visor and trying best he could to frown through his mouthplate. He couldn't. “Because,Horse-Power, Delta wants us to report to his quarters for some reason. I don't know” A orange & reddish bot with highlights of green responded to Horse-Power, his yellow optics shining brightly as he shrugged. “B'sides you were just skipping through channels not actually watching anything” “Fine, *sigh* let's go” Horse-Power said as he got up scooting his chair in. The two bots began walking down hallways of their base,Grandus Maximus,it was an old one built years before the war, before the Senate even. The prime from then,Nova,built it in preparation of a threat that never actually came to fruition. There were rumors of it being alive with it occasionally being said to speak (yet no one's heard it if so), high energy readings in it not to dissimilar from spark readings, the two northern towers rotary cannons appearing to be fingers and the towers having joints similar to the ones found in elbows along with the southern ramps looking like legs with metal attached, and last but not least the main command hub looks like a giant head with a helmet on and visor pulled over it's optics. If it has any. “Ey.” “Huh.” “So what do you think of the ‘Cons ideals starting to gain traction with more people and them attacking our territories more?” “To be honest with you, it's…a bit terrifying”,Flameflash responded as a chill went down his spine,”Well here's Deltas office.” He said after moments of silence when they arrived at a small room in the center of Grandus’ inner square. “NO! This isn't working! AAAGGGHHH!!!” Everyone around it stopped what they were doing and stared for a few seconds with the only sounds being (non sentient) machinery working away. Flameflash and Horse-Power gave each other looks of worry as they walked in. “Hey boss are you alright?”Horse-Power asked in a low voice as he tried to put his hand on Delta's lengthy shoulders.”Ya need some help?” Delta sighed as he sat back in his chair.”No. It's fine. I just don't understand how to work this STUPID computer!” He shouted as he slammed his fist into the little indentation from his previous meltdowns on his desk.”So I'm trying to turn on the whatchamacallit… ‘Autonet’”, snapping his fingers when he realized what it was,”but it isn't working!” “Well what you do is take the mouse here and move it to the the little insignia icon and double click. See not so hard.”Horse-Power told him as he demonstrated. “Need any more-”,AHEM. Horse-Power looked up with the look of ‘The frag man’ splayed across his face as Flameflash interrupted. “Yes, Flash?”,Delta responded.”What do you want?” “You called us in for a meeting sir.” Flameflash answered as matter of factly as he could which wasn't very much. “Aw yes. I almost forgot, thanks.” The green and red bot muttered through his mouthplate as he turned and reached into a filing cabinet almost hitting Horse-Power with his shoulders. He then for a few minutes looked through all of the files, looked back,and checked a few more times before finally pulling out a giant folder and slamming it down. “This here is the file about the team you two are going to be put on with me leading.” He told them as he handed the file over sounding proud of himself. The two bots in front of him both reached for it with Flash grabbing it after a couple seconds of confusion between them. “Let's meet your squadmates and you can read that as we go.” Delta said firmly as he passed them by into the hallway. Delta Squad DELTA MAGNUS Function: Squad leader . Alt Mode:Heavy assault missile carrier Appearance: Operative has the same basic silhouette as those in the Magnus line. Operative is predominantly green with red on his torso,chest,shoulder edges,joints,knee pads,hands,and armor. Operatives frame has his alt mode missile launchers on his shoulders impeding him when walking in corridors or doorways, he can make them erect yet this has its own set of problems. Operative has a mouthplate that covers most of his face with his green optics unobstructed. Weapons: Operative has high energy nucleon rifles built into his arms capable of paralyzing those shot or terminating them with enough power. Operative has a solar powered mace that has replaced his left hand but can also function as a cannon. Operatives alt mode cryo-missile launchers work in both modes. Mental Profile: Operative is the archetypal Autobot general, being kind and caring but making sure to be commanding when he has to be. QUICKFIRE Function: Tech whiz Alt Mode: High flying scout aircraft Appearance: Operative is very small compared to the rest of his squadmates. Operatives alt mode kibble is very prominent with his wings hanging off his legs but being small enough to not impede locomotion. Operative is a black with pink highlights lining his joints,limbs,cockpit,wings,and face. Operatives head has a helmet on it providing him with improved audio receptors and instant access to any nearby machinery to control remotely,courtesy of Wheeljack,but it does short out with prolonged usage. Operatives face has bright glowing pink optics,a very pointy smell receiver,and a constant grin plastered across his face. Weapons: Operative has a very small Plasma Musket and a combat knife for close quarters. Mental Profile: Operative is always trying to make new and better software applications and patches for his teammates against their insistence because of his need to help no matter what. Operative has a deep seated hatred of all Decepticons and has been having random panic attacks, with worse problems showing through despite his claims nothing's wrong. BOOMPOWER Function: Explosives specialist Alt Mode: Zero G energon mining vehicle Appearance: Operative is dark blue with a slightly lighter shade in a camo pattern. Operative has a scar across the front side of his torso from a mining accident. Operative still wears his old mining equipment for armor and has been adding extra holsters and pockets to his frame for his explosives. Operatives head has very prominent audio receptors that give him improved hearing. He has blue optics and a perpetual frown Weapons: Operative has a ununtrium covered drill used to pierce the heavens. Operative uses this in his interrogations and to bludgeon enemies. Operative uses a launcher that fires shells of superheated engex. Mental Profile: Operative usually speaks in a gruff imposing tone. Operative drinks to forget his problems, but when he drinks to much his gruff voice becomes a quick mumble with no one understanding him besides his Conjunx,Casket. Operatives rough attitude is just a ploy covering up the bot who just wants to stop fighting and rest. CASKET Function:Medic Alt Mode: 6 Wheeled medical ATV Appearance: Operative is a light golden color with a warm red on his hands,feet,knees, various crosses, and forehead chevron. Operative is a medium sized bot with a upgraded version of the basic medic frame. Operatives kibble is stored in a backpack that can turn into a medical tent and shield. Operatives head has a small chevron that curves around their head. Operatives face has a visor attached to the chevron that can slide down to cover his optics and gives him various forms of enhanced vision. Operative has blue optics. Weapons: Operative uses a syringe launcher that has various forms of ammo. Operative also uses a stun gun. Operatives melee weapon is a highly brutal bonesaw. Mental Profile: Operative has a caring personality yet the patients he's lost over the years takes a toll on his psyche making him pessimistic at best and nihilistic at worse. Operatives philosophy is “Medics can't stop death, they just make it a bit more bearable”. Operative sometimes goes into cycles of isolation and usually the only thing that gets him out is his Conjunx. They soon arrived at Grandus’ ship bay. With Delta leading the two bots down some stairs they soon arrived at their ship the Boson Bomber. “Everyone, these are the newest additions to Delta Squad. I want you all to tell them congratulations.” Delta commanded of the squad. “Nice job mates.” Quickfire said enthusiastically. “Great. More bots for me to fix.”Casket said as he shined his saw. “Just try not to die and you'll be fine.” Boompower told the new recruits, extending his arms for a handshake. They grabbed his hands and as he began the shake Flameflash could've sworn he heard something crunch. “Now that everyone's met we should get on the ship and start briefing for the mission.” Delta told his men as the ramp into the ship opened up letting everyone walk in. The ship was an old supply carrier that had been outfitted with fusion cannons and explosive payload capabilities. “So what's our mission chief?” Flameflash blurted to his commander from across the briefing room. “Yes. Without further ado I shall introduce JadeRaven,” Delta said as he turned on the holo screen in the center of the room showing a Decepticon with an avian alt mode who was a sickly green in color with some dark brown here and there.”Our intel has said he is trying to take the lower Tagan Heights manufacturing facilities for some unknown reason. Our mission is to find him and capture him if possible and find out his plan. Any questions...yes. Quickfire?” Quickfire put his hand down.”What the frag kind of a name is JadeRaven?!” ……………………………………………………….. Anger. Disappointment. These were the thoughts going through JadeRaven’s head as was standing in his CenCom Facility. The Autobots were in his troops sewing dissent towards him and leaking intel, and now an Autobot SpecOps team was close to ringing on his doorbell. “RubyWolf report to quadrant 3 sector 4.6”,he said as turned his wrist comm,”I need my logistics officer at my side to help command.” “At once my sire.” The con on the other end responded. JadeRaven had some of the most loyal lieutenants and troops out of all the Decepticon generals. He was once a part of a exploratory crew that crash landed in a unexplored part of space and was stranded there. He and the crew tried for solar cycles and solar cycles to get off the planet until they eventually gave up and tried living there. Overtime they found a source of energy that transformed them into mineral/beast hybrids. They were soon after able to call Decepticons that were passing by, with the mineral fueling their ships radio equipment. When he arrived at the ship he converted almost all the crew and troops of the ship into “Minanimals”, and when doing so it made those he transformed extremely loyal. “Yes, my leige, what do you need?” RubyWolf asked his commander. “I need you run defense program alpha 86. We're going to blow these intruders out of the sky.” After he said that his mobile fortress transformed with panels opening up and turrets popping out and started firing into the sky. Happiness. Relief. These were the feelings going through his head. ……………………………………………………….“H-Hold o-on every-ybod-dy this is g-goin-ng to be-e a b-bump-py rid-de”,Flameflash stuttered as he was piloting the best he could through the constant barrage of laser fire,”the l-lan-nding zone is up ahead.” It had been a long night for the crew of the Boson Bomber with them leaving at 5 breems after 6 PS, which left them flying through the Rust Sea for about 7 groons with a storm taking up almost half that time. 4 groons later they found a Autobot convoy heading to the lower Tagan Heights to try and take the area from Jade’s control. At around 12 groons after the start of their flight they arrived. “For Primus sake can you try and not get us killed ‘Flamer’!”Casket shouted over the blasts going on around the ship. “First, my nickname is Flash,and second,I'm trying best I can alright? So just sit back and let the pilot do his work!”,Flameflash said with a slight hint of annoyance in his voice,”See. We're landing right now. I told you I was good at this.” “As soon as we land get out and find cover! We'll move up through quadrant 3 and try to get to JadeRaven that way! Ready?” Delta asked as they finally landed. “Ready!” The squad repeated while they ran out of the aircraft before it even touched down, with Casket grabbing fistfuls of medical supplies and stashing them away, Quickfire putting on his helmet trying to hack some Decepticon turrets and failing, Boompower destroying some Con encampments and drilling into them, Delta freezing several enemies that were running away, Horse-Power shooting some cons that were occasionally peeking out, and Flameflash running up after landing a ways away. “*huff-huff* You *huff*guys need *huff* some he-aaahhh!!!” Flash yelped as he tripped over a corpse. “You really should be more careful. I honestly don't want to fix you this early into the mission.” Casket said as he was grabbing a Con in a headlock. “Yeah yeah, whatever Doc.”Flameflash retorted as he dusted himself off and shot a Con about to knockout his brother with him hearing a faint “Thanks!” in response. “ALRIGHT! We'll move up to the Comm towers,we'll split, take them, and call for reinforcements! Let's GO!!” Delta shouted rallying his troops as he transformed and provided a small opening for them to run through, with Boompower in the back providing covering fire. “Hey Autobot”, A Decepticon shouted at Boompower as he turned to catch up, “look out below!!” and as he said that the ground beneath Boompower burst open with plasma and fire licking at him burning the Autobot, then landing with a sickening crunch. “Oh frag!!! Boomy I'm coming to help!!!” Casket shouted as he turned around and saw his Conjunx land harshly. “‘Boomy? What kind of a name is ‘Boomy?!” The Con asked through his snickering laughter. “A very nice one!”, Casket shouted in the Cons face as he pulled out his saw and punched him causing him to stumble backwards. “Now, this may hurt some but I'll try my hardest to make you suffer.” Casket told him as the saw engaged it's “amputation” mode and he lowered it with a look of maniacal satisfaction on his face. “Wait, I'm sorry please no no-aaagghghh!!!!!” The Con pleaded as the saw entered his body at the waist and slowly moved up, tearing his spark in twain. Casket then ran over to his Conjunx still covered in the Cons energon. “Alright, where is the pain?” He asked as he cradled Boompower in the middle of the battlefield. “Everywhere. But the sight of you’s making me feel better already. Ow.” Boompower said as he tried getting up and almost fell but Casket caught him. “Aw, thanks. You flatter me but nothing compares to your-” Casket tried telling him before being cut off by Flameflash, “Stop flirting and get the slag over here. We need some big booms.” He said through the radio on the other end making explosion effects with his hands to accentuate what he said even though they couldn't see him. “*sigh* We'll get there in a klik. I have to carry Boomy though.” Casket told Flash as he transformed and used his alt mode repair bay arms to pick up Boompower, racing to everyone else's locations and trying as hard as he could to not hit bumps or to shake. As they arrived they could tell taking over the towers was going to be a lot harder than once thought. Missile batteries and Gatling guns covered the external layer of the buildings with even more guns and traps inside. Delta eventually decided on a plan to drill inside from the bottom and attack that way. So they sent Boompower to drill(against Caskets argument) enough to where they can get in but not to much so the Cons notice. ……………………………………………………….. “We're in position sir, do we go now?” Quickfire queried of his commander. “Yes. Move up.” Delta told the squad on the holofeed Quickfire had installed. “Oh yeah! Take this cons.” Horse-Power shouted when he jumped out of the floor hitting two cons, knocking them out. Quickfire and Flameflash crawled out behind him. “Can you possibly be more reckless and loud?” Flameflash angrily asked as he bumped into Horse-Power on his way to the door. “I mean, you are a real soldier, right?” “Yes. I think. Maybe.” Horse-Power said as he suddenly found himself lost in thought looking extremely let down. Quickfire walked up and tried to wrap his arms around his squadmates shoulders but could only pat their backs, “C’mon we're a team guys so go easy on each other.” “I guess he's right”, Flameflash said looking away and rubbing the back of his head, “well let's take this place over.”, saying this with a hint of regret he walked into the doorway there was a small clicking noise as soon as his foot touched the ground. “Hey guys. Do you hear something?” He asked looking over his shoulder. “SILENT ALARM ACTIVATED” rang through the base as guns and soldiers appeared out of every nook and cranny. “Oh frag. Let's move!” Horse-Power shouted while he moved through the door and ran up the stairs with his teammates following behind. “What kind of a silent alarm announces it's activated?” Flameflash questioned as he pushed a random Con into the firing path of a gun that barely missed him. The Autobots gradually found their way through the base neutralizing soldiers and shutting things down. They arrived at the control room after a a few kliks of running from some Decepticon goliaths, killing them by tricking them into falling out windows handily nearby.The team walked the door as sneakily as they could and peeked inside seeing a room full of mineral covered Cons. “Alright, the plan is uhhh…”, Quickfire trailed off going blank before fear flashed across his face, “NO NO, STAY AWAY FROM ME! LEAVE!!!” “What do we do!?” Flameflash nervously asked as the team engineer spasmed on the ground while the Cons slowly strolled towards them. “I don't know! Call Casket and ask. I'll cover you while you get him out of here!” Horse-Power shouted at his brother, he then pulled out his rifle and began to fire, but a Con covered in black minerals that appeared to transform into a crustacean grabbed his gun tearing off his hand along with it. “Ah ah ah, I don't think so little bots,” He smoothly told them while his maw chittered with each word. “JadeRaven told me that there was an Autobot team heading for us but I wasn't expecting a mentally deficient technician,” looking down at the murmuring bot on the floor then turning his attention to Horse-Power, “a daredevil that listens to no one's advice,” tossing his hand to him, “and a disgrace of a soldier who's only good attribute is that he spends to many cycles playing games.”, his attention finally landing on Flameflash. Quickfires holofeed turned on, “We have the tower under our control, do you have yours?” Delta questioned. The Con leader bent down and picked up Quickfires arm in his giant claw, “Yes, in fact I've had this for many Solar Cycles, or were you talking about your men? Cause if so...no they do not. But go ahead and try to free your men, but by the time you get here they'll already be dead. Signing off, Lobsidier.” Crushing Quickfires arm afterwards with him either not caring or not noticing. “Now”, Lobsidier said with glee in his optics, “let's get on to the suffering. Um….you there. Take the them to the torture room or whatever it's called and start the working two up with a bit of, oh I don't know, Straxian acid torture, and this one”, kicking the small mech in the face leaving gashes across it, “I think he needs some shock therapy.” ……………………………………………………….. Pretty soon they arrived at the torture chamber with the screams of the suffering echoing throughout. Horse-Power was brought to a unplugged recharge slab covered in what he hoped wasn't energon where the Cons strapped him down and brought over a slowly dripping beaker of acid.”Why is there a torture room in a comm tower?” was the one of the few thoughts in his head as he could feel the acid drip down melting through his cranial structure centimeter by centimeter. He couldn't help but scream. ……………………………………………………….. In the other tower the rest of the squad was mulling over what the Con called Lobsidier said. Boompower swung around after staring out the window, “We should be rescuing them Delta, not just sitting here.” “You bring up a good point Boom, but we don't know if he was bluffing. There's the chance we could go in and our teammates are dead or there's a chance he was serious,” rubbing his mouthplate unconsciously, “what do you think?” pointing at one of their prisoners. “I don't know anything about rescuing people, but I'll help you if you let me go.” Replying with hope in his voice. “I atleast know my way around this tower so it should be easy to navigate.” Casket walked over to the Con and pulled out his saw, “How do we know you're not lying.”, raising it to his captives face. Hesitantly he pulled up a holographic schematic of the tower showing he wasn't lying. “See, I told you. Now, if I give you this will you let me go?” Casket grabbed it out of his hand before lowering the saw but not moving it away from him, resting it near his torso. “Looks like he's right boss”, telling Delta before turning to the Con, “how did you get this?” “We all got these on our first day here, it's not some giant challenge to get one.” The Con said with a great amount of snarkiness. Boompower walked over to his Conjunx grabbing the schematic to give to his leader. “Well since we have this now let's go get our squadmates.” Boompower shouted with elation, ready to go. Delta's optics scanned the schematic trying to find the most optimal location for him and his soldiers to rescue the rest of their squad. “Let's call in some reinforcements and we'll try to take it by entering through the vehicle bay.” The Decepticon was finally let go by Casket but the Autobot kept his gun trained on him. “I don't really think that's the best way bot, I would radio for more guys, which is obviously what you should do, but the vehicle bay has no tactical advantage if your going to take control of the tower. I recommend going in through the top of the tower and moving down from there but I don't know how you’d get up there. Maybe get someone to fly you up there…” lingering before covering his mouth “*cough*me*cough*.” Keeping the snarky tone from before. Casket raised the sights of his syringe blaster to his optic, “One more snarky comment and your losing your head. Ok? Primus sake.” He muttered under his breath. “Alright, we’ll call in reinforcements and get uuummm, what's your name?” “Thunderstrike.” “Ok, Thunderstrike to fly us up to the top and take the tower that way.” ……………………………………………………….. “Frag you cons!!! Let us out!!!” Flameflash screamed to the torturers. “I’d rather not. I was told to do this and I listen to my boss. Also, this is quite fun for me. It lets me get out all my rage.” ........ And that's all I ever did. If (anyone reads this) you like this or hate it tell me your thoughts. Be as harsh as possible.

[balfuset]

Mass Effect Andromeda - A Review. Kind of..

So, after a five day weekend of no-lifing Mass Effect Andromeda - and seeing a few friends expressing concerns about it - I feel I am properly equipped to give my verdict without the initial squee factor of fanboyism, so, here goes.

Andromeda is shaping up to be my favourite of the Mass Effect games. Now, that might sound like fanboyism, but hear me out those of you who are going to tell me that ME2 was the best of the series and cannot be topped!

Now, as some may or may not know, MEA was put together by the guys and gals over at Bioware Montreal, previously a 'backup' studio of sorts to the main Bioware studio in Edmonton. Bioware Montreal was also responsible for the Omega DLC for Mass Effect 3 - which aside from Citadel was actually my favourite addition to that game.

Mass Effect Andromeda is Montreal's first 'full' game, though that doesn't mean that they passed the thing off to the B team, it certainly doesn't feel like it!

Andromeda's opening is almost as strong of that of Mass Effect 2, and that's no mean feat considering we had a whole game to get to know Shepard and co, and seeing Shepard die and the Normandy get destroyed at the beginning of ME2 really hit home for a lot of people, myself included.

Despite Andromeda having a whole new cast of characters they manage to get you invested in them from the beginning, and so the events of the first couple of hours of the game hit, and they hit hard.

The writing, in my opinion, is fantastic. It's less riddled with a lot of the cringeworthy, cheesetastic lines we're used to from previous Bioware titles, I remember several groaners throughout the Mass Effect series and haven't really encountered many in my 20+ hours in MEA so far.

Bioware have taken a lot of the things from the trilogy and Dragon Age Inquisition and improved upon them. I think the galaxy exploration part of the game is the smoothest and least soul-crushing version yet. No stupid planet scanning mini-game, no fuel or probe limitations, and no dreary planetary maps.

I have yet to meet a duff character, especially amidst my crew or squadmates. Mass Effect had Ashley and Kaiden, 2 had Miranda, Jacob and the Cerberus peeps in general, 3 had Vega and Javik. I actually like all of my squadmates, even Liam and Cora, who I can see as the two that most people might find the most bland and uninteresting. Sure they have some 'defining' character traits - which I won't spoil - but they at least have character, which is more than I can say for some.

So far, the main plot is tight, and the missions are... intense. Without spoiling too much, I had Collector ship flashbacks during the 'end of Act 1' mission and the decision to be made was TOUGH, at least for me.

Generally speaking the plot is a lot better paced than the previous games of the series too, and, in fact, of Bioware games and even RPGs in general. The original Mass Effet trilogy, Dragon Age 1 and Inquisition and Skyrim all suffer from one blinding problem - there's meant to be this huge sense of urgency of 'holy shit everything's fucked if I don't do this RIGHT NOW!' until you realise that everything is on hold while you pick flowers, scan planets and do whatever other shit you want, which takes you out of the moment.

Andromeda doesn't have that problem, and in many ways I think that's for two reasons - one, the main story arc feels like a slow burn (this is a good thing, by the way) and it feels like you can take time to prepare yourself and ensure the Initiative and your outposts are settled before you move on. Two - the stuff you're otherwise doing is interesting, contextual, and rewarding. Side quests on the various planets are just as narratively important in their own way - being the Pathfinder, helping the Initiative make the best of a bad situation and try and turn Heleus into a home. Are there MMO-style fetch quests? Sure, but they fit into the context of the situations on the planets in which they take place, and they tend to happen AFTER you've done the interesting quests that let you set up your outpost or presence on a world in the first place - where it becomes your colonists needing your help with the stuff they don't have the resources or training to do themselves - whether it be because of outside threats or otherwise.

They make sense, and exploring the worlds between the quest markers is interesting.

Plus, the way quests can go 'On Hold' while you wait for more information or for a squad mate to do some investigation themselves breaks things up in a nice way. Loyalty missions especially benefit from this as it gives you a sense of the passage of time that other games have lacked. Loyalty missions in Mass Effect 2 were a very 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am' sort of experience that hit you out of left field and then were done. This is not the case here and it works well, giving you a constant variety of things to do, and things to anticipate coming back to later.

Now, I can't avoid addressing the elephant in the room. The animation quality. This is what has been talked about A LOT in the run up to release, and... yeah, it's not 100% perfect. But at the same time I've seen worse. Some lip syncing issues, those dead, soulless eyes... after playing Horizon Zero Dawn it stands out. A lot.

Does it detract from the experience? No moreso than some of the weird animation glitches in something like Skyrim, Witcher 3 or Assassin's Creed do! Also, it's only really the human characters that have the major issues - maybe Asari too - the aliens are generally pretty well done, in my opinion.

Gameplay is perhaps one of the game's strongest points. Combat is amazing fun with the mobility provided by the jump jets and the variety of weapons and powers. The profile system is genius - as well as having an in-game explanation - and lets you switch things up basically on the fly. I tend to go between a Tech-heavy and Biotic-heavy style depending on the enemies I'm fighting and the general combat situation - and I can adapt if needs be. The Nomad is a great means of exploration and unlike Inquisition's horse, you still get party banter while driving it, so there's no reason not to. Gameplay and story tie together in a way that works really well. Power in Inquisition was a neat idea to show the influence of the group but I think it felt kind of arbitrary. Viability and AVP (Andromeda Viability Points, not Alien vs Predator ;) ) somehow feel connected because they're integrated into the story. It's introduced to you as a useful abstraction of lives, resources and the like in-game by the characters you meet.

This is a very long post, but I think it needs to be. Andromeda is a big game, as is expected with Bioware and Mass Effect as a whole, and I have a lot of good things to say about it.

I would just like to sign off by mentioning one thing, and that is Liam Kosta's loyalty quest. This is the only one I've done so far but holy shit was it amazing. It is not hyperbole for me to say that it gave me all the great feelings of the 'let's have everyone together' part of the Citadel DLC for ME3, where you're chasing after clone!Shepard with your ENTIRE squad in tow.

That's no small feat.

I don't want to ruin it for anyone else but it had be giggling and grinning like a madman throughout. It was fantastic.

Long story short? Andromeda has problems, but they are not deal breakers for me, and the good things it has MORE than outweigh the bad. I do not regret my purchase, and actually look forward to this trumping ME2 as my favourite in the series if it can manage it. It's already above ME3, and I loved that game - which I consider to be 99% of an amazing game with a sucky last 20 minutes.

[aliensmoocher]

SO! here’s some thoughts on ME:A now that I’ve finished it, spoiler heavy, not totally complete as I have a lot of thoughts and I can’t hope to remember them all in one sitting. 

Some things I liked about it: 

Many of the characters in your squad were likeable(which is a personal opinion and I could totally see why others would feel otherwise). (I think Drak got the most attention that actually felt worthwhile, and his story was the most enjoyable, kudos to his writer.) 

Most of the initiative leaders were also fairly likeable (this is very personal opinion based, wasn’t the biggest fan of Addison -but I don’t think you’re really supposed to like her. I don’t think you were supposed to be a fan of Tann either, but I like him in a love to hate him sort of way. It wouldn’t be the same without him.) I think the Initiative leaders were more memorable then some of the squadmates as far as dimensionality goes, but we’ll get to that later. 

I didn’t think I would like the open world they were going for since DA:I was sort of overkill with how many sidequests and places you could explore, but they handled it a lot better here in my opinion and I did enjoy the feel to it. 

Callbacks to the original series weren’t too heavy handed, but were enough to give me a smile every so often, remembering the characters from those games (I hope Liara’s voice actress was paid well lmao, and props to her for coming back to do so much voice work when her character wasn’t ever actually shown.) 

I romanced Vetra, the romance scenes with her (though there were not many, as is the way with the ME series) were pretty cute and enjoyable. 

The sibling dynamic introduced was a new spin! It’s pretty cool and I like that you can customize both siblings -even if the Dad will only really look like one of them(the player) if you design them very differently. 

The epilogue was a bit long, but much better than just ending it with the ending (because....we’ll get to that too). 

Speaking of the epilogue, as a Krogan Stan™, getting to be (one of) the proud godmother(s) of Kesh’s beautiful children is a dream come true and Ryder is living up to Jo Shepard’s expectations and she would be proud. I mean it’s not godmother and beloved savior to all little krogan babies, but it’s a start. Good job Ryder.   

Also as a Krogan stan, you know I took every god damn opportunity to stick up for the Krogan. (Not getting a pathfinder? Are you serious? The Krogan have gone through enough) 

The designs for the environments, 9/10 were beautiful and the lighting was great. 

Quarians, Drell, Hanar, Elcor, and Volus made it to Andromeda post main story, but are in distress and their pathfinder advises to not rescue. Worrisome, but at least they’re planning on bringing these species back if they make a next game. (Also, does every species get a pathfinder or just one? Given that for some reason they all seem to be on the same vessel.) 

Some things I wish weren’t in this game at all and I’m so mad about I’m not even going to bother going in depth with them: 

That queerbaiting lmao

The deadname drop, which was corrected later 

The Kill Your Gays Trope. Really? Come on now. 

The fact they didn’t even finish the visuals before releasing it. Fuck the game industry. I’m not spending another 50 hours just to see how you polished your game when you should have just done it in the first place. 

Some things I dislike (character based): 

Generally, as was typical in the previous games and something I would hope they would improve for this one, there was a limit on character interaction+dialogue. There was an obvious favoritism toward certain characters. ON THAT NOTE: 

For some reason Gil had an absurd amount of dialogue and reactions to situations but his romance is *fart noises* really short and from what I’ve heard forgettable. I really liked Gil, but some of his story was uncomfortable as in: I a gay lesbian couldn’t help convince my gay friend that he didn’t have to have a baby or that maybe it wasn’t the best time for that. Gay men having babies with their straight female friends is a nuanced issue, one that kind of needs a lot of care when you’re trying to tell the story; and honestly I don’t feel like it was given that care. It says in the character file in the codex that my Ryder “tried to convince him” but she got a line of dialogue, he said he’d do it anyway, and she said “okay! i’m happy for you then!” which is uh, not convincing anyone of anything. I don’t know, it was just, uuuuuncomfortable. 

Kallo got practically nothing toward the middle onward unless a salarian was involved. Which was a bummer, b/c I really liked Kallo and would have liked to hear....any of his opinions on....anything that was happening. Suvi practically always reacted, and thank god for her b/c if she wasn’t there to fill my life with her and Kallo’s banter I don’t think Kallo would have been heard practically at all. 

Vetra practically never had any reactions to situations. Which, considering she was a romance option and was a pretty cool chick imo , I wish she did. (Sid? is awesome and I love her. Her loyalty mission was great. But the lack of interactions was disappointing) 

Common complaint is that PB is a Liara clone. They do have similar motivations, but their personalities differ enough. PB gets more likeable as the game progresses but I didn’t like her at first. Sort of wish they introduced her ex seperately from PB so that you could actually hear both sides. It’s very obviously “PB doesn’t like her so you shouldn’t either! Oh wait, but she does care....” Which is boring. Speaking of, the loyalty mission was kind of *fart noises*. 

Jaal was momma’s favorite and you could tell. Seems very forcibly trying to get f!Ryder to date Jaal which wasn’t my steez thanks. 

Liam and Cora are both Straight and I am still amazed. Cora is fairly one dimensional. Liam is fairly one dimensional. They both have their “thing”. Out of the two I think Liam is more developed. Cora is ???A failed experiment at being progressive while cutting all possible corners to make it not progressive and I’m not sure what they were trying to do with her other than be clearly !!! SEE NOT ALL GIRLS WHO HAVE THIS HAIRCUT AND FEEL LIKE OUTCASTS AND WERE SHUNNED FROM THEIR FAMILIES AND SOCIETY ARE QUEER !!!! THEY CAN BE STRAIGHT TOO !!!! which like, yeah i guess thanks bioware

No complaints about Drak. I loved him. 

My dislike of Alec Ryder and the continuing attempt from the game to make you like and sympathize with him nearly caused me to not complete the mission focusing on his memories. The only thing that made me continue was being spoiled about the ending and wanting to make sure my Ryder was aware that her mom was alive. I didn’t like his character and no amount of in game “see, he did really love you and your brother, he cared about your mother! he sacrificed himself for you!!!!” can negate the fact that he just....didn’t raise his children or really give a fuck about them at all until it was too late!!!!!!!

Let me change Scott’s name please. 

The twin dynamic was interesting but offered nothing until the very end of the game. I got the same sort of thrill from playing as Scott during one of the final missions as when I played as Joker in the original series. (I would have preferred if Scott was saying Oh shit as much as I was given he had one grenade and 1 shotgun and I’m more of a biotics and sniper woman myself, but it’s fine). Would have liked to see the twin dynamic explored more in game or had more interactions even despite circumstances. But at least he played a part in the end. 

I constantly found myself being interested in what Kandros, Kesh, and Tann were up to -sometimes moreso than what my squad was up to. Which is a problem. I think your squadmates and the main villain should be the ones you are most interested in chatting with. But there is just a lot more appeal to me in the shady politics and in fighting between the 4 of the initiative leaders that was just always more interesting to me. (I didn’t play the dlc with the other Kandros and just found out they were related so that’s a sweet little shout out and something I do like) 

The archon had a bad face design homeslice. It’s just bad Jim.

The Archon felt so detached from everything that happened in the game to me. It never felt like -despite being the main antagonist -that i was fighting him. With the reapers, with Saren, it always felt like you were fighting someone specific. That through all the taking down of this foe or that one, the person in control WAS The Reapers (or...or Saren I guess in the first game despite the fact he wasn’t -but he was being controlled- whatever it’s....) Compared to trying to make the planets liveable for the people who risked their livings going to Andromeda as well as creating relations with the Angara : The archon felt like such an afterthought. Not in writing or development -but in the context of Ryder’s problems. The kett? Totally an issue! Absolutely a problem! But they’re still going to be a problem even without the Archon, that’s clear from the ending. Bring me the real leader of the kett -I don’t have time to deal with your shenanigans sir. -No I mean the REAL leader, the one back home, the one who’s clearly actually in charge. The Archon here struck me as just a leader of this fleet of Kett. Not an actual leader of the species. But one that had to be respected b/c of his title here in this area of the universe. 

tl:dr for the last part: Archon sucked as a villain and his death made me feel nothing. Saren’s death had me crying I felt so bad I couldn’t help save him from the Reapers. The reapers destruction made me feel victorious even if it was a hollow victory given the -hmmmmmm uh....- “ending” of Mass Effect 3. Give me something to feel toward the defeat of a or THE major villain, Andomeda, PLEASE. 

Some more dislike things: 

The ending was okay. As I said above. I didn’t feel anything toward the death of the villain. Which is,, an issue for me. When I was playing the mission, sometimes the activation of certian things in the gameplay just didn’t activate properly -glitches basically. Which was rough considering it was supposed to be a high stakes moment. 

If you’re going to do a fade to black sex scene for some of the characters, do it for all the characters. Blue ball all of us or none of us.

 The Angara designs are Uggo (unless it’s a female angara in a certain color, for some reason color makes a world of difference for this species. Jaal’s okay I guess but uh..nah... if he’s ur type that’s fine but NO THANKS)

The Kett designs are Uggo 

Nothing wrong with uggo alien designs- I, in fact, encourage them, but they didn’t go far enough to ugly town and not far enough to pleasant town so they’re just uncanny valley ugly and I’d appreciate if they would make up their mind which one they wanted thanks. 

Kept expecting a Kett squad member ala Legion being a Geth squad member. Another game maybe. 

The creaure designs are cool -but I’ve heard they recycled a lot from DAI which is a bummer and I didn’t notice. Given that in Credits it had stuff from the DAI time, I guess that’s true.