#ambush bug the series

[brokenpieces-72]

I really love the stray series and this idea has been bugging me for a while. So what if they brought stray along to help investigate the facility but got ambushed and stray got injured saving them?

Yay first request, okay time to not screw it up! I hope I did this okay.

Stray Shot

Laswell’s intel was enough for a small mission to take place and investigate the facility. There was some discussion about whether they take you along or not. Gaz can give you basic commands but you’re no K9. After a couple of minor concerns were brought up they decided to bring you along. You knew the facility and your reactions could at least give them a gauge of what happened.

You were given a vest… but as the rest of the team was gearing up you kept wrestling with it, biting and nipping at it. You even managed to get your bottom jaw stuck in it. Soap was the first to finish getting ready and came out to see you stepping around with your mouth caught on the vest, seeing you fall over. Johnny shook his head but got you out of the vest. Price came out later and saw Johnny latching on your leash.

“The dog needs a vest sergeant.” Price commented.

“You’re welcome to try sir.” Johnny said offering the best to the captain, not much hope of success on his face.

John did try…you kept moving and when he tried holding you between his legs, you kept wriggling free, voice your disdain with small growls. Price gave up as well.

Nikolai was waiting with a vehicle. Flying wasn’t easily an option, seeing as there was nowhere they could easily land, and they couldn’t easily drop out with you not having any gear on. You ride being very well behaved in the back… okay yeah you definitely tried to get up front into shotgun but thankfully John and Nikolai were able to dissuade you so there wasn’t an accident.

When the task force arrived at the facility though, everything was quiet. Eerily quiet. No guards at the gate, no patrols, not even a vehicle in a parking lot. Guns were up though, the men knowing full well that quiet doesn’t mean absent. You were kept on leash, attached to Kyle’s belt. Your body language made it very clear you didn’t want to be here, ears down and flat, your tails between your legs and whimpering, trying to circle back to the safety of the vehicles. Kyle kept tugging your leash though, reminding you there was no retreat, but that you were not alone.

They entered through a side door, scoping around before entering. When Kyle tried to go in you kept pulling away. You didn’t want to go back in, you fled for a reason. There weren’t any other animals inside you could hear either. Kyle kept tugging, urging you to go in. Price held the door, keeping watch for any signs of movement with Ghost and Soap moving ahead slowly.

Kyle crouched down to your level, while you shifted and moved around whimpering, letting out small distressed barks.

“Hey hey, I know I know. It’s okay. We just need to go in for a bit, nothing in there is gonna hurt you.” Kyle said trying to calm you down, giving you scratches and neck rubs. He held your head to look directly at you.

“You’re Safe…we’re gonna make sure of it.” He said. You let out one last whimpering before moving in closer and licking his face. Kyle stood up and led you inside. There is a strong metallic smell along with weird smells you remembered but didn’t recognize as anything good. Every move the men made you froze and followed. Ghost checked around a corner, you looked from where you were. Johnny tensed, you tensed. The captain gave an order your ears perked. Kyle stopped you let out a small growl. This seemed to go on for a long time.

Soon they approached a door you had seen a few times but never entered. And never saw others leave. You started fighting against the leash again. The men think you’re scared, and you are. When Ghost opened the door though, it was more than that.

The door closed as soon as it opened after a shot rang out. There was shouting as Ghost open fired as soon as the door reopened. Another shot was fired but this one from above and behind into Gaz’s back. If it weren’t for the vest he may have been paralyzed. Thinking fast Gaz unhooked the leash from your collar and the men moved quickly taking cover. Ghost cleared out whatever men were in that room, making it the easiest spot to avoid the sniper. You wasted no time rushing in with the rest.

Inside they saw kennels and fenced cages, with chain leashes hanging from the wall. There was also blood. The place was a familiar scent to you, as you detected other animals you’d encountered. Any of them came in they were rarely let back out, and if they were they weren’t the same. You whimpered as you detected the scent of another dog you’d met. A husky, who didn’t give up on escape.

“Operating table, kennels, chains… this is animal testing at its ugliest.” Ghost commented as they kept moving. Ghost approached a corner, but you stepped in first smelling danger. Without warning Ghost turned to find another guard pointing a gun at him, only for you to go for the guard’s leg.

Ghost took advantage of your distraction knifing the bastard in the chest, and lowering him to the ground. You didn’t let up on your growls as you barked at the corpse. Ghost gave you a scratch between the ears, and you eased off rubbing against his leg.

“Good dog.” He said. Price and Johnny moved up ahead entering an operating room that still contained some syringes. Gaz found a computer and tried to break in to collect data. Ghost got you to wait at least outside the operating room.

You didn’t hear or really understand what they were discussing. You recognized a few of the words but not many.

“Animal testing… what were they testing?” Price muttered.

“A type of drug?” Soap suggested. “Sure as hell keepin it to themselves.”

“Captain.” Gaz called from the computer, having broken in. Price left the room to see what his sergeant found, instructing Ghost to get Nikolai to be ready with the vehicles. You followed Price, who didn’t slow to make sure you were caught up. They had to work fast, knowing a sniper was above them somewhere. They also needed a way out. Gaz had found more information and files concerning the testing, but you caught wind of something more pressing.

There was a sound the men knew well, but you didn’t. A grenade rolled towards them and while they took cover you picked it up and bolted towards where it came from, tossing it by whipping your head. Unfortunately, you weren’t fast enough, and was caught in some of the blast. Gaz moved quickly to pull you out while Johnny and Ghost went after the thrower, gunning him and few other’s down, the blast having incapacitated most of them. You whimpered as he got you to cover. Price continued pushing forward, seeing as it would get them out faster at this point. You do your best to stay focused, the pain still remains in your mouth. Your muzzle was dotted with grenade fragments and some burns. The pain made you whimper, but you held strong as the team kept going.

Price lead his team through. You bolted forward again though as he entered an open area, knocking him down just as a shot rang out. Your pained yelp had Price rolling you off of him assessing the damage. The exit was only a few feet away but another shot hit you. Ghost had a chance to take out the sniper before anymore could hit you. Johnny ran up ahead to open the door, and flag down Nikolai. Gaz got you over his shoulder, as Price got up and they made a break for it.

The rest is a blur for you. The bullets got you in the chest and your muzzle was still in a lot of pain. You were losing blood. Nikolai was there in time to collect the team. From there you blacked out. You remember hearing sounds of shouting, and smelling latex.

While you were undergoing surgery the team waited outside. They had been able to focus enough to get their gear and hand in what they found to Laswell, but they were more distracted by you and your condition. Laswell came to find them waiting to see if you would make it. Seeing the four men tense and quiet was something she’d seen more than once. This time there was something different. Affection.

Laswell leaned against the wall next to Price trying to offer some comfort. Even she had to admit you were a good dog. Then the doctor stepped out of the room. The men were all at attention.

“They’ll pull through…though I should mention something odd…” the doctor said a little unsure of himself.

“Go on.” Price urged.

“We didn’t really need to do any stitches just remove the pieces of grenade and bullets, and give them some more blood.” The doctor explained.

“…are you saying they healed on their own?” Ghost asked crossing his arms. The doctor knew how it sounded and their own expression showed no change.

“The dog is asleep, if you would like to check on them.” The doctor offered. Kyle was the first to go in with Johnny following behind. You laid on your side on the table, with some blood still being pumped into you. There were bandages on your wounds and your muzzle. No blood was seeping through. The doctor held up a scalpel.

“Let me show you what I mean.” The doctor said and made a small incision, drawing a little blood. Johnny smacked the doctor’s hand away.

“Leave em alone!” He shouted at the doctor. Ghost got hold of Johnny’s shoulder and got him calm before he could start throwing hands with the doctor. Kyle noticed what the doctor was talking about though. He saw the small cut mend itself quickly.

“Unbelievable.” He said.

You started opening your eyes and sat up a bit, seeing Laswell and Price standing off to the side. Your tail wagged, a little weak. The team couldn’t believe how quickly you recovered. It was insane. Laswell was intent on doing thorough examination and research on the information the 141 had found. This wasn’t normal at all. Price c came over to you and you welcomed him with licks to his hand, happy you didn’t disappear behind that door for good.

@yourlovely-moon @kaoyamamegami @H0n3y_L3m0n @sans-chara @1mommyrose4ever29 @smitten-haematite-quartz @talia-the-gemini @yuki2129 @whitetiger846 @graystorm444 @chibiduck @reaperxxxxzz

[certainlynotasimp]

Updated Upcoming Fanfics

Hello, my lovely simps~✨ I’m just going ahead and listing off the upcoming one-shots and head-canons that will be coming out within the next couple of days to feed y’all’s and mine Miguel O’ Hara addiction.

Until I get through a good chuck of these: Request will be closed until further notice.

If you wanna check out what I already written and catch up on my current series then feel free to check out my Masterlist~✨

The Adventures of Miggy and Sunny Series (Miguel O’ Hara x Sunshine! SpiderWoman! Reader

Requested: How did Miggy and Sunny meet? ((I plan to make this one a two parter🤭))

Requested: Jealous Miguel ((This idea was so good you guys requested it twice🥰))

Requested: Miggy walks in on Sunny singing and dancing✅

Requested: Sunny, Miles, and Gwen go on an adventure and Miguel didn’t know about it. ((We love angry protective men in this household 🤤))

Requested: The Spidey gang notices that Miguel likes to leave hickeys all over Sunny, and they rip on Miggy about it.✅

Requested: How Miguel if Sunny died…((🫢 We love drama in this house))

Requested: Miggy and Sunny having their own love bug on the way. ((Requested by the same person who asked about Sunny’s death and I’m gonna make its own post 😭)) ✅

Requested: Sunny’s reaction to what Miguel does to Miles. ((I still haven’t seen the movie so I’m gonna have to put a pin in yours, but I will do it.))

Requested: Miguel’s reaction when Sunny is injured

Requested: Miggy shushing at everyone because Sunny fell asleep at his desk. ((😭🥹))

Requested: Sunny standing her ground protecting her friend and Miguel is proud of her. ((My love for being praised is being fed with this one🤭🤭))

Requested: Sunny’s sick day. ((Maybe a bowl of that sexy Papi will cure her? Just kidding…unless))

Requested: A view into the domestic life of Miguel and his love. ((🥰))

Requested: Tio Miguel and Tia Sunny babysit Mayday for the day, even if Miggy didn’t want to. ((Anything with Mayday is accepted here😭🥰🥹))

Requested: Miguel trying to get the attention of his Sunhine, but she keeps getting distracted. ((This one.🥵 is gonna be a little spicy. Not too much because Miguel is already bringing a lot 😏))

Requested: Miggy and Sunny have a shopping day and Miguel isn’t afraid of letting his sol get whatever she wants. ((Sugar daddy moment for spider Papi 🥹🥰))

Requested: Sunny is trying to recover from an injury in Miguel’s apartment and a villain decides to break in. ((👁️👄👁️ <<his face lol))

Requested: A new spider ambushes our favorite couple because she needs help getting back home. Miggy and Sunny soon find out that this spider is actually their child from a different dimension. ((This one right here is prime for some fluff, angst, and maybe Miggy changing his mind about having some babies 👀👀))✅

Requested: On her low days, Sunny just needs a moment of silence even as the world is caving in. ((😭😭))

Sunny lore posts ((because why not?))

General Miguel O’ Hara x Reader

Requested: Miguel with an s/o who gets flustered easily. ((This mf is gonna ruin you all🤭😭🥵))

Requested: Miguel with a Black Cat! S/O oneshot. ((I think I know who the anon is who requested this and I promise bestie I will deliver!!))✅

Requested: Miguel and Reader in a Friends w/ Benefits relationship. ((I’m kinda nervous about this because this will be my first smutty post👉🏻👈🏻))

Surprise post! ((This is a special fanfic I’m writing so y’all get ready.))

Requested: Spiderperson! Reader has to perform a canon event that involves them kissing someone in the iconic spiderman kiss, but they are in a relationship with Miguel ((The drama! 😫 and another Jealous Miguel fanfic?😫🤭))✅

Miguel in a complicated relationship with a Cat Burglar/Black Cat Variant! Reader.

Requested: Headcanon for Miguel with a human reader.✅

[popawritter12]

I will be shameless to ask for a Yandere Talon x reader, but is it okay if it's themed as Primal Ambush? I haven't read any skinline fictions regarding that skin, so I'll love to read one especially if it's coming from you!

Please take your time in creating the fiction~🩵 Take care always, thank you!

Author's Notes: Because you didn't specify the gender of the reader, I'll make it female for a reason you'll see now.

ALSO, thank you for the request, i always wanted to make a one-shot for this skin! I hope you liked the result ;)

Yandere! Primal Ambush! Talon x reader

Yandere character: Talon Du Couteau

From the videogame/serie/movie/manga/anime: League of Legends (Primal Ambush lines of skins)

Case: Murder, implied death of a relative of the reader, blood, aggression, a certain comfort for the reader.

Part: 1 of 1

Finished: Yes

You still have that bitter memory of the forest when you first traveled alone; the smell of dry plants, the noise of nearby animals walking everywhere, the sunlight peeking through the leaves of the trees, a feeling that reminded you of the first times you traveled with your parents, before they left. your life. From the lake where the smallest children fought out of mere instinct and pure fun, to the areas less surrounded by trees, where mothers and fathers came together for the coexistence of their neighbors, seeking to keep their others alive. The noise generated by the leaves colliding with the wind was something that resonated in your mind, something that ended up detaching you from the world, and mainly, from the image in front of you.

The blood gurgling from the barely alive body near that man, near that monster. The corpse abandoned by the soul that required a decent place to rest, at the same time that the bugs were interested in the intense smell of fresh blood escaping from the largest wound, which had crossed the chest of the dead woman, showing an almost perforation. perfect of his lung.

Next to her, a man with blonde ears accompanied by a mischievous smile across a face full of marks and wounds from the recent battle; scars, both superficial and those that manage to show drops of blood in the middle of his face and skin, and soft and constant gasps escaped the man's lips, satisfied, his blonde tail adorned with brown locks everywhere moved constantly, showing the obvious satiated feeling of bloodlust. The crown in his hands was finally object for him to move between his fingers, and it wasn't until he simply widened it to his waist that he simply looked at you again, his yellowish eyes, which reminded you of the predator he embodied, followed your path. body, and especially, your eyes. You still sob as he stays close to you, taking quick steps but that you could barely hear.

Dragging your hands backwards, trying to push yourself to drag your body backwards. But he managed to position himself right in front of you, taking your shoulders with his hands.

It was surprising to you that his claws didn't hurt you. He seemed to take you gently, and a proud smile appeared on his face, as if he were bragging that he had done it, that he had finally gotten rid of the only woman that separated the two of them from each other.

—How cute… —He whispered, his rough voice sounding extremely playful against you, bringing your face closer to his.

—No! Get out of me!.

Your foreheads collided, he closed his eyes for a moment, and when you tried to move away from him, his grip on your shoulders tightened. But it wasn't what you expected; Normally, a person would grab in the sense of “I won't let you escape,” but he just grabbed you like he was playing with a small animal, with someone so small that it was terrifying, and it sounded like “I'd have fun if you tried to escape.”

—Why don't you understand that you can't escape? —He questioned you, noticing how you continued to struggle with him.

—I don't want you around, I don't want to be close to a monster like you. —You attacked, trying to get away, your shoulders trying to break free of his grip.

He stayed silent, but he just trailed his hands to your forearms, giving gentle caresses with his palms and the top of his fingers.

—Your sister also murdered people. —He mentions out of nowhere, his eyes half opening.

—But it didn't give you the right to kill her. —You responded, before trying to continue struggling, avoiding eye contact with him.

—Right or not, it is no longer important. —He mentions, removing his focus on death, to place his face on your cheek, his breath hitting your skin.

—No! Get away! —You complain, moving your face away from his, but he wasn't going to let you escape that easy.

—You look so pretty, so soft, so… —He begins, at the same time that you can hear him gently smell the fragrance of your loose hair —…, so different from her.

—Don't think that this will stay like this —A growl escapes you, your tail moving across the ground, from side to side slowly but steadily —, you will pay for this.

—Of course it won't be like that —he replied, moving his face away from the free space on your neck —, I made sure everything is going to be better.

A slight approach and a grip on each of your forearms emphasizes the weakness you have beneath him.

—You don't remember me, and maybe you never will, but you are the reason I do this.

He rubbed his face against the back of your neck, now pressing his cheek against your neck, with the free skin you can feel the marks on his face, and without expecting it, you hear him purr, rubbing his face against your neck.

—Get out! —You scream, anger escaping your lungs—, I don't want you near me!

Even though you tried to squirm, Talon always found a way to make you understand your lack of power, and in this case, a simple lock in the center of your elbows reminded you of his control over your body.

One movement, and your arms will no longer be useful.

—I'm glad you're understanding —He purrs again, bumping his face against your bare shoulder —, I'm so glad.

You can see how his whitish tail moves at a certain height, showing how pleased he was, and the calm that was in his body and mind.

—Why are you doing this? —You ask, looking Talon in the eyes directly.

He doesn't separate his face from your body, but his tail remains still, as if waiting to know how to answer you, and he took a while to do so.

—So many years have passed…. And you don't remember—He separated his face from your neck—, (Name), have you ever met a child, only 7 or 9 years old, who you give him some food?

You blinked several times, before gasping in surprise.

You still remember his torn clothes, stains on his whitish skin and on his clothes, a gaze fixed on you while in his hand his barely sharpened claws threatened to severely damage you.

In your hands was that piece of food, that whole bread that looked so desirable to the eye.

And you were only 7.

“Oh, are you hungry?” you asked at the time.

He seemed to understand that you were speaking to him, since your language was barely understandable due to your lack of speech training.

But his shoulders tensed more as you approached him, soft and gentle steps of yours approaching him, before taking both edges of the bread, breaking the food in half.

With your hand, you extended the slightly larger piece, offering the little one a meal for his hungry gaze.

He attacked quickly, aggressively taking the piece of bread. In the process, one of his nails ran across your wrist, damaging part of your skin, exposing your flesh and leaving blood stains emerging from the open marks. A gentle but extremely painful burning spread across your wrist, and you quickly dropped the other piece of bread, moving away from it.

“I just wanted to give you food! Evil!" You sobbed, before running away from the place.

You returned home, and your sister, at 10 years old, only scolded you, bandaging your wound and warning you not to be nice to others again.

“Don't ever touch or even get close to that kid again, okay?” She scolds you, on one of her hands your wounded wrist, small blood stains on her hands.

You tried to answer “yes,” but between sobs, she didn't understand what you were saying, so she told you that it was okay if you just nodded.

You never saw the boy again, or at least not in sight, when a handful of days later, you had the misfortune of finding a piece of bread on your bed.

There was no note, nor any sign that he had been there, just the piece of bread, with the smell of earth that emanated from that boy.

For several days you smelled how his scent lingered in the air of your room, but you never did anything about it, you never knew why, but in your little girl mind, you just dedicated a long letter to him about how you felt about his treatment and that you were going to feed him if he apologized to you.

Sivir refused to let you give her the letter, and secured your window and door with several bolts, hoping that would stop the bold boy. She even stood guard for several nights in your room.

But her smell remained there, always in the air, and that frustrated her.

As for the note, you had hidden it in your room, and it wasn't until you saw it again that you thought he had read it, and that he had accepted the deal.

You waited up many nights, trying to catch him red-handed, and make him apologize to you, but Talon always were outsmarted you.

You always woke up covered in sheets —even if you are not covered the last nights— and once you found a whole loaf next to your bed. And you assumed it was his way of asking for forgiveness.

For the next two years, you left him food hidden in your room, which he always found, but Sivir was never able to find.

Although, one day, you heard a commotion in the living room. As you peeked your head out, you noticed a large scar on Sivir's face, a scar that covered part of her face, one too large to be hidden.

At only 12 years old, Sivir approached you, a lock of blonde hair stained with blood in her hand, forcing you to take it in your hands.

“Don't welcome that savage back into our home again.” she threatened, grabbing the collar of the sleeping shirt you were wearing.

From that day on, your room didn't smell like dust anymore.

—I'm glad you remembered me, (Name) —A smile appeared on his face, before his tail moved again, now with more energy.

—No… you were that child… —You gasped, small tears forming in your eyes.

—It's okay… it's okay.…—He whispered, now wrapping his arms around your upper back. —.., I'm here, and I'm not going to let you go.

“But you… you died that day,” you sobbed, your words barely understandable.

—I Die that day? —He laughs abruptly, before placing a soft kiss on your neck—. To tell the truth, Sivir was closer to dying that day.

Another kiss was placed on your neck, playfully.

—B-but…

—I didn't kill her at that time because I thought that no one could support you until you managed to take care of her on your own—He excused himself—, but now that I think about it, I should have killed her and pretended that it was someone else.

—Really… it's you —you gasped softly, one of your hands going to the back of his neck, before touching his hair. —, it's really you.

—Yes, (Name), yes… here I am, and I won't leave you… —A grip on his neck interrupted him.

An arm went around Talon's neck, pulling his head back. A stain of blood marks Talon's blonde hair, and the rapid breathing of the still alive woman can be heard.

—Shit. —He gasped harshly, trying to pry her arms away from his back.

You stopped short of trying to do something, she pierced Talon's cheek with a small blade.

—I won't let you have (Name)! —The woman screamed, coughing violently, large stains of blood escaping from her lips —, she doesn't belong to you!

She pulled the blade from his cheek, before aiming it straight at his chest, focusing the tilt of the weapon directly on Talon's chest. But one of Talon's elbows fits just right to collide with her chest, crashing into her lung already damaged by her open wound.

—Shit! —She gasped, before the weapon slipped from her hands.

The blade fell slowly, and you could have grabbed it, you could take the weapon with one hand and thus touch the edge of the blade to Talon's heart, pierce his heart and thus finally end this story.

But your slowness did not allow you to even move one of your hands, and the blade fell to the ground, right in front of you, but your hands did not move, nor did your body.

—No! (Name)…! —Sivir gasped, but another elbow, now in her face, finally manages to finish knocking the woman's body down.

Her white hair moved with the wind, before landing against the dusty ground. Her face slammed into the ground, and her mind gave up. Even if she tried to move her body, the blood and force with which she was hit did not leave her.

It was only seconds when he lunged at her, his blood-stained hands clinging to the skin around her neck, the strength of his grip causing her to gasp sharply.

—No! let her go! —You screamed, panting and jumping against him.

But he didn't even deign to move, he only tightened his grip on her, causing Sivir, almost literally, to finally abandon her sister, and leave her under the control of the monster.

Several minutes passed until he felt that cold between his hands, panting heavily, he finally let her go.

—She seriously wasn't going to give up —he growled, before finally gasping softly. —, and finally she won't bother anymore…

The tears on your face only caused you to barely move, and he just wrapped his arms around your body. With a soft kiss on your cheek, he purred again, soft and gentle.

—Now I can have you to myself, without anyone else in the way. —He smiled brightly, before licking your cheek.

His scratchy tongue sent shivers on your skin, and although it's passage over your skin was short, it generated a lot of discomfort in your body.

And it was a simple memory, a simple mark that generates chills on your skin, that reminded you of your new place in the world, and in your life. That pride that was being part of the family of someone as strong as Sivir finally had to leave your mind and soul, and you had to get it into your head, very strongly, that you were no longer that proud (Name) of her sister and that was the angel who supported and defended her sister until the end, otherwise, a simple victim of the hunter who with so much fervor marked this world in such a way that everything was going to change, and you couldn't think if it was for better or worse.

Yeah, I KNOW THAT TALON DOESN'T HAVE A TAIL OR HIS TONGUE ISN'T LOOK LIKE THE CAT ONES, BUT IS MY HEADCANON LEAVE ME ALONE 😭😭😭

[credince--writes]

Blood. (Jitters Au)

Hello. In light of recent events I have found myself infatuated with 141, so to churn to pot I'm going to start a one-shot (kinda?) series with an OC named Jitters. The more I make the more it will expand on the AU. So, hope you enjoy, as of right now there is going to be no smut.

Jitters.

You get them when you're scared,

nervous,

excited.

But you never want to have them with a gun in your hand.

Good thing she didn't have one in her hand right now. Actually, she had a mouse. Fierce clicking is heard amongst a silent background save for the patterns of gunfire far off in the distance.

"How's that going Jitters?" She heard the crackle of Soap's voice come in over the radio, reaching her hand over to grasp the machine she lifted it to her face pushing down on the button.

"Lights go out in two minutes." She responded.

"Copy." He responded.

Sitting in a stuffy room with two soldiers left behind to stand guard at the safe house she was in, hearing their boots shift every now and then as they looked around, trying to think of anything other than the probability of an ambush. She had been sent- much to her dismay but under Shepard's persuasion to the mission's site to provide better support than if fully remote. The current job was to 'acquire' an asset intel had placed in a series of barricaded homes and buildings five miles from her current location. The group had not yet established independence from the electricity grid which Jitters was all too happy to of been able to score access to. The plan was to cut all power to the building and send in Ghost & Soap. It was as simple as these could get, and she trusted that the team would make quick work and they could be on their way back to base as soon as possible.

"Cutting power in 3... 2... 1... Power cut." Jitters spoke into the radio.

"Copy. Moving out." She heard Ghosts voice this time, followed by a crackle of the radio and then silence.

Sitting back in her chair, she let out a sigh.

"So you know the L.T?" She heard the guard from behind her ask, she turned around to shoot him a sly grin and respond.

"Yea, kind of." she responded.

"Is it true what they say? You know, that he isn't-"

Jitters cut him off. "Yea man, he disappears at night and just appears out of thin fuckin' air. Scare's the piss out of you too, and he just knows- those eyes burrow into the soul. The man knows what you think before you say it." She laughs a little- one thing she couldn't get bored of was fucking with some of the Privates, even though her ranking was 'lower' than theirs.

Well, she wasn't even part of the military technically. Some kind of loophole between the CIA and contractors. A hundred background checks and a vouch from Scab was how she ended up meeting Price, and it rolled downhill from there. So, by that logic and by a general distrust of the computer girl having a gun they usually opted for her to not have as much of a handgun.

Maybe it was because of the Jitters.

It wasn't like she was ever in combat, so it didn't bug her. This mission however was a little close for her liking. Miles was still too close.

Turning back to face the computer she watched the timer tick down, the team had seven more minutes before she would turn the power back on to extract data from any electronics found on the premises.

"Jitters, time?" Soap spoke.

"Five." She responded.

"Copy."

She began tapping a pen against the table up until the man behind her groaned, mumbling something under his breath. She faltered and put the pen down and the table, slightly sulking and feeling embarrassment burn on her face. She was supposed to be an adult- not behaving like a child. Internally groaning at herself and trying to shove down the feeling of unease rising in her throat she glanced back at the computer to see the time ticking down from thirty seconds.

"ten seconds." Jitters spoke into the radio.

When the time ran out and the power came back on she was expecting Soap, or at least any of the other present soldiers to radio in to begin data extraction.

She frowned and turned around.

"Jitters?" She heard it on the radio.

"Yes?" She responded- it was Soap.

"We have found a data stash, starting connection now."

She spun around to the computer, hands gracing the keyboard, pads of her fingers brushing against the keys.

"Connection established, starting export now." She responded.

One this she could say, was exporting was much faster when she wasn't a country away, that was a plus. The data she was pulling was being sorted and stashed in the correct locations, fresh intel as it seemed common for impromptu command bases to leave masses of intel on electronics normally left by the unknowing taskforces.

"How's it going down there?" Jitters asked.

"Half and half." Soap responded.

"Download almost complete, once this is done, I don't think you'll need to be sniffin' around much more- doubt they had more than one setup." She says.

"We have Tangos on the move, repeat Tangos on move southbound." She heard a soldier say over the radio suddenly.

She could feel her shoulders stiffen, turning to look at the man behind her who was staring at her wide-eyed. They both stayed like that for a moment, before the radio crackled to life with a fury.

"House three full to the brim with these bastards!" She heard someone call through. Gunfire was heard in the background, as well as a yowl of pain.

"Target is no longer here."

"Find him!"

"House one clear"

She sat there and stared at the radio, not knowing how to react. Were they headed toward them? There were only two fucking men here- how many were coming?

Was she going to die?

She… Didn't want to die.

At least not now.

"…Are they coming here?" She asked.

"Hope not." The guard said, pushing forward to walk outside. "Anything?"

"Nothing yet, I don't see any truck."

"We will be fine, it's not like this is a landmark or anything."

Jitters glanced to the side, "Should we leave?"

"No, this is a safe house. Emphasis on the safe part. We aren't leaving."

"Well. What do we do if someone does come?" She questions.

"You aren't doing anything- we are here to protect you." He sasses back. "Now go back to whatever it is you're doing."

The downloading process suddenly came to a crawl, and she was clenching her hands on the table in front of her. This was going smoothly, why did it have to fuck up now? Her foot began to subconsciously tap, the small house she sat in not comforting her in the slightest.

This used to be someone's home.

Maybe they dreamed of even raising a family here.

"We have a truck inbound." She heard the second guard call out.

"Fuck." The first one said.

She turned around, sucking some air into her lungs. "We need to go. We need to leave."

The first guard turned around and snapped. "No, you need to stay here. We aren't abandoning our po-"

Blood splattered the wall.

And the floor.

And the ceiling.

The force of the bullet sends the body to the ground almost immediately.

"Get down!" The second guard yells.

That she does, eyes locked onto the basically decapitated figure next to her. She blinked a few times, trying to compose herself, but found her eyes locked on the corpse.

Her hands began to shake. Gunfire could be heard outside, she could hear the bullets lodging themselves into the building.

She began to jitter.

The computer screen blinked a little box with 'Confirmed' popping up and vanishing over and over. She rushed over, pulled out the laptop and slipped it into a backpack, and tossed it behind her clicking the strap-on for extra support. Destroying all possible useful elements of the computer setup and her surroundings she took and step back and looked around frantically for a way to escape the supposed safe house.

Tucking the radio into a strap on the backpack she pushed her way through the hallway looking to the second guard perched on the balcony shooting down towards the truck.

"We need to go!" She yelled at him.

He shook his head, ducking down below the cement banister. "You need to get back there! We are staying here and holding our ground!"

She cursed, turning and making her way back to the room. Eyeing the pooling blood of the corpse onto the floor, she hesitantly walked up to the corpse and wiggled the rifle from his grip.

Then his ammo, handgun, and a belt.

She let out a huff of the added weight to her- whispering curses to the fact that this wasn't near half of the shit she would watch Soap tote around when he's running about in a God Damn field.

Holding the rifle she situated herself up against the wall in the hallway, glancing back and forth between that and the window. Staring at the second guard still returning fire until she heard that horrible 'click click click' sound of his rifle running out of ammo. She stepped forward and called his name, but when he turned to look at her a man charged up the staircase. The guard stood and tried to fight him off but he was quickly shot down.

"Fuck!" She yelled, frantically looking around the room and at the man. She watched as he lifted the rifle toward her and she darted to the side of the wall, watching as bullet holes appeared where her shadow once was on the wall behind her.

The man walking down the hallway called out in an unfamiliar language. Her arms shook as her finger rubbed against the trigger of the rifle. Suddenly stepping out to make the first move against the attacker- she wouldn't all him to have the advantage. Not like this.

Pulling the trigger the machine responded, sending a jolt against her shoulder.

Blood splattered against the wall. The now corpse slumped against the wall.

She never realized how much blood was in the human body.

She couldn't exactly describe how she felt when she pulled the trigger. It was an action almost isolated- she didn't feel the connection of taking a life. It was just there- and now gone.

She heard more voices from downstairs, making their way through the house and working upwards. She turned quickly, trying to ignore the numb feeling tickling through her fingers. She tried to pry her fingers against the window sil, but they wouldn't budge. Cursing she raised the rifle up and smashed out the window. Lifting herself up through the windowsill and pushing herself out- catching her shoulder against a shard of glass in the process shredding her skin.

Maybe she had underestimated the height of the building-

or her ability to land.

She landed sideways it felt, onto a metal siding roof slanted downwards. And almost in true ragdoll fashion it rolled down and off the roof onto the hard dirt.

Making a gasp for air, she was gagging for any oxygen to reach her lungs- the fall knocking the wind out of her chest. Situating her hands down and in front of herself to push herself up, the dust from the dirt beneath her clinging to her skin and sending up plumes of dust into the dark air. Getting her feet back under her was harder than expected, leaning up against the wall and getting herself up was a fight, but she won it to a degree. Looking right to left she made her way out left, she just needed to get away from the building, get to a new location- radio the team, and she would be safe.

Flanking in from the left was the truck, tires screaming against the dirt with guns pointed toward her. Scurrying backward she lifted the rifle again and pulled the trigger pointing the rifle at the windows of the truck. A bullet whizzed past her and grazed her leg, a searing hot paint from the open wound it left made her let out an involuntary scream. The passenger side of the windshield had been shot out, and she shot again, again and again until the magazine was empty. The truck came to a rolling top, breaking hard when the driver threw the door open, holding a large blade in his hand.

She pulled the trigger of the rifle again, just to hear the clicking sound of an empty magazine. Yelling and frustrated and throwing the empty rifle at the man quickly approaching- seemingly throwing him off she charged back at him. A surge of adrenaline and the primal fight or flight take over.

it was time to fight.

He quickly overpowered her, sending them both to the ground, rolling around in the dirt. Both of her hands gripped his wrist holding the knife, and his free hand kept moving to the ground to try and push himself up further to slit her throat. She rolled out from under him, letting go of his wrist and causing him to fall forward. She tackled him again, wrestling the knife out of his grip after punching him in the face once and twice again. The knife tumbled to the side- and she snatched it. Holding the handle with both hands she slammed her hands down trying to stab the man through his neck- slit his throat- anything.

He fought back- grabbing her arms and rolling them over once again. Punching her in the face until she heard the crack of her nose and blood began to pour into the back of her throat. Him on top trying to twist the knife downward toward her face. He was yelling and succeeding in his actions. His free hand gripped the whole of her face, trying to dig his fingers into anything he could. Letting out a scream of pain as she felt his nails dig into her flesh. She opened her mouth a bit down on the man's ring finger as hard as she could. The taste of blood filled her mouth, the sound of tearing. He screamed obscenities and she pushed forward, turning the knife and jamming it in his throat.

A gurgling noise replaced his scream, and his weight suddenly all bore down onto her. Blood began to gush out of his mouth onto her face, neck, and upper body. Gagging, she tried to roll him off of her, pulling the knife out resulting in a high pressured splat of blood covering her face and body. Pushing the corpse off of her, she crawled on top of it and lifted the knife again, plunging it down onto his chest.

"Fuck You!" Jitters screamed.

There was blood everywhere. On her face, on her body- seeping into her shirt, on her hands.

Standing up, she could feel the adrenaline still pumping through her veins. She needed to get out of here-

She looked back and forth for the radio she had strapped onto her- somewhere scattered into the grass and dirt. But without a flashlight, she couldn't see anything around her, let alone a little black radio.

Everything felt numb. She couldn't feel the cuts from the glass, the blooming bruises on her side and arms, or the warm blood seeping down her leg and dripping onto her boots.

Was it shock?

Could it of been anything else?

She didn't really know.

What she did know, is that she sat down in the field and stared at the headlights of the truck until she could feel someone shaking her shoulder.

Her eyes glanced up to see the skull mask of Ghost. She didn't respond to his presence, just kept her eyes fixated on the light cast from the headlights. Soon enough, Ghost had crouched down right next to her, staring into the same void she had been looking at for some time.

"Can you hear me?" He asks, his voice lighter than his usual interactions.

"Yea." Jitters responded.

"Are you hurt?" He asks. The question was more of a test, she was obviously hurt but gauging the severity of the shock was the goal- was she aware of her own injuries?

It took her a second, almost to think about it. "No." She responded/

After their last contact was made, and the unplanned radio silence from the safehouse, both Ghost and Soap decided to come back- either to confirm suspicions of an ambush or to find some explanation for the loss of contact. What they didn't expect to see, however, was the computer tech sitting in a field next to a corpse, covered in a surprising amount of blood staring off into the void.

When Soap stepped out from the side of the building, Ghost and Jitters fell into his line of sight. Ghost crouched down next to Jitters sitting in the grass.

"I have a hard time believing that." Ghost spoke. "You're in shock."

Soap came up from behind the two, looking down to be met with a blood-splattered fast, crooked nose and dark red blood dripping from her nostrils into her lap. "Fuck." He said quietly, shooting Ghost a side glance. Ghost glanced back up and him and shook his head, turning his glance back to her. "Let's get you out of here alright?"

All she does is a nod in response.

Behind her, she could hear Soap radioing something in- most likely a chopper for an evac. She looked at Ghost, then down at her hands. "My nose hurts." She comments. By that time Ghost had pulled her leg out to press some gauze against the wound.

"Yea, the adrenaline is wearing off." He says.

"Bird is twenty out." Soap walks up and says to the pair.

"Leg's bad Soap." Ghost states, Soap kneeling down to try and asses some of the damage.

"You've got a bloody pane of glass in your arm." Soap bites out, inspecting her shoulder.

"Fell through the window, landed on the roof. It's just a scratch." She responds. The buzzing around her head began to wear off, replacing with a thick string of pain wrapping itself around her body. Her eyelids became heavy, and the familiar buzz began to return if she kept her eyes shut.

"God damn it." Soap comments, "Hey, look at me. Keep your eyes open."

"She's crashing." Ghost comments calmly. "Thigh isn't bad enough to bleed out, and neither is the arm. Pack up and let's meet evac. Medics'll be on the bird."

Soap looked out to the corpse in the grass, knife jutting out of it, throat roughly slit open and blood pouring out around it. Glancing back to Jitters and Ghost picking her up placing her over his shoulder and walking up to him, taking a glance at the corpse.

"Brutal." Ghost comments.

"Coming from you?" Soap quirks a brow.

"It's brutal when you aren't combat trained, have some Empathy Johnny." Ghost muses, turning his back to him and starting out to the evac point.

"Empathy- what? Fuckin' Hell." He starts marching after him. "We both know that I'm the more sensible chap out of the two of us."

"I doubt that."

.

[misteria247]

I'm gonna say something really wild today y'all ready for the insanity of this circus and clown of a blogger who runs it???

Raphael Hamato is so much more than his temper.

Like I've noticed how in a lot of media such a fanfiction, talking about characters and other things that a lot of the time Raph is often times shown in the light of his temper and his temper alone. Like this personality trait is given the spotlight so much that often times that's the first thing to pop into people's heads whenever they hear Raphael Hamato. He's in a way been reduced to just his temper and it's honestly kinda sad because Raph's not just his temper. There's so much more to our red clad turtle than him being angry constantly and there are so many moments within the Tmnt series that displays his better qualities that are often overlooked by his famous hot head.

2003 Tmnt shows a lot of moments of Raph being more than his temper. Moments such as his protectiveness over his brothers whenever there's danger, moments where he gets emotional and upset whenever his loved ones are harmed and so many other times afterwards. One of these moments is when Leo had been ambushed by the Foot Clan and had fallen into his few hour coma. As soon as Raph realized that Leo was hurt he instantly went to protect him and when he found out about what had happened he'd wanted to hunt the Foot Clan down for what they'd done. Yet he refrained from doing so because Leo was defenseless as well as his other family members and he instead stuck by his side until he woke up. And there's the time where Raph helped out a small boy and all the times he's literally fought enemies to protect his brothers and him always keeping a close eye on Karai after she'd betrayed them because she was a threat to his family and so many other moments like these ones that display just who exactly Raphael is.

But that's not all there's also the 2012 series where again there are several moments where Raph is shown to be much more than his temper. Like whenever Mikey was hurt by Bradford and he was feeling down about his supposed friend being an actual jerk Raph is one of the first people to go and offer him comfort and give him advice. Or whenever Mikey was taken by the mutated cockroach Raph despite being terrified of bugs, went after his little brother because he refused to lose him. And there was the times of Raph having Leo's back and being there for him whenever his older brother really needed that support. Like whenever April was kidnapped and Leo had started panicking Raph had stepped up to the plate and had even quoted Leo's favorite TV show to inspire him. Or the times when Donnie needed someone to talk to or rather rant to Raph is usually the one to rant with him. And of course when Leo went into his own three month coma he refused to leave his side barely sleeping and eating till his brother was awake again. And then there was the Slash incident where his mutated pet turtle, essentially his best friend had started to attack his brothers and Raphael despite not wanting to hurt Spike had fought him anyways because his brothers were in danger and he loves them dearly. Not to mention that he's an animal lover and is gentle towards those who are smaller than him such as Spike and Chompy. He's a sweetheart underneath his tough exterior.

And of course the Rise series shows Raph's more better qualities because Raphael within this series is the oldest brother instead of the second oldest. So he has more restraint on his temper because he's got to be the example amongst them. In Rise we see Raph being sweet and kind hearted and fiercely protective of his loved ones. He shows so many amazing qualities about the character Raphael Hamato that we sometimes forget that nearly all the different versions of Raph have these qualities. 2003 Raph can be kind hearted to a default. He can't stand injustice and he's often times seen helping others even if it gets him hurt because he fights for the little guys whether we pay attention to it or not. 2012 Raph is fiercely loyal and fully prepared to die for his family should it be necessary. He puts himself out there, stepping out of his comfort zone to offer a shoulder of support to his family and comforts them within the toughest of times. Rise Raph is protective and he always keeps a close eye on his brothers and is willing to tear the world apart should something happen to them. All of these wonderful qualities shared by the same red clad hot head that we all love and admire.

And there's still so much more to him.

Raphael is short tempered yes. But he's also kind, fiercely protective and loyal to a default. He loves his family dearly and is willing to put himself in the line of fire for them. If he had to choose between the world and them he'd choose his brothers every single time. Raphael can be rude and unintentionally hurt his loved ones but he's always quick to apologize to them or try to make amends. If he hurts someone he cares about he carries guilt because he himself knows how bad his temper can be and because he knows this he's always doing his best to grow and learn from his mistakes so they won't happen again. Raphael Hamato is such a complex character and he's got so many pieces that make him an amazing character whether we acknowledge it or not. And we seem to forget that Raphael is a very emotional person when it comes to things he's passionate about. Such as the safety of his family or the safety of those who are innocents. He only ever really loses his temper whenever he feels like no one's listening to him, or if he's cornered somewhat and forced to lash out. Raphael Hamato's job is to be the protector for his family and he lives up to that title and is passionate about it so much so that whenever he feels like that his family is put in danger or rushing head first into it he immediately becomes upset. And when he realizes that he's lost his temper he's quick to try and fix his mistakes.

Our favorite red clad turtle is so many things and is so much more than his temper and I'll never be over the fact that a lot of times he's often reduced to that and that alone. He's such an amazing character and lowkey I personally admire him because of all these things and so much more. He's a hot head but he's also one of the four turtles to have the biggest heart on him whether he's open with it or not. Because that's who Raph is and who he always will be.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Movie 2: Super Hero (4/5)

BIG

ORANGE!

The whole movie has been building to this. The Red Ribbon Army wants to take out Gohan, but they don't want to ambush him at home like they did with Piccolo, because Gohan lives in the city and there would be too many witnesses. So instead Commander Magenta has Gohan's daughter kidnapped from preschool, in order to lure him to the RR base. That way Dr. Hedo's new androids, the Gammas, can fight him on their home turf.

What the Red Ribbon doesn't know is that their kidnapping only got this far because Piccolo has infiltrated their ranks, and he managed to convince Pan to play along. His plan is to use Magenta's plan as a way to motivate Gohan so that he'll fight to his fullest potential and defeat the Red Ribbon Army.

Complicating matters even further is the fact that the Gammas are programmed to think of themselves as superheroes, i.e. the "good guys". When Gohan asks why they're doing this, Gamma 1 insists that it's all for the sake of bringing down Gohan's "evil secret organization". Naturally, Gohan has no idea what he's talking about, and it all sounds pretty stupid when Gamma's side is the one doing the kidnapping.

One thing that bugs me about Hedo and the Gammas is that this movie doesn't really spend a lot of time providing any context to the "super heroes" that Hedo loves so much. Everyone says the Gammas look like old fashioned superheroes, but I sure don't see it. Maybe they're meant to evoke the Sentai genre, but does that exist in the Dragon World? I mean, this fictional Earth has actual superheroes in it, like Mr. Satan and the Great Saiyaman. Shouldn't Dr. Hedo be idolizing those guys, and designing the Gammas to look like them instead?

I guess I should use an example. So in Batman: The Animated Series, there's an episode about "The Grey Ghost", a fictional hero within the world of the show. Bruce Wayne watched Grey Ghost episodes as a kid, and the character partially inspired a lot of the gadgets and tactics he later used as Batman. The episode was about the actor who played the Grey Ghost, Simon Trent, who was voiced by the late, great Adam West, just to hammer home the analogy.

Anyway, the way they made that work was by showing clips from the Grey Ghost's TV show, and flashbacks to when Bruce used to watch it as a kid, and all the merchandise made for the franchise. Grey Ghost was a pretty standard Golden Age pulp hero, like the Shadow or Green Hornet. The BTAS writers didn't just assume you already knew what kind of hero Grey Ghost was. They showed you.

Now, in Super Hero, they sort of take that concept for granted, and all we see of Hedo's "super heroes" are a few actors in costumes, or just the costumes as Dr. Hedo imagines them. We're never given a sense of just what the Gammas are supposed to be imitating. They're supposed to be very flamboyant and over-the-top, but they don't look that much flashier than Piccolo. I mean, he wears a cape too? He broods, he flies, he shoots lasers out of his eyes. Oh, and he has a kid sidekick who grew up to become even flashier:

Fuck yeah! This movie doesn't do much with Super Saiyan, but it looks damn good when it happens. See, Great Saiyaman got the super hero pastiche right because Gohan was using it as a disguise. He had to dress differently to protect his secret, and then he started getting into the act, talking all high and mighty, and doing Sentai poses. Then he'd take the costume off and act like his ordinary self. So the superhero tropes were obvious. Arguably, Gohan was already a superhero anyway, but as Great Saiyaman he turned that up to eleven by having a secret identity, a transformation watch, and a pesky love interest determined to expose him. The trouble with the Gammas is that they're only six months old, and the costumes is all they are. We never see the tropes that they're meant to resemble. The movie either assumes we already recognize the reference, or there is no reference. That's a tough tightrope to walk.

Anyway, Gohan and Gamma 1 fight for a bit, and Pan's excited to see this because at the beginning of the movie she told Piccolo that she never saw her daddy fight before. Earlier, she wondered if he would really leave his work to come rescue her, and Piccolo said he'd beat him up if he didn't. So Gohan had a lot to prove here, even if he didn't know it

But Piccolo is still concerned, because Gamma 1 seems to be learning Gohan's moves as they fight, which means Gohan will have trouble defeating him. He needs to fight at a higher level, and Piccolo has an idea to motivate him further...

Up close, this looks kind of silly, like you can obviously see he's not even holding Pan by her collar, and he's got his other hand holding her up. I guess Piccolo was afraid of damaging her preschool uniform while he toyed with Gohan's emotions, which is pretty much the most Piccolo thing ever.

But from a distance, it just looks like he's hurting Pan, and she cries out, which upsets Gohan... and the Gammas. Gamma 2's like "What are you doing!? We don't hurt kids!" And that surprises Piccolo and Pan.

But it still works. Gohan flips his shit and transforms to his Mystic/Ultimate/Elder Kai Unlock form. You know the one, he used it to fight Super Buu, and then he used it in the Tournament of Power. Piccolo is thrilled by this development and Pan wants to celebrate with double fistbumps. Pan is adorable in this movie.

The fight is a long way from finished, but Gohan does a lot better in this form. Also he blew away the rainclouds over the Red Ribbon Base, so we can see the fight better. Now, Gamma 1 is on the defensive, although with his powers, that's not a bad place to be.

Let's talk about Gohan a bit. One common critique about this movie is that it's all about super heroes, but Gohan never whips out his Great Saiyaman outfit. And I agree, it does feel like a missed opportunity, but I also think there's a very good reason for not having Great Saiyaman in this movie.

For one thing, Great Saiyaman would probably steal the Gamma's thunder. It's their only gimmick, and if Gohan's vamping it up in his own hero suit, then it dilutes the concept. Like I was saying before, Piccolo and Gohan are pretty much superhero characters already, so things are already strained enough.

More importantly, though, one of the major themes of this movie is "I wish Gohan would do (x) like he used to." Pan wants to see her daddy fight. Piccolo wants to see Gohan train. Magenta wants him to be the kid who defeated Cell, because otherwise he wasted two billion zenni on a pair of androids. If Gohan's just a mild-mannered biologist, then this battle was pointless.

The audience wants Gohan to be the Great Saiyaman, because Great Saiyaman is fun and cool, and it fits the tone of the movie. Only it doesn't fit the tone of the movie, because it never happens in the movie.

Well, some of the audience wanted Gohan to be Great Saiyaman. Then you have others who wanted Gohan to become this edgy badass, like when he slaughtered all the Cell Juniors, but to the nth degree. I remember after the movie came out, some fanartist was bitter because they should have done what he did in his fancomic, where Cell comes back and murders Videl and Pan right in front of Gohan, which makes him go berserk. Twitter dunked on that guy for a few weeks, and rightly so. Here's the thing: The Gammas desperately need Gohan to be that edgy fancomic version. Their programming only makes sense if Gohan's the villain in this story, and that would be easier to believe if Gohan would flip out and decapitate someone.

But that's not how Gohan works. He's not a machine like the Gammas who can be switched from one mode to the next. The Gammas have to be superheroes, but Gohan can be all sorts of things: father, husband, Saiyan, Earthling, warrior, scientist, superhero, etc. Piccolo can kind of steer Gohan in the direction he wants him to go, but he had to stage a phony kidnapping for this. And Piccolo is Gohan's best friend and mentor. If he has this much trouble putting Gohan in a box, then how can anyone else?

Gohan is a complex character, with many different aspects to him, and this is what makes all of his different facets work. The whole point of Kid Gohan flipping out and crushing the bad guys was that he was usually so meek and unassuming. If he was a badass all the time, it wouldn't matter. If he was Great Saiyaman all the time, no one would care. If he truly sat in his house studying bugs all the time, it wouldn't mean anything. What makes Gohan cool is that he can be all of these things and more. But he'll never be evil, and that's what's got the Gammas so flustered.

So Dr. Hedo gets worried about Gamma 1 and sends 2 in to back him up when...

OH YOU DIDN'T KNOW?

YOUR ASS BETTER CALLLLLLLL SOMEBODYYYYYYY!

Speaking of professional wrestling, check this shit out.

A brainbuster DDT? In my Dragon Ball? It's more likely than you think!

So while Gohan works over Gamma 1, Piccolo shows off his new power-up to Gamma 2. Unfortunately, it's still not enough. Gohan can fight evenly with 1, but it's the classic DBZ android problem, where the androids can fight at full strength without getting tired, and Gamma 1's battery is still at 82%. As for Piccolo, he soon discovers that his power up doesn't quite tip the scales against Gamma 2. Here we see him do a cool Special Beam Cannon, but 2 just throws up a force field to deflect it.

More importantly, Piccolo taunts 2 about how he seems like an okay dude, except he's following bad orders. 2 insists that he was created to follow orders, but Piccolo knows that on some level the Gammas must realize that this is wrong. And that dilemma is probably what's keeping Piccolo competitive in this fight. Gamma 2 is too distracted to deal with him properly.

So Gamma 2 gets so frustrated that he batters Piccolo and throws him down into the depths of this crater the Red Ribbon Base is in. I'm not sure how this place works. It looks like there's catacombs at the bottom or something. How ancient is this thing? Anyway, Piccolo does the anime thing where the hero seems to plummet to their depth, and then they have this big epiphany about friendship or believing in yourself or something. Except instead, he just flashes back to when Shenron boosted his power... and gave him "a little extra".

Awwww yeah!

Yeahhhhh!

Well now you fucked up, Gammas, because Piccolo's orange. What does this mean? Well, for one thing, Piccolo's antennae float instead of dangling over his brow. For another thing, he's got red eyes, which is always cool. Also his bara titties are even more bara than ever.

And I think you can work out the rest for yourself. One punch and Gamma 2 is down.

At this point, Magenta gets nervous and orders his troops to shoot Orange Piccolo, and that doesn't work at all, so everyone starts to run away. Carmine tries to cover Magenta's escape, but Pan chases after them, so Carmine starts shooting at Pan, but then...

Gamma 2 disarms Carmine with his pistol, and says he now understands who the real villains are. Kind of impressive he got his wits together so soon after taking that punch.

Then Pan wrecks Carmine's shit, which I just noticed is kind of like how Gohan took down Cell with two hits. I'm pretty sure it was a punch to the gut followed by a kick to the head, but Pan's only three, so it's okay if she gets the order wrong. The important thing is Pan gets to beat up a bad guy all by herself. If this were GT, they'd have Giru save her or something.

So Piccolo tells Gohan the fight is over, because it seems like Gamma 2 has finally seen the light. I guess Gamma 1 doesn't need much convincing, since he was having a similar crisis in his own fight.

So the fight is over, right? Not quite. Magenta runs, but he doesn't run away. Instead he goes deeper into the base and tries to activate his ultimate weapon, Cell Max. Dr. Hedo follows him and warns him that it's too dangerous. Hedo completed Cell Max's body, but his brain is still in development, and he'd be uncontrollable if brought online.

But Magenta doesn't care. As he sees it, things went wrong today because he trusted Hedo. The Gammas lost because they weren't powerful enough to defeat the enemy as quickly as Hedo boasted. Hedo says that they were only having trouble because they couldn't sense any malice in their opponents, but Magenta says that's the problem. Hedo insisted on programming them with all that superhero nonsense. Magenta wanted weapons, not cartoon characters, and so he's going to end things by unleashing Cell Max.

So Magenta shoots Hedo to stop him from interfering, but it doesn't work, because Hedo has bulletproof skin, thanks to some enhancement he made to his own body. So Magenta reveals that he has his own enhancements and takes off his shirt to reveal he's a cyborg. He admits that his body modifications might not be as sophisticated as Hedo's, but he's confident that he's strong enough to win in a fight.

You know, I was wondering why Magenta didn't make himself taller while he was having himself converted into a cyborg, but then it occurred to me that maybe he did make himself taller. He's still pretty short, but he's taller than his dad, Commander Red, so maybe he used to be the same height as Red, and made himself the height he is now. Maybe this is tall enough for him, or this was the practical limit of his cybernetics.

None of that matters, though, because Magenta forgot Hedo's other trick, that cyborg bee he used to spy on him at the beginning of the movie. It carries a powerful venom that can kill any living organism with one sting. Even cyborgs can't withstand it, because the venom disables their biological components. It seemed kind of weird when Hedo spelled that out in the limo scene, but now that we know Magenta is a cyborg, it makes sense. This is what they call Checkov's Cyborg Bee Sting.

So now the fight is definitely over, right? No, because Magenta presses the button to activate Cell Max right before he dies. Seriously, Hedo really fucked up here. Sure the bee sting was fatal, but it took a while for Magenta to actually keel over, and Hedo kept gloating about stealing Magenta's money instead of watching him.

Meanwhile, Bulma has arrived with reinforcements: Krillin, Android 18, Goten, and Trunks. I'm not sure why she did this, or how she even knew where to go, but it's Bulma, so she might have traced Piccolo's cell phone or something. Anyway, the big story here is that Goten and Trunks actually look like teenagers, and pretty close to their designs in the final three episodes of Dragon Ball Z. Fans have been asking about this ever since Battle of Gods premiered in 2013, because Goten and Trunks were supposed to be like 10 and 11, but they still looked like they did at ages 6 and 7. This kind of made sense, because Goku looked pretty teeny at 15, and Gohan was kind of small for 11, but the premise really felt strained beyond belief as Dragon Ball Super wore on, and the boys got older and older with each new story arc.

This movie tries to rationalize it by having Piccolo be all surprised to see this growth spurt, and Gohan tells him that this is how it is with Saiyan children. They stay small for a long time and just suddenly grow in their late teens. Okay, but Mai's not a Saiyan and she wasn't growing up either... Oh well.

Meanwhile, Hedo desperately tries to cancel Cell Max's activation, but it's too late. Different flavors of Kool-Aid are being pumped into his incubation chamber. Purplesauraus Rex, Pink Swimmingo, Great Blue-dini, Kickin' Kiwi Lime, and Black Cherry, the most powerful flavor of all.

I guess I have to give Hedo credit for trying, but the guy's busting out of the chamber right now. Cell Max is already active, my guy. It's just a matter of how strong you built the chamber. Meanwhile, the good guys are unaware of any of this. They're too busy asking Piccolo what he's gonna call his new orange transformation. "I guess I'll just call it 'Orange Piccolo'" he says. Thank you, Piccolo. Just for being you.

"Never mind that shit! Here comes Cell Max!"

Everyone's like, what the fuck are you talking about, Dr. Hedo, but then... yeah, you'll see. We'll all see, won't we?

[cantsayidont]

April 1986. Long ago, back in the prehistoric days when you could still potentially buy both a new comic book and a candy bar for a single U.S. dollar, DC had a protracted flirtation with digest-sized comics, obviously intended to capture some of the supermarket checkout rack space normally dominated by Archie Comics. With very few exceptions, they were all-reprint, with a diverse array of material ranging from Golden Age reprints to '70s horror comics to recent DC highlights. This issue, #71 of the BEST OF DC BLUE RIBBON DIGEST line (which was only a "series" in a very technical sense), was one of the last, if not the last, of this eight-year experiment, and it sort of highlights why it became unworkable.

Let's suppose that you're a kid in early 1986, and while in line at the grocery store, you persuade your parental figure to buy you this comics digest. If they could spare the $1.50 plus tax, there was no obvious reason to object — it's a comic with a silly cartoon character on the cover and seems to have some Superman and Batman stuff, no big deal. What it contains, however, is a very peculiar assortment of recent material, including, inter alia:

"The Day the Earth Died" from SUPERMAN #408 (Paul Kupperberg/Ed Hannigan/Curt Swan/Al Williamson), a story about Superman's nuclear anxiety that begins with a rather harrowing dream sequence where Superman sees Metropolis destroyed by nuclear attack, leaving him the only survivor.

"Mogo Doesn't Socialize" from GREEN LANTERN #188, the now famous Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons short that introduced Mogo, the Green Lantern who's a planet.

Three ridiculous Keith Giffen stories: Blue Devil fighting the Trickster (from BLUE DEVIL #8); Ambush Bug trying to hassle Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman into guest-starring in his new miniseries (from ACTION COMICS #565); and a short in which the Atari Force's alien pet Hukka is terrorized by a robotic toy (from ATARI FORCE #20).

A tongue-in-check Batman adventure from BATMAN #383 (Doug Moench/Gene Colan/Bob Smith) in which our hero, in both his identities, desperately tries and repeatedly fails to get some sleep.

A solo story for Katana from BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS (Mike W. Barr/Jerome K. Moore) in which Tatsu murders some guys and recovers a stolen Japanese artifact with no dialogue or sound effects other than running radio commentary on a baseball game.

The well-known Alan Moore Swamp Thing story ("Rites of Spring," from SWAMP THING #34, drawn by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben) where Abigail Arcane and the Swamp Thing get very high on one of his psychedelic tubers and Abby gets her monsterfucker card punched, which editor Barbara Randall said had to be carefully recut not for content, but to get it to fit the page format.

This was a reasonably representative sampling of DC's 1985 output, but it's a weird lineup that's all over the place in tone and content. I have no idea what a hypothetical kid would have made of "Rites of Spring" upon encountering it in this format (by the time I happened upon my copy of this digest years later — for 50 cents — I'd already read it in TPB), but it would have been apparent that we were not in Riverdale anymore.

One nice thing about the digest series is that they often had some thoughtfully selected material; the themed issues are worthwhile, chosen with care even if the size and quality of reproduction were far from ideal. DC has occasionally put out conceptually similar packages, but not on a regular basis, usually in something more like regular comic book dimensions (the Walmart specials, for instance), not on a regular basis, and not on supermarket checkout racks.

[the-coin-operator]

So Josh Trujillo put out of a list of reccommended (but not necesary) reads for the the Kieth Giffen tribute issue of Blue Beetle. And two of them are tripping me up, see if you can spot them.

and sure most of them make sense Justice league international is the Giffen comic in my opinion, and also goes with Booster showing up to attempt to save Ted.

Ambush Bug, also makes sense one of his earliest creations, same with Lobo. Blue Beetle well this is a Blue Beetle run, bold move to reccomend people read something that is so far better but heyo. Blue and Gold is a bit odd as Giffen had nothing to do with that, but it is Ted and Boosters current status quo so why not. No, whats confusing me is those specific Legion of Super-Heroes issues, and the inclusion of Heckler. Those Legion issues are in the middle of a run and arnt exactly the most fondly remembered by most (I mean I like them) if I had to guess (and legally i do) its so they can have both the young and old versions of the Legion members in one scene but its still odd.

And Heckler is from what I recall not actually connected to the DC universe its just a comedy series from the 90s. That has aged, boy has it aged.

I'm still looking forward to this issue but i was not expecting these.

[kaoshive]

SCREAMING

New jungle juice episode got me going feral man

(Spoilers for season 2 episode 13)

Okay so first of all this series has the most insane battle scenes, like? The movement? The BUG PEOPLE??? And all that is great but in between that, the LORE in here...like

This frame. Thisss 💔

It makes my heart hurt man, this guy is such a dad to the Stray Dogs after what happened w his daughter,,,

AND THIS???

I miss Huijin so much :’}

The dragonfly bracelet got me reeling fr…breakin my heart here.

Anyways the whole episode hyped me up so much, hornet lady is getting her shit rocked AND Suchan is starting to master blackout??? I’m excited for the events leading up to him eventually ambushing that one Pet Shop place we saw before all his training went down, and I really want to see how OP this man becomes from Gigantea’s abilities.

Overall a hype ass episode and I’m kicking my feet n shit over here 🙏

[splatoon-edits]

I'm of the assumption that you're a Shiver fan do you wanna explain some HCs or reasons you like her?👂👂 I'm interested (I like her too 😋)

oh boy. do you even know what you've done? I am going to talk about this blue creature SO MUCH!!!!! (no but fr thank you for enabling me to talk about one of my fav characters!!!)

I'm just gonna be rambling with no general direction, so i apologize if this gets a smidge confusing..... Everything else will be under a read more since i don't want this post to make it hard to scroll through my blog if it gets too long.

so.. Splat 3 was my first game in the series. I knew about the other splatoon games obviously, and i was eagerly awaiting splatoon 3 since by the time i got a switch it would have been a waste to buy splat 2. So i went into splatoon 3 with very minimal knowledge of the characters/setting.

But when i saw Shiver in the Deep Cut announcement trailer??? It was love at first sight. Blue is my favorite color and the swag Shiver has is off the charts. Plus the hype around a potentially nonbinary character?? And imma be honest, i'm a sucker for smug characters. Especially the ones who are secretly failures. It's just one of my fav tropes.

So in short: Shiver was a character who had a lot of appeal for me in the beginning. But slowly over time as i came to learn more about her and the rest of Deep Cut, i came to appreciate them even more in new ways. Shiver is smug, sarcastic, and can come off as mean or over the top. But she is also silly, quirky, and has a lot of love in her heart for others. She cares about Frye, Bug Man, and all of Splatsville. She says silly things that don't make sense. She likes puns. She takes the time to listen to Sheldon's rambles. She is so much more than what you see on the surface. And it can be so easy to see her teasing her bandmates and assume she is mean or cold hearted. But she genuinely is such a fun character!!!!

Her grace, her gnc swag, her cringefail aura, everything about her makes her an amazing character.

And now, for some headcanons in no particular order:

I kinda see Shivers gender as "whatever is funniest/best in the moment. Commit to the bit of genders. But if i had to pick one thing to headcanon them as it would be pangender or maybe genderfluid. Uses all pronouns plus some shark themed neos like bite/biteself and fin/finself and anything else like that. Im gonna be mostly sticking to she/her and they/them for this post just cuz i think that's what people will be most used to. But really any gender hc for Shiver is correct in my head. MTF? Correct. Nonbinary? Correct. FTM? Correct. Genderfluid? Correct/ Bigender? Correct. Anything and anything goes an i love seeing everyone's takes on it!

I'm gonna go ahead and say trans woman Shiver has a special place in my heart. I just feel like i never see anyone hc this but i also feel like it works?? Idk... The same can be said for genderfluid Shiver. I myself am genderfluid so i rlly like that hc!

Mayhaps has a touch of the tism. (me too) I just feel like she doesn't read social cues well. Can mask really well but doesn't do it around Frye and Big Man for the most part. I think all of Deep Cut is autistic tbh. With Frye having ADHD as well. (ME TOO)

I'm caught between the headcanons of "secretly rlly strong cuz of archery" and "lowkey weak cuz it would be funny to contrast w Frye being strong". But i lean more on the side of both of them being strong. Just Frye having more obvious muscles. But if you look at Shiver she def if strong. And graceful. Like a predator built for ambush or stalking. She moves with purpose. Ya know what i mean? Like she seems very graceful and delicate at first but that is NOT the case.

I gotta be careful or this will turn into general Deep Cut hcs cuz i wanna talk about Big Man and Frye as well lol

Loses her temper easily. Can be petty when things don't go her way.

Master Mega is very special to them. She spent a lot of time with him when she was younger and her parents were busy.

Shiver whistles a lot as a stim/just for fun.

Big Man and Frye are the best hype men ever for Shiver. There are certain points in the game where she says absolute nonsense but those two are right there to back her up. They also don't understand what he's saying, but they are gonna act as if it's the smartest thing ever. Shiver thinks she is the coolest thing ever and those two only enable her. (dw. every once in a while they knock her down a peg by returning her teasing)

Shiver is the type of person to spend 30 minutes making her food look pretty before she serves it. It has to look good or else.

Is a decent cook. Frye likes to steal bits of food from whatever she is working on so Shiver will playfully smack her with her fan and shoo her out of the kitchen.

Is very proud of her singing. She worked very hard to get it as perfect as it is.

Probably used to have a violent streak in middle school, would bite people. Has since learned to control her anger better.

Very confident. Isn't afraid of things like public speaking.

Gets annoyed easily when overstimulated. Sometimes snaps at people when the environment is too noisy/bright or if she is tired. Tries to apologizes afterwards.

Speaking of apologies, she is the type of person to do something nice for you or get you food/a present for you rather tha admit she is wrong. Is embarrassed easily and instead prefers wordless apologies.

Is flustered easily. One of the ways to easily make her lose her cool is to do anything remotely flirty or to bring up something embarrassing she did in the past.

I could probably ramble more but it's LATE and i should head to bed. Thank you so much for the ask!!!! I had a fun time talking about my favorite blue goofball. <3

[justforbooks]

Nothing can sum up Keith Giffen’s character better than the Facebook post he wrote to announce his own death at the age of 70: “I told them I was sick … Anything not to go to New York Comic Con. Thanx. Keith Giffen 1952-2023. Bwah ha ha ha ha.”

That eruption of maniacal merriment was recognised by comic fans as a last defiant laugh from the sardonic comic writer and artist, who has died of complications following a stroke, after a 50-year career during which he created many memorable characters including Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle), Rocket Raccoon, Ambush Bug and Lobo.

A Mexican-American teenager, Reyes first appeared in Infinite Crisis #3 (2006) and became Blue Beetle two issues later, when he gained superhuman powers via a scarab that morphs into an alien battle suit, eventually going on to appear in the 2023 Blue Beetle movie.

One of the stars of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies was created by Giffen early in his artistic career. Rocket Raccoon was a smart-mouthed anthropomorphic weapons expert who first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (1976), written by Bill Mantlo, who resurrected the character in his own four-part miniseries in 1985.

Among Giffen’s other early creations, Ambush Bug’s debut in DC Comics Presents #52 (1982) and its sequel, which involved the Legion of Substitute Heroes, were so successful that they led to several miniseries and one-shots drawn by Giffen featuring the absurd, fancifully dressed alien wannabe hero, and a one-shot Legion of Substitute Heroes Special (1985).

In 1982 Giffen joined the writer Paul Levitz on The Legion of Super-Heroes #287 and began transforming the series into a saga of considerable depth. One of the most popular storylines in comic book history, The Great Darkness Saga (#290-294, 1982), featured Darkseid as its cosmic villain and Legionnaires and other heroes from across time teaming up to confront him. As a result, Legion of Super-Heroes became one of DC’s bestsellers of the early 1980s.

Lobo, who first appeared in Omega Men #3 (1983), was intended as a parody of violent characters such as Wolverine, but became a poster boy for violence when Giffen teamed up with the writer Alan Grant and artist Simon Bisley for Lobo: The Last Czarnian (1990), which spawned numerous miniseries and specials in which Giffen continually pushed the envelope of acceptability as Lobo battled everyone from Santa Claus to his own children. Combat Christ and the Howlin’ Apostles proved to be DC’s limit.

Giffen was heavily involved in numerous crossover event series, designed, he said, to “significantly alter the status quo or introduce new characters into the status quo”, including Invasion! (1988), the weekly 52 (2006-07) and Countdown to Final Crisis (2007-08) for DC, and Annihilation (2006-07) from Marvel. His creativity and tongue-in-cheek humour earned him a loyal fanbase and he won an Inkpot award in 1991.

The son of Rosa Ann (nee Duncan) and James, a salesman for a textile company, Giffen was born in Queens, New York, but grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey. He was a fan of comics from the age of eight, when his mother handed him a copy of World’s Finest, and especially loved Marvel’s monster books and Gene Colan’s Giant-Man. He began creating his own characters at high school and went on to spend “one abysmal year” at the School of Visual Arts in New York (“the less said about that, the better”).

Apart from a year of night classes at duCret School of Art, New Jersey, Giffen was self-taught, studying books on anatomy and perspective during his four years working as a hazardous materials handler at Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceuticals. During a week’s holiday he decided to submit samples to comic companies. At Marvel, an artist had dropped out of illustrating a back-up story (The Sword and the Star) for Marvel Preview, and Mantlo, who had spotted Giffen’s portfolio, suggested they give him a try.

Giffen briefly produced layouts for Wally Wood on Justice Society of America for DC’s All Star Comics (1976), but was let go. After a period of selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door and other odd jobs, he tried again, drawing horror stories and Doctor Fate as a back-up strip in The Flash (1982), and working his way up to the Legion of Super-Heroes.

An accusation of “swiping” the work of José Muñoz in Ambush Bug (1985) – Giffen said he “parroted” it, rather than doing an outright copy – derailed his career for a time, until he was offered the chance to plot, and do breakdowns for, Justice League (1987-92) and its spinoff, Justice League Europe (1989-92), working with JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire. He also plotted and did breakdowns for Aquaman (1989) and plots for L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89/’90 (1989-90), a superhero group spun off from Invasion.

The range of Giffen’s output over the next 30 years was astonishing. He drew the superhero parodies The Heckler (1992-93) and Punx (1995-96), the return of Justice League International in Justice League: Generation Lost (2010), and episodes of Outsiders (2011), O.M.A.C. (2011-12) and Infinity Man and the Forever People (2014-15). He plotted or wrote full scripts for Eclipso (1992-93), Vext (1999), Suicide Squad (2001-02), a biography of HP Lovecraft (2004), Blue Beetle (2006-07), Midnighter (2007-08), Wetworks (2007-08), Reign in Hell (2008-09), Doom Patrol (2009-11), Booster Gold (2009-11), Magog (2009-10), Justice League 3000 (2014-15) and The New 52: Futures End (2014-15), all for DC; and for Marvel he wrote stories featuring Marvel Monsters: Where Monsters Dwell (2005), Drax the Destroyer (2005-06), Defenders (2005-06), Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos (2005-06) and Annihilation spin-offs Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) and Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord (2007).

During the same period he also penned or plotted various comics for Image (1993-94) and Valiant (1994-96), adaptations of Japanese manga, Battle Royale (2003-06) and Battle Vixens (2004-10), for Tokyopop and 10 (2005), Hero Squared (2005-07), Planetary Brigade (2006-07) and others for BOOM! Studios. He was also a storyboard artist for the animated shows Batman Beyond and Static Shock, as well as writing episodes of Ed, Edd n Eddy and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi for Cartoon Network.

In early 2023 he produced a podcast titled I’m Not Dead Yet, and had recently moved to Tampa in Florida.

He is survived by his children, Kyle and Melinda. His wife, Anna, predeceased him.

🔔 Keith Ian Giffen, artist and writer, born 30 November 1952; died 9 October 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[fluffypotatey]

You know what I wish we'd seen?

More positive actively involved magic users.

Like, we know the Druids support Emrys, though they seem more like a pacifist, non-combatant party (aside from some outliers like Kara, Mordred, Alvarr), and other magic users/beings like Anhora, Grettir, Mab, they all seem to be neutral. They acknowledge Emrys as a superior power, but they don't seem to actively participate for better or worse. And all other sorcerers are usually antagonistic. But why can't we have the other side? I'm sure there has to be some who decide to take Merlin's side. Maybe they don't entirely trust Arthur, maybe they aren't too certain of a Pendragon, but dude, it's fucking Emrys. If Emrys is supporting him, there's gotta be something to him, right?

Let Merlin have people helping him, other sorcerers who slip him spells that are too powerful for them, maybe he can do something with it, passing him information about plots they've heard through the sorcerers' grapevine, even helping him thwart some of the ambushes and traps. Maybe they aren't brave enough to live in Camelot 24/7 like Merlin, but they take turns bringing him messages and supplies, and to get their "marching orders," such as they are.

Also, imagine the look on Arthur's face when he finds out he has a magic Praetorian Guard that answers to his manservant.

yeah see, that's one of the big issues that's always bothered me. like we (the audience) are told that magic is not evil but rather is something as integral as nature. but more often than not, a lot of the antagonist we meet are magic users and most of the time they are power hungry people. i mean, i totally understand the sorcerers who seek out revenge for Uther and by proxy Camelot, but we only either get these types of sorcerers or the sorcerers whom the show portrays as only evil.

it is, frankly, impossible for the magic community to be full of only evil and vengeful sorcerers. there's got to be more diversity than that, bbc 🙄 you're telling me that there are no somewhat powerful magic users living in Albion helping others anyway they can and don't seek to help aid Merlin in anyway. and i mean aid him since s1. by s5 it looked like he was actually getting some help, but they were still sorcerers who fell a little bit in the gray area or just never interacted with anyone other than Merlin.

maybe have Lancelot befriend another sorcerer while he was away from Camelot and sort of sneak him in to help save the kingdom from Morgana and Morgause in s3. maybe Elyan, who had left Camelot pre-s1, have some magic friends that we meet in s4.

tbh, my big issue is that with how much the show tells us, the audience, that magic does have positive impacts and isn't evil, none of the characters besides Gaius, Merlin, and Lancelot actually know that (as far as i'm aware). literally any time Arthur considers that maybe magic isn't what his father claimed it to be, he ends up going back to those prejudices and ideas Uther propagated because "magic killed my father," "magic killed my mother" (still super salty), "magic corrupted morgana," "magic wants me dead." when in reality, that's far from the truth, and Merlin then has to continue to hide a part of himself from people he cares for and loves dearly because all they've ever known and seen is "evil magic people."

just....bbc, explain to me how Arthur was supposed to bring the so-called "Golden Age" to Albion where there's peace between magic users and non-magic users alike if he, himself, believed magic was inherently evil???? how is Arthur the Once and Future King if he never repealed the ban on magic or began working with sorcerers? and i'm saying this as someone who loves the character, but why did we, the audience, not get a chance to really see Arthur break away from his father's prejudices on magic until the series finale?

it just bugs me. there are so many moments where it looks like maybe Merlin has an ally that's pro-magic and pro-unity and wants to help fulfill the prophecy, but then they either become one-time side characters or fucking die. never seen or heard from again. maybe i just want a character or two to stick and maybe give Merlin the support group he needs?

por favor, bbc

[transingthoseformers]

Definitely feel free to add whatever you think fits to mltfp :3 you definitely remember more about it than I do!

I love Griffin Bumblebee and ex-Wonderbolt Starscream.

Thank you! I remember a nice amount of the series (or well at least the mane six and most of the side characters) and i have more:

May I suggest changeling!Soundwave? They have an interesting design, both their initial appearance and their shared-love appearance, and I feel like it's just alien enough for him.

Ratchet is a unicorn with the autobot medic symbol as his cutiemark because yes, of course. Has known Oppy for Primus knows how long, okay now I'm just staring at the map

Appleloosa is right there meaning i just gotta add Cliffjumper in here, say he's from there, and he's an earth pony. He lives this time, and if he was actually in FiM he'd be mildly related to Applejack because the Apple family is/was massive as hell.

Ykw? Arcee is a pegasus but like Fluttershy she doesn't fly very much. Because i feel like her color palette would look good as a pegasus.

I agree with the one ponysona post i reblogged, Knockout is a unicorn and Breakdown is an earth pony: Clydesdale addition. It's too sweet of an opportunity to miss. They met in Las Pegasus after both of them accidentally (well as accidentally as you can get considering gambling) losing all of their bots.

Remember Fluttershy: batpony addition? She looked so damn cool in that episode, i think there was a callback to it in the halloween episode where Luna came back for the first time after being Nightmare Moon. Why do i bring this up? That's 100% how Dreadwing and Skyquake are designed.

Ratchet complains about Ponyville constantly but he loves the place just the same.

Wait there's possibility here for hippogryff! Soundwave here too, that's also an option.

The Decepticorns are based somewhere in Everfree Forest because of course it's Everfree Forest there's so many fucked up things in that forest. They deal with timber wolves constantly and it's kinda hilarious. Somehow they like Starscream but he hates this, he doesn't want to be the wolf puppy whisperer.

Arachnid our dear friend is also a changeling but her favorite disguise is well bugs. She's exactly got beef with Soundwave.

An evil part of me suggests that Optimus Prime still gets a battle mask here that he wears very often because he's got scars, but these scars were from a silly in hindsight accident. This is exactly inspired by the time I slangshot my way into the ER.

There are exactly moments in the history books about Primus and Unicron that are framed as serious but in actuality are based on funny sibling shenanigans before Unicron was corrupted. Nobody but the brothers know the truth about this.

Unicron's interactions with Megatron are more frequent than canon tfp and they are... distressing to say the least. He keeps his heralds on a much tighter leash.

Starscream ambushes Arcee and Cliffjumper from above quite an amount with varying results.

... I'm tempted to add the tfp kids and base their ponysona dynamics off of the Cutiemark Crusaders. Miko is just too much like Scootaloo for me to pass up that opportunity.

Ultra Magnus = royal guard kinda yeah yeah yeah but he has significantly less success in wrangling the autobots than he does in tfp canon.

... UM still loses a hoof.

i am exactly looking at Predaking and i am exactly looking at FiM Spike and I propose a scenario. Shockwave: unicorn addition found a young lone dragon years ago and took him in to study Predaking as his own. Because this means Preds would be older than FiM Spike, this means by the time he meets Megatron and joins the Decepticorns he is quite an amount larger and has his wings.

I'm torn between suggesting MLTFP Shockwave's backstory is akin to Sunset Shimmer's, Trixie's, Starlight Glimmer's, or something else entirely. All i do have is that he's an evil unicorn with a dragon and an eyepatch.

Breakdown also has an eyepatch but unlike in tfp canon it isn't explained.

wAIT WHAT IF SHOCKWAVE HAS A BROKEN HORN LIKE WHATSHERNAME? what is her name? She's got a namey-name, an edgy one, she's from the movie which i loved dearly, uhhh google time. Tempest Shadow, that's who she is. Loved her.

Starscream's cutiemark is a star.

Shockwave's magic is based on well shockwaves, though since his horn is broke it is less predictable than one would expect. I want to say that his horn was broken a little later in life than Tempest's, meaning he had already gotten familiar and skilled with his magic before.

Starscream's red sticky uppy part in tfp canon becomes a red hairlick that moves (especially when he's pissed or excited)

The Knockout, Optimus, and Breakdown scene happens kinda because I'm sorry but I think Knockout deserves to flirt with Optimus still.

Knockout has electric based magic.

... i almost want to say skyquake and dreadwing still end up dying but it's not "on screen" this time.

When Bumblebee flies he's got smaller fluttery wings so he flies more like a changeling, a bee, or that one buff white pegasus we see a few times

It's still Predaking who causes the loss of UM's hoof.

I almost want to say Bumblebee can talk in this and it's like a running commentary like in TFA, but often times he chirps/whirrs like he does in tfp canon. It's adorable.

primus is mltfp bumblebee cute

I am so tempted to draw these guys but perfectionist mode will kick in and it will take too long

Tumblr please do not eat this post × 100

I'm debating if alicorn Optimus has a normal main and tail like Twilight has for a while or a flowy sparkly main and tail like Celestia, Luna, or finale!Twilight.

Soundwave still does not speak.

Laserbeak is a phoenix that Soundwave raised from an egg, but may i suggest she is a blue fire phoenix or a black fire phoenix?

I just remembered how the finale made AppleDash canon. Like. Yes. That happened.

Honestly Arachnid would probably fit Queen Chrysalis's role fairly well

In hindsight Orion Pax > Optimus Prime and Twilight Sparkle have more similarities than you'd expect personality wise.

Corrupted!Megatron has to look so fucking cool. Everyone has to look so fucking cool.

If someone calls Predaking Shockwave's pet dragon he will respond with violence

Instead of the Nemesis being a warship like it is in canon it's this badass underground base or a castle. Evil castles are always amazing.

Bulkhead is an earth pony with an anomalous past involving Breakdown, their fights are still On Sight. His cutiemark is a wrecking ball.

Maybe? Smokescreen shows up eventually and I'm torm between him being an earth pony, a pegasus, or something else entirely. His colors would look way so cool in the FiM style, whether it's his s2 or s3 paintjob.

Wheeljack would make an amazing unicorn and he still gets his explosions in his magic. i keep going on and on about the paintjobs but seriously i love how they'd translate. He deserves his magic to be green.

This got long I'll make a part two if need be

[heroesofprovidenceeternal]

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[sarkos]

It is with great sadness that I note the passing of Keith Giffen, who would have turned 71 at the end of November. He'd been quietly ill for years, but he was finally undone by a stroke. Co-creator of Rocket Racoon and Lobo, and creator of Ambush Bug, Keith wielded a unique illustrative style that made his run on LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES with writer Paul Levitz a legendary moment in '80's comics. He also helped redefine the Justice League of America during that period, granting the series a wacky sensibility, especially in its handling of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. And I would be remiss in my duties if I did not point out that during the ill-advised New Universe period at Marvel, Keith regularly swiped panels from FIST OF THE NORTH STAR, which was unknown in the States at the time. I only recognized his cheeky thievery because I had discovered the untranslated manga a little over a year before his short time on the series JUSTICE. I called him out on it during the early days of our friendship, at which he just laughed and said "Yeah, I picked up a lot of random manga back then and swiped from 'em like a motherfucker. Hell, we all did!" I got it. Anything to meet deadlines.

The Vault of Buncheness: R.I.P. KEITH GIFFEN, QUIRKY COMICS MADMAN (1952-2023)

[mwolf0epsilon]

The Umbaran Pathogen - Day 14: Bleeding Through the Bandage

Summary: In the midst of all the chaos, the holopic Canivete and Waxer took of the Vixus they had encountered lay forgotten in the depths of the medic's personal pad. In her defense, Cani's attention had been drawn towards a rather strange outbreak that had been causing the 212th some grief.

Warning: N/A (there's one instance of ickiness but it's very brief)

Prev / Next

[In which the events on Umbara are worsened by an unknown pathogen taking hold of both the 501st and 212th. These series of drabbles will follow a non-linear timeline based on the AI-less Whumptober prompt list for 2023.]

THIS STORY IS ALSO ON AO3

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To say Canivete was more than a little confounded by the strange affliction that had befallen the men, was disconcerting to say the least. Not that she was an expert in every exotic malady that came her way (far from it). But she did fancy herself an avid connoisseur of the field dermatology. Mostly because a lot of the vode had atrocious skin routines, and she was more than ready to fight them on their insistence on not giving two kriffs.

Sure at the end of the day all her siblings washed up fairly nicely, and did their best not to pick at spots, or scratch this or that pimple that cropped up unexpectedly. But one could only do so much with the standard military grade 5-in-1 soap they were provided by the GAR... And Canivete was not going to let any of them walk around looking like pre-pubescent cadets with extra greasy skin or dry as kark scalps...

So no, she was no expert, but she did know skin blemishes and abrasions better than anyone else in her field. And the sudden outbreak of rashes was definitely not a normal occurance.

At first she and her fellow medics had assumed it was allergies to the alien foliage and whatnot. The pollen, fungal spores, and bioluminiscent material that the plants naturally produced floated freely in the air, and none of them had been inoculated against Umbara's microbiota or microflora. So that had definitely been a plausible cause for the recent bout of rashes.

But, as she took care to examine the lesions more closely, Cani had quickly ruled out that possibility altogether. Because allergens didn't cause huge swollen craters. At least not on their own.

There was also the fact that every single one of the men that came to her with rashes, displayed them on the same highly localized area on their necks. At the very back, between two vertebrae. Right where a blade could easily sink into the spinal chord and sever it.

A rightful basis for alarm, if she did say so herself. Any potential for spinal damage out in the field was more than a little unnerving...

In the end, the most logical conclusion she'd made was that this was some kind of bug bite. From a very big bug. Big enough that the wound was substantial in size, and that whatever poison had been pumped into the men was immediately met with the body aggressively reacting to it, hence the severe rash. Now how the troopers had all seemingly been ambushed by something that enormous without noticing, was what truly bothered her...

"Crys, are you SURE you don't remember getting bit...?" She insisted, as she carefully coated the back of his neck in some ointment so as to sooth the irritated skin.

"I'm telling you, I really don't remember anything..." The blond replied, sounding somewhat tired as he had been unable to get any rest thanks to the constant itch. "All I know is that Wooley and I were out scouting, and then suddenly I woke up about two clicks away with an awful pain on the back of my neck..."

"He's telling the truth." Wooley confirmed. "One minute we were looking over the perimeter, then the next he was just... Gone. I found him exactly two clicks north looking all kinds of dazed..."

"And there was no sign of anything in the area? No critters that could have attacked him?" The medic continued to press.

"Absolutely nothing in the area... It was kinda freaky." Wooley admitted, sounding a little disconcerted. "When I got to him it was so quiet... Like everything in the area just up and fled. And his neck was a bloody mess..."

"Curious..." She murmured to herself as she carefully bandaged Crys's neck. He wasn't the worst of her cases, as multiple other troopers had rashes that were beginning to spread from the original point of infection to the rest of their body. Proving her theory that some kind of foreign poison was circulating in their blood.

She just didn't know what that poison was, or what creature could have possibly administered it. The database she'd consulted on the Umbaran flora and fauna was severely outdated and incomplete, and it held no useful information on blood sucking insects or any other such parasites...

"I want you to stay close, Cr'ika..." The medic finally said as she finished tending to her fellow trooper and vod. "Just so that I and the other medics can keep an eye on your symptoms, alright?"

"I guess..." Crys shrugged as he got up and began to move out. Not noticing Canivete motioning for Wooley to keep watching the blond, since she didn't want any of the sick moving about on their own. Not when the later stages of infection seemed to come with severe fevers and other alarming developments...

"What a mess..." Canivete whispered to herself as she looked around the triage zone they'd set up. There were several troopers in different stages of their infection. Some with the beginnings of the spreading rash, others covered head to toe in bandages as open sores with strange black growths began to crop up all over their bodies, and a few more suffering through horrific hallucinations and fever.

To say she was worried was an understatement. This was unlike anything she or any of the other medics had ever faced, and she was honestly starting to get a little scared that they might not find a solution for it. At least not without knowing for sure what the root cause was actually was...

Maybe if she looked through her own archive of alien diseases that she'd collected overtime, she might find a better match than the stupid Umbaran database...? Surely there might be something there that would at least point her in the right direction.

She was just about to unclip her personal pad from her belt when General Kenobi began to approach, Commander Cody sluggishly following behind him while maintaining pressure against the back of his neck.

"Oh dear..." She let go of the pad, letting it settle back against her belt while frowning with obvious concern. "Sirs, please tell me neither of you are sick as well?"

"Unfortunately I cannot say that is the case for one of us..." The General frowned as he motioned for the Commander to have a seat. She already knew what she would be seeing once his helmet was off, and his collar was lowered.

"How?" She opted to ask instead.

"It is most peculiar... One moment we were both up at the very top of one of the Zabrak Spikes, monitoring the horizon for enemy patrols with our scopes..." Obi-wan began to explain, a very perturbed look on his face. "And then... I felt two odd presences nearby."

"Carry on...?" This was new information. Cody's wound was much fresher and still bleeding heavily, which gave her a clear view of just how he'd been cut into. It looked like the outer layer of skin had been cut by a pair of strong mandibles, and the puncture wound itself was some kind of needle-like proboscis with barbed structures. Another point towards the bug bite theory.

"It was... Very strange, to say the least. It felt familiar but I could not identify how, since it also felt foreign in a contradictory manner..." Obi-wan continued, scratching his beard in thought as he tried to make sense of the experience. "I must have been so focused on trying to decipher what I had sensed, that I hadn't noticed the Commander was no longer at my side. A rather careless mistake on my part..."

"It wasn't your fault, sir." Cody tried to reassure the General. "When you froze up I should have put my guard up..."

"Let me guess, you woke up somewhere deeper in the woods with no memory of how you got injured?" Cani guessed. She motioned for him to brace himself as she poured some rubbing alcohol into the wound, having run out of disinfectant two patients ago. For what it was worth, Cody only mildly flinched. But Canivete could have sworn she saw something in the wound wriggle.

Blinking in surprise she squinted at the bloodied hole, only to find no movement whatsoever. Just a gaping wound that needed to be bandaged.

Little gods, she must be more tired than she originally thought...

"I woke up tangled in a thorny bush. I just assumed whatever grabbed me had dropped me from tall enough a height that one of the thorns got through my body-glove with ease." Cody admitted, sounding a little sheepish. "But when it started to bleed more heavily while trying to find my way back, I had some doubts... That was at least five hours ago. Whatever took me, covered enough ground that I was a fair distance away"

That certainly explained the temporary radio silence from her superior offers. It also did little to ease her anxiety on the matter.

"Given the recent outbreak of strange symptoms, once we located each other I thought it best to bring the Commander to the medics's care." Obi-wan sighed. "I take it that was a wise decision?"

"Very. Pardon my language General, but whatever the sith-hells is attacking the men is not only doing it with enough concussive force to cause temporary memory loss, but it is also very clearly specialized in this method specifically..." Canivete crossed her arms in slight frustration upon finishing bandaging up her superior officer. She wasn't too happy about any of this. "I'm starting to think it might not even be a regular wild animal attack... Maybe it's another Umbaran weapon? Some kind of domesticated beast that they're using to incapacitate the men?"

"Perhaps. I don't think we can rule out that possibility..." Obi-wan agreed. "The Umbarans are not at all pleased with our intrusion on their home-front, and as much as I'd like to say that they wouldn't stoop so low as to employ biological warfare, I can't say that it's not a tactic one wouldn't resort to in moments of desperation..."

Their Jedi had most definitely seen his fair share of bloody battles in his day. Had seen the worst that could be done out on the field. Canivete knew this well, after taking a closer look at her General's medical files.

She did not envy how he and his fellow Jedi learned some of the hardest lessons one could learn out in the galaxy...

"Canivete!"

All three of them fell quiet as Waxer ran over to the trio, breathing heavily and holding a datapad in his hand. The medic looked at the Lieutenant with mild curiosity as she watched him attempt to catch his breath.

"Waxer... What's got you in a rut, vod?" She greeted, feeling somewhat apprehensive at the possibility of any more bad news.

"It's the 501st!" He exclaimed. "Comms have been down for a while and it took the boys and I some time to get any word from them, but..."

"Waxer, slow down soldier." Cody warned, trying to make sure the other didn't collapse from lack of oxygen.

"Yes sir..." Waxer took a deep breath before regaining composure and carrying on. "The boys and I got through the comms issues. It's... They took over the base and have been holding down the fort. The Umbaran supply ship that blew up? That was the 501st's doing. But... Canivete, a ton of them are gone. More than half that are still alive are sick with the same symptoms our men are suffering with. But they have little to no medical supplies on them..."

The General and Commander exchanged concerned looks, while Canivete bit her lip as she tried to process what Waxer was telling her. So they weren't the only ones facing this mystery illness. And from what he'd just said, it seemed like the 501st was considerably worse off.

"Why do I feel like there's something else?" She dared ask. And to her horror, Waxer nodded in confirmation at her conjecture.

"There is... Krell's dead." Waxer grimly stated. "And from what we managed to get out of Appo, it was one of Rex's men that ripped him apart..."