#and i'm rambling in the tags bye

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah

[noxious-fennec]

Got the opportunity to color one of @metfell 's lovely pieces!! It was delightful :)

[viridiave]

forced myself into a state where i can actually indulge in 8path for exactly a day and I'll probably fuck back right into the void after this. but hey. hey. if you have octopath 2.

play the update. play the update, it's like god - we were meant to love and fear it

my full notes (live reaction reenactment) on the update under the cut, SPOILERS AHEAD!

NOBLE TEAM

IT'S FUCKING REAL

I STILL CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT'S REAL

HHHUH

THEIR SPRITES ARE LOWER RES BUT IT'S NOT STOPPING THEM

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THEY HAVE COMBO MOVES

WHAT

WHAT IN THE MOTHER OF FUCKING GOD IS THIS

FUCK EVERY POLL YOU'VE EVER SEEN ABOUT THE ORSTERRA CREW VS SOLISTIA CREW AIN'T NOBODY IS FUCKING SAFE

THEY CAN BOOST??????? HELLO???? FUCKING EXCUSE ME?????

god fucking of course Olberic has motherfucking BOLSTER DEFENSE

OPHILIA??? COUNTERS???? ELEMENTAL AND FUCKING PHYSICAL??? SINCE WHEN

OPHILIA AND ALFYN TAG-TEAM FUAOSJAKSAKSKA THEY HAVE MOTHERFUCKIGN COMBO MOVES????

OH MY GOD TRESSA AND OLBERIC TOO

MY ASS IS DEAD IT'S SO DEAD

NO OF COURSE HOLY SHIT OF FUCKING COURSE TRESSA ALSO HAS MOTHERFUCKING HIRED HELP AKJKAS

ophilia's buff rotation is interesting. i can't tell if she's going right-side down or if she's actively prioritizing certain members

WAIT THEY HAVE NEW VOICE LINES

HOLY FUCK????

i NEED to see the battle AI. show me the specs Square Enix I fucking beg you.

ALFYN'S CONCOCTS ARE SO MEAN OH MY GOD

CASTTI CAN DO FIVE AT ONCE BUT IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER TO ALFYN

why did i try and face them with Noble Team members too

well okay i guess. i guess we'd just be straight-up dead if i didn't have castti teme and partitio here jesus Hikari's carrying damage

too bad i never use him as DPS

WH

TRESSA

TRESSA NO WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU INCREASE DEFENSE WHEN YOU GET BROKEN

TRESSA WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU'LL BUY MY FUCKING WEAPONS

WHA

WAIT YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME MONEY FOR IT I HAVE TO BUY IT BACK FROM YOU

Therion was a bad influence on her lmao

AND OLBERIC'S NOT WEAK TO STAVES RIP

WHY IS TRESSA WEAK TO STAVES

my ass is so fucking cooked

WH

THEY HAVE FUCKING JOB CHANGES?????

OH MY GOD SCHOLAR OPHILIA IS CANON

THEY HAVE NEW MOVES I'M DEAD I'M SO FUCKING DEADDDDD

WAIT

HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE

HUNTER ALFYN

I FEEL UNREASONABLY FUCKINGVALIDATED AKSJAKSAKSKAS

oh god what are Tressa and Olberic

hOLD UP ALFYN AND HIS ARROWS WAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT THE HELLLLL

oh.

oh my god.

w. warmaster olberic

wARMASTER OLBERIC IS REAL

….NOOOOOOOO I'M SO FUCKING DEAD WARMASTER OLBERIC IS REAL IT'S OVER IT'S SO OVER I'M DEADDDDD TO HIMMMMM

sidenote: i'm writing all of this after the fact, trying VERY hard to recreate my real-time reactions. and uh. this. this made me get up from my fucking chair and scream into a pillow so loud people thought i was getting anal

I didn't

oh. wait. if. if he's real.

and Tressa's on the field.

there she is. the motherfucker herself.

RUNELORD FUCKING TRESSA

I WAS DEAD BEFORE NOW I'M IN MOTHERFUCKING SUPER HELL. THERE WAS NEVER A CHANCE

NO OH GOD HERE IT COMES TRANSFER FUCKING RUNE

WE'RE PAYING FOR OUR HUBIRS WITH BLOOD AND THE SCREAMS OF THE DAMNED

…WAIT HOLY SHIT ALFYN AND OPHILIA ARE IN THE RED

THERE'S A CHANCE

THERE'S A CHANCEEE

HIKARI'S POPPING THE FUCK OFF

oh my god of course Brand's Blade is a 1 hit KO move

i'm scared. i don't want him to wreak havoc on me i need to keep fucking breaking him -

ALFYN'S DOWN

HE WAS THE MOST DANGEROUS ONE THAT'S GOOD

OPHILIA DOWWWWWNNNNNN

ALRIGHT JUST. TIME FOR THE 2 GOD MODE TRAVELERS I GUESS

god it'd be so mean if i saved Olberic for last. but he put that on himself he has motherfucking Physical Prowess as a passive

oh no Temenos is the only thing that can kill him huh.

OF COURSE HE GOES FOR THE FUCKING MAGE EVERY TIME

WH

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THE RUNES BYPASS SIDESTEP???? THEY'RE ELEMENTAL NOW????

H E L L

OH SHIT TRESSA'S IN THE RED THERE'S A FUCKING CHANCE

TRESSA'S DOWN

alright 4 travelers at full health with sidestep and defense buffs out the ass. we'll be good we'll be good we can weather olberic. thank you Prayer for Plenty

THIS FEELS MEAN I REGRET IT NOW LMAO

THAT DIDN'T KILL HIM

oh no his full buffs

WAIT NO HIRED HELP BEASTLINGS. JUST ONE MORE

FUCK YEEEEE

w

what

wha wha what the fuck wai

w-wait

hu

H H U H

OPHILIA YOU WERE DEAD HOW THE FUCK DID YOU REVIVE EVERYONE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?????

WAS THAT JUST PHASE 1???

NO

NOOOOO WE'RE SO DEAD

oh wait they're changing back

…oh no. they're more dangerous like this somehow

WAIT

WHAT'S HAPPENING HUH

WHY DID HE CHALLENGE HIKARI WHAT

WAIT WHY IS IT ONLY THEM

HOW LONG DOES THIS FUCKING LAST FOR?????

they're just in a cycle of countering and evading jesus

oh ok that answers tha -

TR

TRESSA

TRESSA WHAT THE F U C K

TRESSA GIVE ME MY FUCKING MONEY BACK WHAT THE FUCK??? WHAT THE FUCK

HIRED HELP BEASTLINGS WAS THE ONLY WAY I COULD BREAK THEM THAT'S SO MEAN

oh my god i'm dead

TRESSA WHAT THE FUCKA SKAJSAKS SHE CALLED OVER THE FUCKING??? ROGUE CREW??? HOW

WHAT

WHY

WAIT

WAIT SHIT I'M JUST DEAD

…i need to lie down

ROGUE TEAM

okay rogue crew what do you have for me

i'm so scared oh my god

GOD

WAIT

THERION YOU SON OF A BITCH GIVE ME BACK MY ITEMS

THEY HAVE INCIDENTAL ATTACK???? FUCK OFFFFF

LINDE'S HERE

…OH FUCK LINDE'S HERE

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN CYRUS CAN LOCK HIS FUCKING WEAKNESSES

god of course he's DPS in this fight. cyrus is just. too much man

of course Cyrus is weak to Swords. and Daggers apparently

WA

WAIT WHAT

PRIMROSE???

FUCKING HELL

WELL OK PRIMROSE SAID HAPPY PRIDE MONTH SHE JUST ALLURED THRONE

O WAIT POG PRIMROSE AND THERION COMBO

SO

OH THERE IT IS CYRUS AND H'AAN COMBO!!!

…WHY ARE THEY BOTH SO BUSTED

did

did Cyrus just. give me a weakness.

what

what the fuck

AY YO WHAT THE FUCK

yeah ok i'm dead.

i'll. i'll try again later i need to see how Noble Team plays out till the end

ALRIGHT WE'RE BACK IN THERE WHAT DO YOU HAVE FOR ME ROGUE CREW

FUCK I FORGOT THIS WAS THE FIGHT WHERE CASTTI'S USELESS

oh my god they're cooking. i feel so unsafe. Therion is even more of a little bitch than usual

ALRIGHT GOD GUESS I'LL FUCK MYSELF WE'RE DEAD IKE 5 MINUTES IN LMAOOOO

MOTHERFUCKER I FORGOT H'AANIT HAS FUCKING PATIENCE

you know what Temenos doesn't need. Salt the Wound. why the hell did I put that on him

HOW LONG DOES ALLURE LAST FOR JESUS

oh my god Ochette. Ochette's Beastly Claws are NASTY damage woah. I need to make her do that more often

WELL ALRIGHT CYRUS IF YOU'RE GONNA BE A BITCH LIKE THAT

i wonder if they had to get chris niosi back for this role or if they just. had all these extra voice lines lying around

still not over the sprite quality being so drastically different lmao

hired help Beastlings save me. save me Hired Help Beastlings

O-OH. OH NOOO…

DAMN WHY CAN'T I HAVE THIS MUCH LUCK WITH BEWILDERING GRACE???

sidestep is saving my ass right now

I love that Primrose keeps piling her buffs onto H'aanit Square Enix said happy pride

HUH

MERCHANT THERION IS REAL LMAO

…OH NO DIVINE WIND

HE JUST STOLE OUR FUCKING LICENSES AKSJAS FUCK YOU THERION

AH THERE HE IS AKSJASK SORCEROR CYRUS - WAIT WE WERE ACTUALLY INTIMIDATED BY THIS STEPHEN STRANGE LOOKING TWINK LMAO

UNFORTUNATE

STARSEER PRIMROSE OF COURSEEEEE

AND THERE'S WARRIOR H'AAN JUST TO ROUND IT OUT

GANG'S ALL HERE SQUARE ENIX HAS SPOKEN

i could say i'm surviving but. the reality is that all 11 of my plums are GONE

alright Grail of Life don't fail me now

GOD OF COURSE SHE'D TARGET PARTITIO WHO HAS THE FUCKING DIFFUSE

alright time to stall

AAAAA THERION'S DOWN THANK FUCK

AIGHT SEE YA PRIM

CYRUS DOWN. STAY DOWN.

H'AAN LEFT ALRIGHT COME AND FUCK ME UP PHASE 3

what

what the fuck

i get ophilia and the aelfric thing but what the fuck happened here

NO FUCKING WAY THERION JUST STOLE OUR EX MOVES

GODDAMNIT TEMENOS IS USELESS NOW

GODDAMNIT TEMENOS IS EVEN MORE USELESS NOW AKSJA PRIMROSE STOP TAKING HIM

oh my god what do you mean H'aanit can also Provoke all

LINDE PHYSICAL PURSUIT I'M IN HELL

and Cyrus has. delayed attacks.

…good thing i never lasted long enough to figure out if that thing 1-hit KOs JESUS

[odakota-rose]

leaving this on my tumblr where i can actually find it bc i posted it on twitter last week and it's already evaporated into the void lmao

[voidsiblings]

Hornet and Hollow by meaghandraws (posted with permission of the artist)

Instagram | Youtube

[finelyageddragons]

Currently in love with the relationship between the Grey Wardens and being doomed by the narrative, especially with how the HOF subverts that relationship so here's a 3am rant about it. Enjoy! The wardens are ghosts. They are born by letting go of everything you had before and drinking poison to bind your fate to the darkspawn and promise that your life and perhaps more importantly, your death belongs to them. The whole joining is a terrifying experience, you're drinking the blood of monsters and seeing a corrupt god in your mind and waking up to see those who died around you and being told you'll meet the same fate soon enough you've just been given more time to get there because to sacrifice, to die is a warden's purpose. Even if you survive becoming a warden, your best case scenario is sacrificing yourself to end the blight but it's far more likely you'll die fighting darkspawn or even more likely lose your mind and have to go to the deep roads to be lost and have your death be your last act of defiance in the face of this overwhelming wave of evil waiting to rise again. The best thing that can happen to a warden is to die in a meaningful way because you gave away your life the moment you drank that blood. All you are now is a soldier waiting to die in war and hopefully take the enemy down with you. It is tragic and haunting and noble and so full of grief. Grief for the live you gave behind and for the one you'll never have. Every warden spends every day of their life hoping not for a future or any life for themselves but simply to make their death mean something which is an incredibly interesting mental state and I could go on about how that effects individuals and messes with their values so that corruption is rife but what started this whole thing is Fereldan.

A wonderful post by @sapphim (which I don't know how to cite but I wanna give credit so if there's a way please tell me) discussed how beneficial it was for the wardens that the fifth blight occured in Fereldan and how much they lost by it being solved so soon. To put it simply, they wanted to sacrifice Fereldan as a lost cause and use it as an example of why they wardens shouldn't be neglected. They wanted it to be known of how much of a sacrifice they make an how important their duty by letting the country of Fereldan be an example of what happens when no one is there to do it and that the narrative has doomed everyone, that the world's crimes will be paid for unless someone is willing to be selfless and bear the burden to give the world another chance. Andraste would have been a great warden I'm sure. In the eyes of the warden, Fereldan is tainted just like their blood, it is promised to the darkspawn just like they are, willingly or not it bears the duty that all wardens do and must make the sacrifice they do too. For the greater good. To stop the darkspawn. It's better you having a death that matters than a life that lasts. This is the psychology of the wardens and they are applying those same beliefs to all of Fereldan. Why must they be the only ones doomed by the narrative? There is no surviving this story and there is saving the world there is only killing the darkspawn before it kills you. Thedas is at war with the archdemons and until they're all dead, there is no peace, there is only preparing for the next battle. There is no building a life, no building a country, there is nothing to protect because it is all doomed.

The way duty and sacrifice and the promise of the Grey Wardens must alter their values and perspective on life is fascinating and there is so much to explore here but what's important for this post is that the foundation of their entire order is that they are already dead.

This then brings us to the HOF and cheating death. Duncan is like the grim reaper in Origins the way he comes and snatches your soul at the end of each origin which I honestly love and it ties in so well to the idea that wardens are ghosts given you die in every other version of the story without him but that's the story of all wardens. They all die a symbolic death at the joining so that's okay but then Ostogar happens. Flemeth happens. You should have died. Fereldan should have been lost. Remember, the duty of the wardens is dying not surviving but you did survive, snatched away by a god. Every other warden has died thinking their paying the price for an absent god yet this goddess not only favours you, she changed fate for you. Every other warden throughout history has paid the price but not you. Not Fereldan. You get to cheat the fate while it dooms everyone else. Can you imagine how that must have felt for the other wardens? How much they must hate the hero for stealing the martyr Fereldan was set to be and making all their losses naught but a tragedy when it could have been so much more? Not only did you escape your own death but you stole the value of theirs. You survived which goes against everything the wardens are made for.

Going even further than that, you have the dark ritual where you can actively choose to cheat death again. When every other warden has had to give their life, had to sacrifice and lose and grieve and poison their humanity as they did their bodies, you get to escape it all. Wardens have struggled for decades to have a foothold in Fereldan but you'll go so far as to choose their ruler for them without any consultation. You have been a warden less than a year, ended a battle that they prepared for over hundreds of years and sacrificed more hundreds of years fighting in the past and not only have you defied everything they defined themselves by, you have made them look like fools and decided their fate for them. You have stolen the meaning of the death of every warden, you have stolen their martyrs and the justifications for their actions and by keeping your own life and humanity, by resisting their poison you have made them all look like monsters.

The hero was doomed by the narrative as all wardens are but they rewrote fate, they stole their life back so many times and by surviving, they created a whole new narrative that ruined everything the wardens were built upon. The wardens were made to be ghosts, not heroes. They're meant to die and be remembered nobly so they can be redeemed for they had to do to get there but not you hero. You get to shame us all, don't you?

[spllwys]

you want to talk, you want to talk it ouuut? 'cause the joke's on me and i'm laughingg t̝̊ǫ͔̠͖̖̟̬̰̜͂̄̌ͮ̇̇͘̚͠o̵̴͔̞̝̰̼͎̤̱̣̠̫̦̼̫͕͒̿̃ͧͬ̅͗̏́ͤͩ̂͂͗ͦ́̈̏̐ͧ̍͛̊͋͢͢͡ͅơ̶̢̭̗͚͙͖̦̮̹̂̂́̈́̄̆̿̐̈́̇͋ͨ̂̿̎̚͜͝

[sn0wbat]

Just for fun if you’d like:

If you put your vampires into the Pokédex what types would they have?

well, considering the vampirism, they'd all likely end up with dark type just by default... so let's get a little more creative!! (some still get dark type because it fits their vibe)

morten: fairy. absolutely a fairy type

einarr: psychic/water (huge nerd scholar. mindreader. thrives at sea)

bat: flying/dark (goes bump in the night :3)

rune: normal/ghost? (sure is an undead mystery boy)

helena: fire.

loki: dark/fire (literally runs a cult)

eli: grass. bug? just got those cottagecore vibes

stone: rock.

rupert: water/ghost

tiberius: water. just pure water. aquarius man

the lord: dark/dragon (evil. menacing and terrible)

laugar: poison/bug :)

kvikindi: bug/dragon (they're a lil shapeshifter who turned into a dragon sometimes)

and then my uhh. vampiresona-

ice/flying. sure

[derelictheretic]

almost started rambling about my no cult au in a rb instead I will ramble about it in my own tags like a sane person

[siennaditbot]

Me when I lose the 50/50 to Mona and do not get the boy

[hozaloza]

Hoza cutely stealing random screenshots people had in their posts and using it in her own then talking about something completely different core

I should spawn the most horrendous Ryan angst out of my rotting brain and share it to the world and see what happens

Y'know

fuck around and see what the people think

Me forcing this Tumblr tag to see my hideous crane rambles every so often

this is me if anybody cared

me when I don't see Ryan content

Ok time for me to depart--

WAIT ROSEPUNCH

REMMEBER

I AM ALWAYS STALKING THIS TAG FOR ANY ROSEPUNCH CONTENT

(is sane)

ok fr bye for now <3

[salstray]

SOS Message Received

--

hey so this was supposed to be for my dnd group and then i lost my mind and now its its own thing

its only like 3 and a half minutes long but the urge to make this More of a thing is so powerful. no idea if i will but you can listen to this and give me your opinions if you'd like

[nerd-cat-rambles]

I'M A BEGINNER ARTIST

I'M GOING BACK TO MY 2020 ROOTS TO REMIND ME THAT I AM NOT AS SHIT AS I USED TO BE!!!!!!!

I ALSO NEED TO FIND A PENCIL BECAUSE I MAKE TOO MANY MISTAKES IN PEN!!!

[averlym]

a word to the wise sometimes the only true rest is looking beyond what you thought was success

so true! adamandi is full of wise advice such as this, including: "and you'll never feel better if you - fucking die- you stupid ass!"

[sgt-scottymoreau]

What happens in Siberia, stays in Siberia - Part 1

Summary: After months of secretly feelings, things lead that another and some of these feeligs comes out in a rather messy way. But honestly nothing is ever easy.

Warning: None

Words: 3.9 // AO3 // Part 2 // Masterlist

A/N: So I posted a poll on my main to know which fic should be next, this one won. However, from my three options, this was also the one that I wanted to rework a little (actually second time I do lol) I'm not quite done yet, but this fic is already getting as big as it is, so it will be in two (maybe three? I mean so far I have over 12k words!) part. I suppose as a heads up I could say that part 2 will have some spicy to it, if you catch my drift. What did you think I mean when I say everything will be messy?! lol

Although it was known that the 141 was considered an international task force, it was odd for some to see someone from another country roaming around the base. Especially that it had been give or take five months since Scotty joined. It’s true that she did stand out while wearing her work uniform, she was always proud to wear her colors and everyone was aware of her background. Words spread fast. So did the rumors as to why she would remain here. Especially among new recruits who might not have all the latest updates. But whatever the others were thinking, Scotty didn’t mind much. Because whatever the others could say or think, she actually enjoyed the team. It was a change to have something stable after some many issues. No one ever bothered her about it. Some curious characters here and there did ask or engage in a conversation to either put a clear view on whatever rumor they heard. Meanwhile, others could be bold and unafraid. Just like today.

The five of them were sitting at the table, enjoying some well deserved rest and meal with a lighthearted conversation. Mostly the three sergeants engaged in it, talking about everything and nothing. Or about the old days before the task force. Ghost was listening in silence, it was entertaining, but he didn’t find the need to add more, and Price simply enjoyed the calm. Especially since he was waiting to meet Laswell soon for some important briefing. ‘’So there’s that one time I tell my teammates that if the amount of cocaine found was one tonne, I would jump in the water.’’ Scotty said.

‘’Sounds like you did.’’ Soap laughed, taking another bite of his meal.

‘’I, in fact, did not. I think it was De Keyser who said it wouldn't be more than 700 kg. According to our intel, it was a small drug bust. If he lost he was the one to jump. So here we are counting, not even close to 500 kg, I start to worry. But then, one of the port security found another container. Low and behold, 856 kg in total! According to De Keyser, the water was freezing cold that day. It was funnier to fish him out.’’

‘’Poor man ran out of luck that day.’’ Gaz laughed. He could imagine how her colleague must have felt to lose by not much. Lost in their shenanigans, none of them saw the recruit approaching their table. When the young one was in range they looked at him, curious about what he had to say. Even more when they noticed the other recruits in the back pointing at him and whispering at each other. Obviously, it was dare or something along those lines.  

‘’How can we help you?’’ Soap asked, offering his kindest smile.

‘’Hmm, not you. Her.’’ Oh even if it was a dare, he had a certain arrogance in his tone. That was promising. Scotty raised an eyebrow, putting down her fork and giving her full attention to the newcomer. ‘’You're not exactly from here, so why stay with them? What’s your job? Task Force’s bitch?’’ Boy had a lucky star watching over him, because everyone at the table stopped what they were doing to stare at him. Everyone shifted on their seats. Price put down his paper ready to reply something to the young one disrespecting his superior but Scotty was faster. She kept a calm tone and serene face.

‘’Oh I fucking wish!’’ This reply took everyone by surprise, even the rookie who suddenly didn’t know what to say. ‘’That’d be the dream! No more brushing with death, no reports to fill after mission, no exhausting training to stay in shape, fixed work hours and weekend free perhaps.’’

Price let his head fall on his hands with a disappointed sigh. Ghost who had been ever so silently following had not changed his expression but behind the mask wasn’t holding a smile. On the other hand, Gaz and Soap were almost rolling under the table. She said this with such seriousness and calmness, it was almost unbelievable. Her face had and was still impassible, the most serious she could be. ‘’Would that be all or should I also told you how I would satisfy every single of these men?’’ Scotty added leaning on the table to be closer to the rookie.

Gaz and Soap were on the verge of crying at this point, after Price groaned loudly in emotional pain. There were some things he didn’t need to hear, even as a joke. The recruit's face went red so fast, it was a miracle he was still standing on his feet and had not passed out from embarrassment. He tried to mumble some sort of excuse now that his smugness was all gone. He quickly ran back to his friends who had heard some of the conversation and were also laughing. She waved at them, resisting the urge to flip them off. It took Soap and Gaz another minute to finally be able to breathe again. Price watched his watch; what a relief. 

‘’I have to meet with Laswell.’’ He said getting up. ‘’I hope you will behave while I’m gone.’’ He had a smile on his face. Even if he couldn’t believe what just happened, it was better to see his team able to bond like this than be at each other's throats. 

Hadn’t finished their meal yet, they all remained in the mess hall. Still joking about what was going on. ‘’So that be the dream, aye?’’ Soap brought this statement back.

‘’Anything that allows me to stay alive another day and have fun. Sure.’’ She laughed. ‘’Isn’t like the 141 was made of bad looking guys.’’ It wasn’t far from the truth. Which was a bold statement to say when everyone concerned could hear. The only thing that made her a little awkward was that she was saying this next to Ghost. While she was maybe teasing the other two, Ghost was another story. Even if she hadn’t seen his face yet, the mystery of the man had some effects on her. That and his damn voice. And how large he was. And… she could go one for a while. He had been cold at the beginning, but over time he did show that he did care for everyone equally. Scotty also learned to act a little more relaxed around him, instead of being tense and awkward, even if she had some feelings for him. It was hard to know if he would reciproque them and honestly she did not expect, so better live with this and just be herself than restrain herself. It was always easier to joke when Soap was around anyway.

‘’Glad to hear, I’m good looking.’’ Soap grinned. 

‘’Oh please, you would be the first one to ask for anything. Gaz? I don’t know, you look like the kind of respectable man who wouldn’t.’’

‘’You could be surprise.’’ He commented.

‘’Price? Too much respect for the Captain, that would be awkward.’’ She snorted. 

‘’What about Ghost?’’ Soap asked. Scotty turned slightly to look at the lieutenant who suddenly was very focused on the conversation. She felt she had been pushed in the spotlight. His gaze through his mask was stern. She wasn’t sure what to answer here. However all of it was casual banter, nothing that could hurt.

‘’You are a bunch of idiots right now.’’ He groaned before Scotty spoke up. 

‘’We all know the lieutenant doesn’t care about this kind of stuff.’’ She shrugged it off, getting a small laughter from the other two, but a cold glare from him. Few months back this would have scared her to death, now it was just a background thing. ‘’That’s why I keep my mind on only Soap would be using my service and honestly that would make him the second whore of the 141.’’ Gaz wheezed again at this remark. Soap was amusedly offended. 

Ghost would have also smiled at the comment, it was a good comeback. However there was something different this time. He knew, deep inside he knew so bad she was just joking. It was how she was; laidback, cracking jokes around less dark than his but everyone had their way to light up the mood. He learned that over the time they had missions together. She had changed a lot since she joined. He remembered how she was so tense around him that one time they had to lay low at her family. Nowadays, it was great to see her more relaxed. But that was beside the point. The point was that as much as he liked her being like that, something was in this moment, in this specific way of being so casual with Soap that… annoyed him? Ghost couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the feeling was. He never felt that before. She had joked like this before, this wasn’t the first time. If he was good with little army humor that mostly consisted of dark humor, Scotty was a pro at innuendos jokes. She had no filter sometimes and he appreciated her directness. He had no right to feel so… angry at her for doing so? 

No he wasn’t angry at her. Nor Soap or Gaz to follow up in shenanigans. It wasn’t annoyance either. But he knew it came from how close the two looked at the moment. How they exchanged these ideas like… maybe there was something more behind the laugh. Right now, Ghost didn’t like how Soap was looking at her… It hit like a rocket to the face. It was jealousy! He was being jealous of his sergeant. But why? It wasn’t like… Her bursting in laughter at whatever had been said, sent a wave of warmth through him. It felt appeasing and nice. Come to think of it, it was not the first time this feeling was flaring up. Some days, even the most mundane conversation with her had the same effect. When she would be back from a high risk mission. Ghost watched her talking without paying attention to the conversation. Only to realize, she was actually trying to get his attention.

‘’Lieutenant, everything is alright?’’ Scotty asked. It was now that he finally noticed that the other two were gone. It was just her and him. ‘’You have been staring for a while now.’’

Had he? Seeing that it was indeed only them at the table, he sensed a small relief on his jealousy. That didn’t help how confused his head felt. It added more to it. ‘’Sorry, I was thinkin’.’’ He said hoping this would be enough for her to let go and not ask more questions. But her brown eyes didn’t look away, as she was about to question him. He made eye contact. It was this precise second, that he was once more hit so hard by the obviousness that he couldn’t believe it was that. But it was pointless right? He was too cold for her right? He was the opposite of her. She was far more like Soap, they would fit well… Jealousy came back at this thought. Yes it was this… He had feelings for her… ‘’Fucking hell, you are fool Simon.’’ Ghost thought to himself.

‘’Glad to see you are still here.’’ Price took him out of his thoughts. The lieutenant and sergeant gave their full attention to the captain.  He dropped a file on the table. ‘’I have an assignment for you two. Siberia.’’

They have been dropped a few klicks away from their target to ensure that now one would spot them. The night was cloudless allowing the moon to come through and light the way. It was still very cold, thanks to their winter gear, they were able to keep warmth in. Another positive point, the weather was clear at the moment, allowing them to make their way through the heavy snow more or less easily. It reached above their ankles at almost every step and they were traveling with light gear equipment. This was hell of a workout. Their mission was simple; infiltrate an old abandoned Russian facility. Intel showed that it wasn’t as desert as they thought and sight of convoy bringing in and out materials required a deeper investigation. It seemed to be chemical in origin. Arriving at their destination, they lay low on the snow. Scotty readjusted her hood to keep the wind from blowing her face. 

"Ghost, Scotty sitrep?" Price's voice came through their radio.

"We reached the target point, Captain." She replied.

"Roger, from now it will be radio silence till you get what we need. Contact me when all is over and I’ll give you the coordinates for evac. Good luck."

Ghost had already his sniper out and scouted the area. Scotty took out the binocular. The building didn’t look heavily guarded. Being in the middle of almost nowhere, there wasn’t much reason to waste assets on the outside. Still, two guards on the front entrance, four making rounds on the higher roof. Two more near a back door and finally three walking around the base of the building. This was a decent number, rather normal for this kind of facility, and nothing they couldn’t handle. 

“See anything good?” Ghost asked, always focusing with his snipe. 

“We have two options.” She replied, grabbing her infra light. She pointed to the bigger door. “We can either force ourselves by the front door by taking down the two guards.”

“Bold move, dangerous.”

“Or, here, by the east side of the building. There’s an exit, unguarded. Only one of the walking guards passes by once in a while.” Ghost followed the ray to see what she meant. This was a safer way in. 

“Good job, let’s move.” They put away their tools and advanced toward the building. The snow was softly crunching under their weight at each step. Their warm breath clashed with the cold Siberian air. Little clouds forming each time. Eventually, they crouched in the white, their tactical clothes allowing them to blend. Near the site, they took the first cover available to keep advancing. Two guards walked by laughing about something. Once clear, they quickly made their way to the exit door. Of course it was locked on the outside by a security system. Scotty took a small device and connected it to the keypads. There were so many possibilities but hopefully the combination will be found fast. 

Ghost kept watch. “How long?” He whispered.

“I don’t know, it could be in a minute or five. Anyone coming?” Her eyes never left the screen for a second.

“Negative.” They returned to silence. Ghost suddenly caught the noise of crunching snow. “Wait.. Fuck. Scotty tells me we have something, someone is coming!”

“We have three numbers out of five lieutenant… four. Come on, come on… Yes!” She disconnected the device quickly, opened the door and they quickly infiltrated in. The door closed behind him a little before the guard arrived. It was like no one was ever there. The warmth of the building was the first shock. A welcomed one. They carefully and steadily made their way inside the facility. The distance to their target destination was a long one. Although they were on the lookout for any chemical containers, which they actually saw a few as they advanced deeper in the building, their main target was the servers room. If they could extract more information over this whole operation, this would prove very useful. Somehow, Ghost and Scotty go on the lucky side, they barely encounter any security. If any, it was easy to avoid them. The last thing they needed was to leave or make a mess that would attract more trouble.

Crouching around the corner, Ghost looked over his shoulder. The servers were right there. Only two guards were standing there. Obviously, the value of what was in there was worth stationning personnel there. That was good and bad. "Got your knives?" He asked her. 

"Always." She smiled and took one out. "What's your plan?"

"Distraction. Hopefully they move. Once they are both more in the open, they go down." On this, he threw a piece of metal that was hanging there. The guards mumbled something and stepped forward of their station. Ghost counted down and on three, they threw their weapon. One last surprised cry came out of these men before falling to their death. The two operatives swiftly grabbed their bodies and dragged them in the room. From now on, they had to work fast. Anyone who would pass by might be alerted by the missing guards. To their surprise, the servers looked to be handmade. A bunch of recovered pieces, patched all together into something somehow working. Their enemies were quite resourceful. 

Scotty took place at one of the servers built in computer and plugged the drive. Ghost kept overwatch. "How long will it take?"

"I wish I could give you an answer but you never know with this kind of equipment." Scotty admitted. Without wasting more time she started typing. She first needed to get in the system, then will have to look around for the specific files. Hopefully it will be a piece of cake.

*****

Thirty minutes later and the only piece of cake was that no one had shown up. Ghost was running low in patience and so she was. "What do you want me to do!" Scotty raged between her teeth after he had voiced his annoyance at the stagnant work. 

"Anything that would make it go faster." He replied in the same tone. 

"No wonder you like to work alone…" She was racking her brain to find a solution. She had breached the system, but they had encrypted everything, so it was hell of a process to unlock all files. This would take longer than the time that had already passed. Unless… She grabbed her multitool. From what she guessed during her quick look around, this server was mostly made of random hard drivers all connected together. Half of them had been checked without anything interesting. Her last option was to simply remove the leftover drivers and take them home. Ghost watched her as she popped the drivers out of their slots, completely taken off guard. She took ten of them out and wrapped them in whatever she found, so at least the components would stay intact as much as possible. Then shoved the bounty in her backpack. 

Through the mask, Scotty could feel the wondering gaze. She simply shrugged it. He wanted fast and she gave him fast. He did like that in a sense. Now it was time to get out of this place and rendezvous with the exfil. Coast was clear. They stealthy made their way out of the room, making sure to not make a sound. They barely had turned the corner of the hallway, when shouting came from behind. "Here goes the smooth sailing." Scotty thought. The man shouted something that did not seem right for them. As if he was alerting the others. 

Ghost turned around with his gun and shot without hesitation. However the sound of it echoed throughout the area loudly. More reason to not stay here and see what happens next. The two soldiers ran down the stairs. Footsteps followed from behind, lots of them. They had to exit the building now, but how? It seemed like the building was swarmed by guards. They could retrace their steps to the emergency door they found earlier. That is if it was still unguarded. It would be surprising if by now the enemies had raised the alarm and all exits were compromised. Ghost took the lead in to figure out a way out. They covered some distance on the ground floor before they were forced back up when they saw many shadows stretching from the hallway in front and the steps from behind. They hid behind crates when they heard commotion coming their way. Crouched, they attempted an escape when one man noticed them and yelled something in russian. ‘‘Go! Go! Go!’’ Ghost ordered pushing her in front of him and he started shooting. 

Making their way who knew where, they found themselves cornered. Scotty looked around for anything where they could hide. ‘‘Lieutenant, there!’’ She shouted pointing out some old lockers.

‘‘Are you out of you mind there’s not way we fit in!’’ 

‘‘Well we have no choice!’’ She pushed him towards them. They had only a few seconds to spare. They quickly checked some lockers which all had something inside or were locked and when they finally found one to hide in, there was no more time to look at the others. They would have to cramp in there. They jumped in it and tried to close the door. If none of them moved, they could make it. They heard footsteps and voices on the other side. ‘‘They couldn’t have gone far! Find them!’’

They remained still. There was still some activity outside. ‘‘Let’s wait a few minutes then we get dash out of here.’’ Scotty whispered.

‘‘Roger that.’’ He replied, looking away. She was pressed so close against him, if it wasn't from the bulletproof vest, he dared to think… No! He had to focus on the mission. However it was hard to do with her squirming around to be comfortable and not get any numb limbs. Ghost was so large he took most of the space! ‘‘Can you stop moving!’’

‘‘Sorry it’s hard to find a comfortable position…’’ The voices had gone by now, but they agreed it would be safer to stay put a little longer in case someone was still scouting the surrounding area. She felt something against her leg. ‘‘Lieutenant, can you move your pistol?’’

‘‘That… is not my pistol.’’ He said between his teeth. Scotty was glad that there was barely any light in here, because her face turned red understanding what it was exactly. Time froze around them realizing the situation. Only brought back to reality by steps moving away along with shouting. Then silence returned. "Let's get out now." 

Clear or not clear, they didn't hesitate to exit the cramped space. Ghost contacted Price as soon as he could to know the rendezvous point. At this point they only wished to be out of there, safe. A wish shattered when the earpiece rang with bad news from the captain. "Ghost, Scotty, a big storm is heading your way. We won't be able to extract." 

"If we make it out alive, where to then?" Ghost replied, scanning the corner. He gestured to her to move forwards. 

"Gaz found an abandoned safe house five klicks away, North from your position, hidden in the beginning of the forest. Stay put till the storm passes. Over"

"Roger, will give a sitrep once we are there. Out." Some good news. They wouldn't be dying from cold at least. They could still die of bullets though. Avoiding as many enemies as possible they luckily made it back to their entrance. Ghost told Scotty to be ready with her gun. He will advance to take one down with his knife while she shoots the other. The two guards taken care off, he pushed the door and they ran outside. The two soldiers were met with a cold piercing wind. Snow was already falling heavily. The walk to the safe house would be a painful and exhausting journey.

[zzompi-nerddxd]

i deadass forgot why I'm up

It's 4 am (for me)

idk why im not sleeping

anyway

⬆️ i either found that on here or on Pinterest and I forgot which one it was