#hidden Normandie

[micheltaanman-blog]

Frankrijk - Normandie -strand- Plage de Veules-les-Roses

[spacedlexi]

not bioware just releasing concept art they already released in 2020 😭

[livelikeinadream]

#etretat #normandie #lupin #falaise #explore_normandie #france #discover #hidden #instagood #photooftheday #photography #travel #travelphotography (presso Falaises dʼÉtretat) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgC3FfKsweV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bignaz8]

D-DAY ANNIVERSARY

“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you…” With these words, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the “Order of the Day” just before the 1944 Allied assault on Normandy Beach. It’s been 80 years since that historic day, and less than one percent of Americans who served in WWII are still alive. However, the impact of their service and sacrifice will live on forever.

Code named Operation Overlord, planning for D-Day began after France fell to the Nazis in 1940. It involved Allies from several countries and was the largest amphibious invasion in military history. As H-Hour approached (5:30 a.m. local time) on June 6, 1944, demolition teams had already blasted out underwater obstacles planted by German forces. Rangers were already scaling the cliffs to knock out coastal guns, and American and British airborne divisions had been dropped in hedgerows behind the beaches overnight. Soon, the first waves of Infantry would hit the beach.

Leonard T. Schroeder, Jr. served in the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry, Fourth Division, where he was the commanding officer of Company F. 

He has the distinction of being the first man ashore at Utah Beach, the first beachhead, landing fewer than 60 seconds after H-Hour. Recalling the day, Schroeder said that Allied aircraft had bombed the beach heavily, creating craters that could be used as cover. Some of those craters were offshore and hidden by water. When Schroeder’s landing craft pulled ashore, he jumped off and into a water-filled crater six feet deep. He came up sputtering and struggled to rush ashore. Working his way up the beach, he was wounded by shrapnel but continued to fight. He commanded his company for three hours before collapsing into unconsciousness. He woke up at an aid station and was later evacuated to England. Schroeder received the Silver Star.

Pvt. Carlton W. Barrett served in the 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division and participated in the Normandy Invasion. His unit was in the third wave of Allied soldiers to come ashore at Omaha Beach, landing at about 10:00 a.m. Germans had planted mines on the beach about a foot apart, and the beach was strewn with bodies of soldiers. Barrett landed under heavy enemy fire, wading through neck-deep water. He noticed fellow soldiers around him floundering in the water and rushed to save them from drowning. Once on the beach, Barrett carried dispatches back and forth along the exposed beach while under heavy fire. He also carried wounded soldiers to an offshore evacuation boat. For his dauntless courage, Barrett was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The Allies landed over 160,000 troops on June 6, 1944, with an estimated 10,000 casualties, more than half of which were American. Today, a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery is the final resting place for 9,387 Americans and a sobering reminder of selfless service and the ultimate sacrifice made 80 years ago. 

[sol-consort]

Early morning Cuddling

[Fluff, suggestive, shepards reader, nb!reader]

[Ashley, Kaidan, Joker, Garrus, Wrex, Tali, Liara]

Ashley

Safety is a feeling you'll never lack in her strong arms. Securing you close to her chest so you can feel the drum of her heartbeat, slowly picking up speed as she stirs awake from her slumber.

And she smiles at you, sleep in her eyes and all, the first thing she ever thinks to do is express her happiness at you being by her side.

Tightening her hold for a moment so she could give your forehead a tender kiss. She looks at you as if you were something fragile, as if it was her duty to protect you. No matter how strong you might be, at that moment, you have no doubt she'll take a bullet for you and more.

The two of you have to get up soon before Joker's announcement calls for your required presence. But Ashley can't help but linger on you, steal a few more moments of peacefulness before the blaring of shotguns is all that she may hear for the rest of her day.

Her hair is a mess, black strands sprawled on the pillow below her. Framing her face and giving her a more gentle look than her usual tight bun hairstyle does. Her upper body bare with her chest pressed against yours. She smells like that one soap she keeps stocked on the Normandy since she has joined your crew.

You feel lucky being one of the few able to see her in this intimate state.

☆

Kaidan

He has an alarm that he ignores, preferring to cling more into your body and bury his face against your neck and shoulder. Leaving the alarm annoying beeping.

With a sigh, you reach over and turn it off. Except it's one of those alarms that require you to solve a simple equation to turn off, simple by Alenko's standards. The same one cuddling into your body and refusing to let go from the warmth.

So the poor alarm ends up thrown across the room, or stuffed under the bed with a pillow to muffle its sound. You wonder why does he keep buying them when he keeps ignoring them.

Running your fingers through his hair gently, you pry him off of your neck in an attempt to get him to wake up. He's always groggy in the morning as he attempts to blink the tiredness away from his eyes.

A clear contrast to his usual disciplined self, freshly out of sleep, Kaidan is not someone you want to come across on the Normandy. The morning is around the time when he needs to take his required medication for L2 implants and migraines since he'll not be granted another opportunity of free time until the day is over.

Your presence during it has been helping him in more ways that he cares to admit, your warmth chasing away the stray nightmares that used to plague his mind each night.

☆

Joker

The two of make it work, with a lot of patience and being mindful of his osteogenesis.

While cuddling, he is the one on top to avoid any pressure on his bones. He's the one hugging into you with his head resting on your strong arms. He tries to lighten the mood whenever he notices how careful you're being, a part of him hates his hugs not being reciprocated but he understands why.

Still, this is vastly better than sleeping alone on his bed. Feeling you underneath him, listening to your calming heartbeat. It almost makes everything worth it, every sleepless night spent studying during the academy, every day spent alone, every empty bed.

He trusts you with himself, with his genuine vulnerability hidden under his witty jokes and sharp mind. He is aware of how much effort you're putting in. How you truly see him as a person and not a charity cases.

He's usually the one waking up first, pilot training and all. Quietly leaving the bed to not disturb you as he goes and checks to the helm to check on the ship's states. Him and Dr.Chakwas are the first early birds aboard the ship and they've grown into a comfortable routine of doing the opening shift as the rest of the crew stirs awake one by one.

By the time he's done, he makes sure to prepare a hot morning drink for you and take it back to your quarters. Sitting on the edge of the bed.

His smirking face behind the steam from the hot cup is the first sight you see in the morning. His voice telling you an awful pun that has you almost choking on your drink with a groan is the first thing you hear.

And you wouldn't have it any other way.

☆

Garrus

He's unsure of this arrangement at first, of if this is who you really want to cuddle up to.

Human skin is squishy, fragile and soft, unbelievably so when compared to Turians' hard plated shells. Humans are just bare with nothing to protect them whilst having fuller bodies than other aliens with soft skin. Yet somehow, Turians are supposed to believe these soft creatures are the apex of their own planet, evolving from predators with their forward facing eyes rather than prey.

Garrus has always wanted to feel a human up close, their soft fragile throats that any Turian could squeeze so easily in their large clawed hands. Break with their talons like an eggshell.

Yet this race was incredible resilient, quickly stealing the Turian's reputation of being the most hostile race in the galaxy, the humans and their temper and fight or flight adrenaline responses were quickly making a name for themselves.

That's why he almost can't believe it when he gets to hold you in bed. Allowing him to almost pin you down so easily, to wrap his large claws and long arms around you. Nuzzle your bare neck with his sharp mouth and enhale your scent.

Turians would battle for dominance amongst themselves, a play pretend sort of fight that comes from deep natural urges to top the other even in relationships. So from his view, you allowing him to hold you so close and sleep next your defenceless form is you surrendering to him.

Garrus has never been the aggressive type, even by Turian standards he was too nice at times. Yet something about you is digging at these buried ancient instincts of his, the low deep growls each morning when you try to pull away, the tighten of his sharp claws around you.

It comes so naturally that he does it unconsciously, not realising the growling sound is coming from the back of his throat in the morning until he clears his throat in embassment. Unaware of the soft squecks and caws he lets out each night when you scatch behind his neck and he melts into your touch before falling asleep.

☆

Wrex

He prefers short naps throughout the day so he may stay alert even through the night, it comes naturally for his species to be on their gaurd through most hours, that's what makes them such great fighers.

But you're a bad influence on him, coaxing him with you into this bundle of soft sheets and blankets that you humans call a bed. Making him lay on his back, a position so intimate for Krogans to be in, and cuddling to his side.

You're...warm. the skin and meat seperating your heart from his hand is so thin in comparison to his. Are humans not afraid? How could they have evolved to have their heart at such an exposed location for all to see and touch.

And to think you were supposed to be the predetor and him the prey, so why does he get this urge to protect you. To keep your bones intact and never allow any harm your way.

A wolf in sheep clothings, that's what humans are. He has to remind himself constantly not to get tricked by your seemingly harmless appearance. Tantalising lips or mesmerising eyes. That you're as dangerous as him if not more from what he has seen of you throughout the years. Terrifyingly cunningly at times and overrun by basic rage instincts at others, a volcano of emotions that's constantly erupting.

That's why laying next to you in the early morning is such a strain on his instincts. He can feel himself changing, his body relaxing around you and his mind resting for once. He can feel his gaurd lowering and he hates it, hates not being on his toes, not being on constant alert.

But you hug him so sweetly, cuddle his arm so tenderly and tell him to stay by your side. How could he refuse, is he even strong enough to refuse when your touches are the most intimate thing he has had during his whole life? When the feeling of a human sleeping next to him made him feel more safe than he ever did in the best of armours, and here he was supposed to be the one protecting you.

Wrex remains by your side until it's time to wake up, until it's time to start the routine he grew so familiar of.

☆

Tali

The hum of the engine used to be what lulled her to sleep, and with how eerily silent the Normandy gets around this time, it leaves her restless.

The early morning is her respite, when the chatter and clinking of soldiers outside getting ready for the day is audible through the walls. Tali finds herself drifting off to a comfortable sleep, reassured that she is safe and alive with the sound of life around her.

She becomes incredibly cuddly in the early morning, as much as her restrictive suit allows. It's not the same one as her shore one, yet it is still as effective in protecting her immune system.

She wants to feel your warmth, your soft human skin and run feel your hair. But both of you know it's not possible yet. So you settle for hugging her waist closer to you, running a hand down her covered back and hoping it will make her feel something.

That maybe, just maybe, a sliver of your warmth will slip through.

By the time she is dozing off to dreamland, it's your turn to walk out the door and face your responsibilities. Leave the wamrth of your bed and ready your team for another survey of a freezing cold planet in the vast empty space of the universe.

☆

Liara

Her fingers are soothing as they run over your body, encouraging your muscles to relax and your eyelids to flutter open. Her melodic voice humming in your mind.

She manages to wake you up as peacefully as she can, eyes wide and full of wonder as she is ready to greet a new day with all the discoveries it may bring.

You wonder where she gets all this energy from, and why isn't it infectious. She seems the most awake of everyone in the morning, and yet she stays by your side in bed until you get all the rest you need.

You never had to tell her to stay either, she did it by herself. Claiming it feels like the right thing to do, how doting she can be on her loved one at times.

Liara is always curious about any dreams you may have, admitting how sometimes they can be like a window into a person's inner psyche. How much she wants to understand you better, on a deeper level than anyone before her ever did.

As if she wants to merge her soul with yours, and maybe to her own kind that's what true love is like. To liara, the mornings you share together remain the highlight of her day until nightime when she gets to feel your embrace again, hear your voice and listen as you tell her about how your day went.

There's so much to admire about her curious nature, her genuine love for knowledge and exploration. The way she likes her coffee especially sweet and the way she hums each morning to stirr you awake.

[daughterofcain-67]

𝙾𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 (𝚙𝚝. 7)

(Soldier Boy x Female Reader)

(masterlist)

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: Suddenly driven by the urge to find you, yet conflicted about the fact he would have to kill his own son, Ben sets out with Butcher and Hughie to go to the Vought tower and put an end to this once and for all.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: SPOILERS!!! Final episode of season three, but this series will continue after that episode. I don’t think there’s any major warnings. Little short but this will be continued. Hope you enjoy!

All you could see was white all around you as you sat alone in the room. Captivity wasn’t your idea of a fun time, then again who likes to be held captive against their will? Maybe with the exception of those with Stockholm syndrome, you assumed it would be no one’s idea of a vacation necessarily.

You sat with your back against one of the walls and your legs crossed in front of you. Your eyes were closed as you tried not to focus on your current situation. Instead you were wondering if Ben really did find Mindstorm, and if he was able to get a little more closure and revenge that he wanted. You wondered when he would get to Black Noir, or if he could even get to him in the Vought tower.

Then you began to wonder if Ben would really be able to kill Homelander. You wanted him to be able. To take the hero’s powers away and show everyone that without his powers, Homelander was just an image of Vought’s imperfections. You wanted to know what their reaction would be when they found out their star-spangled mascot was nothing but a useless puppet, like most if not all supes, who just got paid to be glorified for nothing.

After that, your mind started to wander off to the aftermath of your life with Ben after killing Homelander…

Would he get caught yet again? Would he be sent out of the country yet again to a place like Russia? You wouldn’t put it past Vought to do something so cruel. You couldn’t imagine all of the horrible things Ben went through. Well, you could because you went through something similar, but the government wasn’t out to kill you.

The Russians were trying to kill Ben, and they had a lot longer of a time with him. The government didn’t have nearly as much time with you. So you couldn’t imagine just the amount of torture Ben had gone through for such a long amount of time, only to be left alone in a vault like he was some antique in the lab.

You wouldn’t let anything like that happen to him again. You couldn’t let yourself live with that if Vought took him away again. Back then you couldn’t do anything about it, but now you could.

You only hoped that Ben would be careful enough to not let it get to that point.

Then you tried to start thinking more positively. After all, you weren’t a fortune teller. You had to have some sort of hope in you after all.

So maybe you were over thinking and nothing would go wrong with Ben. Maybe he’d be okay after all and his little quest to kill Homelander would go smoothly. He was experienced at least somewhat when it came to some battles, even if he didn’t actually storm Normandy like Vought wanted everyone to believe.

You wondered what life would have in store for you if that were really the case. What would the future hold if both of you came out of this okay after all?

You were pretty confident you’d need a new hidden cabin in the woods somewhere. After all, you didn’t want Vought finding you again if they didn’t destroy your old home anyway. But you wondered where you would go, you wondered where Ben would want to go.

With Vought out of your hair and Homelander gone, you could go anywhere in the world you wanted to go. Would Ben want to go out of the country with you and start a new life?

Maybe you could go somewhere beautifull…

You heard Ireland was beautiful. You’ve never visited the country and you would love to see what it was like. Maybe you and Ben could travel the world before you decided to find a new home and settle down. Maybe have that family Ben always seemed to dream about.

There were so many positive ideas that came floating in your mind and they seemed to be a dream away. You weren’t sure if you could really have any of those fantastical outcomes, but it never hurt to have that hope.

After all… you dreamt that Soldier Boy would come back. Now he was back in your life so unexpectedly. What other things would come true for you?

The sound of the door opening brought you from your thoughts but your eyes remained closed because you knew all too well who was coming through that door. Judging by the stomps those boots made, Homelander wasn’t too happy. Then again, when was he ever happy and not plastering some fake smile for the public eye.

“Still don’t know where Soldier Boy is. Hate to break it to you, Kiddo.” You sighed with exasperation.

“I’m not here for that.”

“Oh really? No threats if I don’t give you some kind of top secret location?” You sassed with a smirk.

“Did you know?”

What the hell kind of a question is that? How were you supposed to respond?

“You need to be a little more specific than that, Kid.” You remained in the same spot, never opening your eyes to look at the ‘hero’ as you tried to go back to your own thoughts.

“Did you know about Soldier Boy being my father?”

This is what made you open your eyes. You looked up at the supe who had his hands on his hips, awaiting an answer coming from you.

Ben was Homelander’s father? How did that happen? And when? It was certainly a sudden shock, one you hadn’t anticipated to hear that morning - at least you were assuming it was morning. You were losing your concept of time after being locked up in the same place for so long.

“Do you realize how much of a perv he was back in the day before he and I started getting along? He was the one that started Herogasm remember? You can’t honestly believe you’re the only kid he has out there, can you?” You laughed, hiding your surprise.

You wondered if Ben had any idea about this. He couldn’t have known, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so accepting of the idea of killing Homelander?

“Oh please, I was born in ‘81. You two were close during that time, I know it. So did you fucking know he was my father, or didn’t you?”

“I didn’t know.” You finally answered after a few moments of silence.

“So how did you find out? You look equally as shocked.” You said while Homelander ran a hand through his bleached hair.

“I… I got a call sometime last night from… from him.”

You lifted a brow. Ben called Homelander? He must’ve gotten home and you hoped he got Dan after all. So did Mindstorm break the news to him? Was that the reason Vought took him away from you? Damned them. It was exactly something Vought would do so you couldn’t put it past them.

“He said it was some sort of… genetic experiment.” Homelander revealed. You rolled your eyes at the way he seemed so shocked at the news. Was he really that stupid when it came to this organization?

“Are you fucking kidding me? Of course they’d have genetic experiments. Most heroes don’t live that long. Vought must’ve wanted Ben to have some kind of early retirement because they were creating you. Some replacement.” You scoffed.

“Oh don’t act like you aren’t effected by it. Doesn’t it bother you that your precious Soldier Boy has a son and it wasn’t a result of something from you?” He asked and you rolled your eyes.

“Kid. Don’t try to use that shit with me.” You scoffed.

“You think I’m affected by that? If I was I wouldn’t have bothered getting close to him after Liberty, or Crimson Countess. But you? You were nothing but some kid that came out of a damn tube. You’re nothing but an experiment. You are not Soldier Boy’s son by any long shot, and you likely never will be because he hates pathetic men like you.”

You noticed Homelander’s eyes glow red at your last comment and you smirked. He wouldn’t be so affected by it if it wasn’t the truth, “Sweetie, if you kill me, your daddy’s gonna gut you like an animal.”

The color of Homelander’s eyes went back to normal and he looked away from you for a moment. You noticed that he seemed to be having a difficult time wrapping his head around this whole thing. Then he started getting some sort of notification from Ashley and you heard him let out a groan of annoyance.

“Fucking Hell!” He exclaimed.

“Something got your panties in a twist there?” You asked with your head tilted before he looked over at you.

“This isn’t over. I’ll find where Soldier Boy is. And he won’t even know you’re here. He’ll never find you and you’ll spend the rest of your days locked up.” He said and he stormed out of the door.

You looked through the glass as Homelander walked off and you looked down at your hand. You flattened it out before slowly turning your hand into a fist and the building started to shake as if you were indirectly trying to tell Homelander he could try to keep you here for a while, but you’d never stay here.

So many things have happened within the last several hours and he didn’t know how to think of any of this. Everything felt so complicated.

Mindstorm was finally dead, and Ben was glad to have finally killed that fucker. Yet he still couldn’t believe that he was a father. That complicated things immensely, yet a deal was still a deal, right? Then there was the fact that you were missing. Ben was absolutely livid at the very idea that something may have happened to you, and you suddenly became his top priority, no matter the complications and the conflict ion he was feeling about all of this.

After the phone call he made to Homelander, telling him that he was the supe’s father, he had been drinking. He ended the phone call quickly and he knew he was still determined to get you back. He had this gut feeling Homelander was the one that had you. Ironic because you were always so cautious of where he went and who could see him, and you failed to think that you now had a target on your own back.

As Ben stepped out of his room with a little hangover remedy in his hand, he could briefly hear Hughie and Butcher talking about him.

“Listen, do you think he’s going to kill his own son? That’s a lot to ask of him. No wonder he was so hesitant to tell us after Mindstorm broke the news.” Hughie said.

“Well Homelander ain’t really his son. Deep down he knows that. He’s nothing but a glorified lab experiment.” Butcher said.

Ben clenched down on his jaw. He knew Butcher was right. He had a task to focus on, and he knew you would want him to stay focused. He knew they would have to go to the Vought tower anyway because it was more than likely that Black Noir was there. As he stepped out, he saw Butcher glance over at him.

“Mornin’ sunshine.” Butcher’s accent thick as he spoke.

“We’ve got a lot ahead of us. We’ve got to go to the office and get more temp V, then we’ll get our asses over to Vought so we can kill two birds with one stone. Then our little team up’s complete.”

“We’re still searching for Y/N.” Ben corrected sternly.

“Well yeah, of course that too.” Butcher nodded as he put his black coat on.

Ben turned and started heading to the room to grab his shield once more and he downed the rest of that little remedy and he tried to focus. You would want it that way.

He didn’t know what Vought was doing to you. Who knew if Vought actually destroyed those records the government had on their experiments with you. You were right, they were all a bunch of liars. No wonder you took to Grace Mallory. But Ben was still worried that maybe now that they had you in their clutches, would Vought really put you through that hell again to find a way to take a hero’s powers?

It was the uncertainty that gave Ben hell. He knew you couldn’t be dead. There was no way you could be dead and he had to believe that. But he knew the way Vought treated their heroes, and how their supes treated each other and got away with it. So who knew what Homelander would do to you.

Once Butcher and Hughie were ready to hit the road, Ben walked out of the door with them as he tried to keep his cool. He took the box of those cigarettes Butcher gave him with the weed and he lit one up whenever they got outside.

When they got to the car, Ben decided that he’d lay down and maybe sleep off the headache that was quickly forming. He could feel when the car was stopped and Butcher went to pump gas. The runt went to go to the bathroom and Ben eventually fell asleep.

A few hours later when Ben woke up he realized Butcher was still driving and he noticed Hughie was no longer in the vehicle with them.

Odd…

“Where’s the cockchoker?” He asked as Butcher started to reply.

“Ah well, you were right about ‘im, Mate. At the gas station he took off.” He said and Ben’s brows narrowed.

“We needed him to get to noir.”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry too much about that one. You said it yourself, Noir’s loyal to Vought so he’ll be there and so will Homelander. Two birds with one stone. All’s well.”

Ben wasn’t too sure if he was willing to believe that whole story. He wanted to believe Butcher was right and things would go smoothly, but so far in Ben’s life nothing has been smooth sailing. Whether he liked it or not, Ben had a feeling Hughie would go back to his little girlfriend and something could go wrong.

“Just wake me up when we get to New York.”

Ben laid back down and looked at the ceiling of the car but he wasn’t sure he’d be going back to sleep so easily. So instead he tried to think of you just as he did when he was in that fucking box in Russia.

He closed his eyes and he could see you in the very cabin you resided on the first night he was able to see you again. He could see you wearing that little necklace he gifted you what felt like eons ago, but you also had a golden band around your finger.

You would be in the kitchen making some sort of dessert and he could see himself walking into the kitchen. He’d say something a little inappropriate in a joking manner and you would roll your eyes pretending to be disgusted but you’d chuckle nonetheless because you knew his sense of humor.

But then, down the stairs there would be a sound of little feet running down to greet the both of them. A boy, one that looked nothing like Homelander. Instead, this would be the perfect mixture of you and him. And Ben would lift his son up into his arms and let him dip his finger into the batter of whatever dessert you were making despite your protests that your son would spoil his dinner.

Ben would shut you up with a kiss and then he’d make his son promise to eat his supper before he’d take the boy out to the backyard to play some sport whether it was football or baseball since he’d be too young to handle a gun.

It was a perfect life all inside of Ben’s mind and he desperately wanted that future. And he would stop at nothing to make sure he’d get you back.

Eventually Ben did finally fall asleep but the nap didn’t feel quite long enough, even if it was already dark outside. He didn’t realize just how worn out he’d been lately. Ever since he came back he’s been going nonstop to get the revenge he wanted on Payback and now to kill Homelander.

Ben squinted and looked around him, realizing Butcher had already pulled up to a building, likely the one that had his temp V shit. Ben groaned a little as he got out of the car and when Butcher popped the trunk, Ben was able to grab his shield and the two of them walked inside.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to do this?” Butcher asked and Ben looked over.

“What? Kill Homelander? You said it yourself, he’s not really my son.” Ben said, even if he did have some sort of doubts about it.

Anyway, the two men walked up the stairs and Ben noticed that they seemed to have a good view of everything. Ben noticed a table full of different alcoholic substances and liquors.

“Have at it. Calm before the storm after all.” Butcher said.

Ben glanced over at Butcher but then he shrugged and went ahead and poured himself a drink as well as one for Butcher, who accepted. Then Ben walked out towards the window where he had the view of the Vought tower.

“Supes are nothing but circus monkeys… Your little girlfriend was right about that. I’m glad she went to Mallory in the beginning.” Ben could hear Butcher say, Ben assumed Butcher saw him looking out of the window.

“You ever seen the Soldier Boy movie?” Ben asked as Butcher was looking at a map of Vought.

“Must’ve missed that classic.” Butcher said.

“I guess it is a classic now.” Ben hummed a little.

“It’s about a kid that lived in poorer parts of South Philly.. discover’s he’s got these super powers to match his little heart of gold. It’s a load of bullshit. All of it.” Ben said and he sat down.

“My dad was never poor, hell I even went to boarding school. Got kicked out of boarding school for bein’ a fuck up.” Ben began and Butcher looked over at him.

“Made sure you remembered you were a fuck up, huh? What’d he do, beat you to hell?” Ben shook his head.

“Couldn’t be bothered by it. Said I was his own personal disappointment. Not a lot I thought I could do about that. As I grew older I realized that I could go to some of his golf friends and they got me into the Vought trials for enlistment. I thought could be my chance at meeting more than just some sort of fuck up to my parents. Vought shot me up with their blue liquid shit and they made me a hero.”

“What’d the old man say to that?”

Ben recalled having this similar conversation with you at that New Year’s party you mentioned in one of your letters. He thought it would get a little easier to talk about and in a way, it was a little easier because now Ben’s father was long gone. It’s not like he had anything to prove to a dead man.

“Said I took a short cut. That a real man wouldn’t have cheated to be a hero.” Ben said as his jaw clenched and he looked down at his drink and cleared his throat.

“None of the supes are born with their powers, but I guess you’ve gathered that already. At first I thought I was doing what was right. Most naive kids do. None of us start off as bad guys.” Ben said before he looked at Butcher again.

“Then one day, when you’ve gone to too many parties, done pointless movies, did everything you were asked to do and yet you still don’t save as many lives as you hope to save, you realize Vought is all about business and money. That’s when you begin to stop giving a fuck, you begin to indulge in the lifestyle of a circus monkey as you call them, because you stop believing in any morals. You stop believing there really is good, and if there is you’ve already been so corrupted to the point where you doubt you can spread that goodness. One day you look in the mirror and realize… you aren’t the man you wanted to be.”

Butcher was quiet for a moment, thinking about his own past. He was always his little brother’s protector. It was sort of his job in a way until one day he had enough of it. And that would forever be one of the biggest regrets of his life.

“I don’t think Homelander had that much of a choice in deciding if he wanted to be a circus monkey or not. The whole world used to look up to him, Hell I even looked up to him at one point. But then one day, it all turned to shit.” Butcher said.

“Trust me, kid. Times are just as complicated and shitty now as they were back in my day. It’s not easy finding out that a kid you didn’t even know you had is Vought’s most beloved puppet. It’s harder to see that they couldn’t have made him better.” Ben sighed.

“What about you? Any kids?” Ben finally asked.

“That’s a bit of a complicated one too.” Butcher said.

Ben looked down, the news from Mindstorm still eating at his mind. He wasn’t sure he wanted to kill his own son. Homelander is the only blood that Ben had left, the only sense of family even if he was just some lab experiment.

“I knew I had a few running around somewhere. Never thought I’d actually run into one of them. I’ve always wanted them, thought I could do better than my old man.” Ben said.

“I’m pretty sure that’s either the hope of the parent, or the fear of turning into their parent keeps them from having kids.” Butcher said, knowing his reason was the latter. What happened to Becca was out of his control though.

“But you have to realize that Homelander isn’t yours. You didn’t name the lad. You didn’t raise him. I know he’s the only blood you got left, Mate, and I know it’s a hard pill to swallow. But Homelander was created in a damned test tube all for the purpose of taking your place. You’ve got to get that through your skull.” Butcher said before he walked over to Ben.

“Don’t you realize that Homelander is the very fucking reason Vought left you to rot? Homelander is the very reason the Ivan’s had you, tortured you, burned you. They filled you up with shit you never asked for all because Vought wanted you dead so they could make a way for a guy in a fucking cape. Not to mention the fact the he was probably the one that fucking took Y/N in the first place and now she’s in that tower going through who fucking knows what.”

Ben went quiet and he tried to think. He knew the reason Butcher was saying all of this was partially because of the deal he made so they could kill Homelander. But he tried to think of what you would have said in that moment.

You knew him better than anyone, and he knew you were so against Vought and all of their bullshit. Would you have said the same thing if you were in Butcher’s shoes?

“I’m going to get some air.” Ben said and he set the glass down and walked out of the front door.

After a few moments, Ben thought he could hear something. This time he wasn’t hearing things in his mind from the PTSD or whatever the fuck Hughie called it. He knew what he heard.

So Ben walked back in the building and as he made his way up the stairs and back to the office, he could hear two girls fighting. Something about killing Homelander and doing whatever it takes. Homelander must’ve been a piece of work if so many people wanted him dead. That was honestly… disheartening at best. Maybe even a bit…

Disappointing.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Some red headed notch in civilian clothes said and Ben lifted a brow.

“No, but I will.” Ben said, truly not giving a fuck about who came to the office.

“You heard ‘him, Lad. Get in the safe.” Butcher said and looked at Hughie.

Ben took a glance at some guy who was glaring at him like he wanted to skin Ben alive personally. It wasn’t the first time Ben had ever gotten that look and he knew it wouldn’t be the last time.

Once everyone was in the safe, Ben started walking out of the door so he could go to Vought. Then he realized that Butcher was trying to stop him.

“Hey. You ready for this?” Butcher asked and Ben hummed a little.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Ben said and they started making their way to the tower.

When they made it to the tower, Ben Butcher and who he now knew was Queen Maeve, wouldn’t be expecting the incoming trouble from Hughie, Starlight and the others in the group.

Although it was getting to the point where Ben knew he shouldn’t take things at face value with this group. He wouldn’t be surprised if the blonde one figured out a way to break out of the damned safe, or any of them for that matter. He learned after his experience with Payback not to underestimate anyone.

Once Ben and Butcher made it to some sort of office, he heard the two of them exchange a little small talk. Something about scorching the earth. He didn’t know and didn’t really give a rat’s ass to know what they were talking about.

“Where’s Noir?” He asked sternly.

“Dead. He… didn’t tell me about you. Dishonesty is.. is something I just can’t tolerate. Queen Maeve there, she knows all about that.” Homelander said and motioned to the redhead

“And where’s Y/N?”

“How should I know anything about her? She was the one attached to you by the hip, wasn’t she?” The Supe asked.

“I just want to talk… That’s all.” Ben didn’t budge or initiate the fight. Neither did Butcher or Maeve.

“Besides, we could never be a family with her. I know you and I want the very same thing. Our teams never gave us that. Instead, every one of them stabbed us in the back. Sooner or later, Y/N will stab you in the back too.” Homelander said and Ben wasn’t sure how he should feel about that statement. Homelander didn’t know anything about you.

“It could be just you and I against the world. We would be an unstoppable duo. Both of us are practically unkillable. We could bring Vought back to its former glory. Just you and me.”

Ben thought about it before he looked over. Then he started walking over, “The only people that could kill us is each other. How would that end?”

“It wouldn’t happen. And what would even make you say that? Him?” Homelander motioned to Butcher. “He’s nothing but human. Flawed. He does’t stand a chance against us, no one does.”

“Don’t listen to that bloody lab rat. He’s trying to twist your mind around.” Butcher said, trying to interfere.

“Remember, he’s not your real son.”

“Yes I am! I am your son! I’m your blood! That’s all that matters in the end, doesn’t it?”

Ben stood silently as Homelander than motioned for a little boy to come to his side. He looked exactly like Homelander, a spitting image really. “This is Ryan. My son. Your grandson.”

Grandson? He was a grandfather too?

Everything Ben had ever wanted was right fucking here in front of him, minus you of course. That was the only issue with this revelation of family. You had no part in it.

“Hi Grandpa.”

Those simple two words made Ben lean back, stunned really since he had never thought he would even hear those words in his life. Let alone a simple ‘hi dad.’

Butcher’s words continued to echo in Ben’s mind. Homelander was nothing but a lab rat, an experiment that came from a tube. He had no bond with this man, he had no bond with his son either. He was just another supe and some random brat. But he can’t completely ignore the shared blood in their veins. How could he?

“We’re all any of us ever needs. We’re a family just the three of us. We can raise Ryan here to be a better hero than the both of us combined so he could take our mantle one day.”

But this very man, this pathetic piece of shit that was the one that had the audacity to take you away from him. The only woman that ever loved him for what he truly was, despite his own imperfections and disappointing qualities. You loved him for who he was. And Homelander took you from him.

Ben walked over to Homelander before he spoke again, “It’s a shame to know that I’ve missed… so much.”

He could see the hope on Homelander’s face. He really thought Ben was going to give him some sort of approving speech, but Ben had to face the truth of what his son really was.

“I wish I could have raised you. Father to son. I could have raised you to be a better man so you could be a better example for your own son…” Ben said as he placed a hand on his own son’s shoulder.

“But instead you’re this… this… weak, sniffling, attention starved cunt that wants everyone’s approval.”

“Weak? But… But I’m you.”

Ben’s lips pressed into a thin line. Homelander was right. He was Ben, all of the parts of Ben he wished he never had to deal with, “I know… You’re a fucking disappointment. One who took away Y/N, and that’s something I just can’t move on from.”

Suddenly, Ben’s hand was attached to Homelander’s jaw as he intended to break it, but the fucking brat tried to push Ben away. Quake and Butcher both held Homelander still as Ben focused every ounce of his energy into his chest so he could use it to finally kill Homelander.

Butcher tried to tell the brat to move, but suddenly, two little red lasers shot from the kid’s eyes as Ben’s chest began to glow. It threw Ben through the glass and against the wall, clearly taking him off guard. What the hell just happened?

Ben slowly got up with a grunt and dusted himself off from the glass. As Homelander was telling Ryan to go upstairs, Ben used his shield to shove the kid into the bookcase.

“Little Shit. Must take after his old man.” Ben said and rubbed his jaw. Then he started to let the energy in his chest begin to glow again while the hero was tending to the brat. This was the moment now that Homelander was distracted. He could take him down as well at the little runt that was getting in his way.

That was when tables started to turn, Butcher’s eyes began to glow too with the temp V still in his system. Ben lifted his shield to block Butcher’s attack and he peered over the shield. Ben was at a loss for words. After all that talk about “a deal’s a deal” this was a change. Didn’t Butcher want the bastard dead?

He didn’t have time to ask many questions before the fight insued between him and Butcher, eventually Homelander joined in too.

You had been hearing rumors that Maeve escaped. So Starlight was right after all about Homelander doing something with her. You knew Homelander must’ve been pissed when he found out that information. You wondered just how much his world was beginning to fall apart all around him.

Suddenly, all of the lights seemed to go red. A lot of people were beginning to panic and the doors of these cells were opened. You were freed! But why? What the Hell was happening? There was only one solution you could possibly come up with.

Soldier Boy.

You quickly got up and you saw all of the prisoners Vought had contained were escaping. You followed all of them, the flow of the crowd seemed to be evacuating the building.

“What’s going on? Why are we running?” you asked one of the lower workers.

“There’s an attack on the tower. Soldier Boy’s real and he’s going to kill all of us! He’s with that Butcher guy Homelander hates so much.” Someone said and you stopped in your tracks as everyone else ran out of the door.

You bit your lip as you tried to think hard of where Soldier Boy and the others could be. Homelander must’ve known Ben was there by now, what if things turned sideways again like they did in Vermont? You ran past the meeting hall but you had to do a double take. That was when you noticed that Black Noir was dead.

Your eyes widened because you knew Ben was at the last name on his list. And what if Starlight made her way back to the tower? What if she convinced the rest of Butcher’s team to put an end to Ben?

You didn’t want to think of that outcome but you could feel all of the adrenaline rushing through your veins.

You had to think fast and you started making your way up to the very top of the tower, deciding to use the stairs since the elevator must’ve been occupied by everyone trying to rush to the lobby from whatever floor they were on so they could rush inside.

You were suddenly held back by two people who made you stop running and when you looked over you saw that it was both Hughie and Starlight.

That was when your worst fears were becoming realized.

“Hughie?! What the Hell?!” You questioned.

“We have to kill him, Quake. He’s dangerous and he’s going to kill so many people! You saw what he did in Vermont.” Hughie said and you glared at him before you fought your way out of his grasp since you could tell he was surprisingly not on the temp V shit.

Then there was starlight and you saw her eyes were starting to glow and your eyes narrowed as you took a hold of her hands, gripped them as tightly as you could and you twisted her wrists, successfully breaking the both of them and you could hear her cry out in agony. She wasn’t the only supe in the room after all. The yellow glow went out of her eyes and you lifted your leg, kicking her to a wall.

Then you marched over and hovered above the ignorant blonde.

“Where the fuck is he?”

“H-He’s with Butcher. He’s going to kill Homelander and anyone else within a hundred foot radius of here. We have to stop him.” Annie said, looking up at you with pleading eyes as if she was begging you to listen.

“What exactly were you going to do with him. What weakness did you find.” You said with a certain darkness in your voice.

“I can’t tell you that.” She said and you wrapped your hands around your throat.

“Listen, Little Girl. At this point, Homelander is the least of your worries,” You tightened your grip on her throat, “if you don’t tell me what the fuck you found out, I will kill you, MM, Frenchie, Butcher, Hughie, mmm… I will kill anyone you’ve ever cared about if you dare take him from me again.”

“V-Vapor. F-Frenchie said it was a vapor that could weaken Soldier Boy. Some kind of toxin.”

“What was the name of the toxin?”

“I-I don’t remember.”

“You’ve learned to lie well. What the fuck is the name of the toxin?”

“N-Novichok! I-It knocks him out and puts him to sleep. L-Like an anesthesia. I-It won’t kill him but it’ll give us time to evacuate these people.” Starlight said.

You heard the name and you thought you’ve heard that name before. You recalled it was a theory you had in one of your papers when you were trying to think of what could have possibly happened to weaken Soldier Boy and taken him away. You didn’t think something like that could be true. For you it was pure speculation, a long shot.

“Try to stop me and I’ll break your fucking neck.” You seethed before you threw Annie next to Hughie before you started running up the stairs as fast as you could to get to Ben and Butcher before anything disaster out happens.

Unfortunately, you realized you were too late. Not only was Homelander fighting Ben, but so was Butcher. MM made it too and so did Kimiko. Kimiko was trying to fight Ben with hand-to-hand combat and she was starting to fail miserably. MM was using some big looking gun to shoot Ben, but obviously it wasn’t working. Butcher and Homelander were using their powers to try and fight him off.

Your eyes widened the very moment you saw Ben’s shield break into pieces. You knew this was serious and things weren’t looking good.

You raised your hands and the building started to shake as you started to use the material, the concrete of the building and you took chunks of it and you started to throw it at Homelander and Butcher.

Ben saw concrete and pieces of the building began to fly and he saw you there. You were alive, and you were there! But the very moment that he was distracted, he felt multiple people tackling him and they put some kind of mask on him. He was all to familiar with what was in the canister and he was instantly starting to feel weak.

“No. I’m not.. going back.. In that fucking box!”

He started absorbing so much more energy and they were finally starting to back off, but this time Ben couldn’t hold back the energy and it needed to go somewhere. The upcoming blast was too intense and he didn’t even realize that someone was knocking him out some window nearby. The next thing he knew, the blast engulfed him and whoever pushed him out.

“NO!” You exclaimed when you saw the man you loved was pushed out of the window.

Your heart was racing so fast, you felt so much more adrenaline course through your veins than you had in a very, very long time.

You stood up and you saw the way Butcher, Hughie, everyone in the room was looking at you and none of them knew what to do next, but Butcher and Homelander were the first to use their eyes on you, only for you to shift the floor in the building and rotate them to where the two were facing each other and attack one another.

MM tried to use the gun on you and the bullets did hurt sure, but they’d do nothing more than leave bruises on your skin. You took a chunk of the concrete in the wall and used it to knock MM across the room and send him flying. You knew it knocked him out but honestly, you didn’t really care.

Kimiko tried to come at you and you took the same chunk of the building that knocked out MM and you used it to knock out Kimiko and shoved her through the same hole in the glass wall that Ben was pushed out of.

You were already starting to feel dizzy from using your powers this much, but you couldn’t stand by this any longer. All of them ruined your life.

They came to your home, brought you out of hiding and Homelander found you making it to where you had to leave. Then when Ben came back, you couldn’t even have him for long before they tried to kill him all over again.

And you were done with all of it.

Your eyes darkened and you used all of the strength you had left and you turned both your hands into fists, raising up in the air. Then with all of the force you had in you, you slammed your fists to the ground.

The entire building started to shake, dust and rubble fell from the ceiling. Then the entire building seemed to drop a layer or three. Everyone started to scramble to their feet and try to find the quickest ways out of the building but you knew it would be too late for a lot of them, the ones that didn’t have V in them anyway.

You did the same motion again with your fists, bringing even more of the building down. Homelander took Ryan and fled from the building, Butcher must’ve still had V in him because you could see him trying to shield MM. But you knew he didn’t have much left in him.

With one more ground breaking smash, the entire building rumbled and it started to lose its foundations, the integrity of the building was now compromised and before you knew it…. The ceiling was falling of all of your heads.

What felt like hours later, you were covered in dust and you were coughing up some blood. You were surprised you were even awake with the amount of rubble that was on top of you. You should have been crushed. You managed to open your eyes and you realized you were unharmed. But the Vought tower was finally brought to its knees. They’d lose everything.

You used whatever was left in your strength to climb your way out of the rubble and when you looked around, you saw that there were ambulances all around. You realized that you used a little too much power and Vought wasn’t the only building you took down. People must’ve been caught in the crossfire.

You were lucky you were covered in white dust, otherwise some news reporters may have recognized you. Some of the paramedics were taking some people out of the rubble, you didn’t care to see who made it and who didn’t.

You started to look around the rubble, no one would really question it because they were all looking for loved ones. You were doing everything you could to find any sign of Soldier Boy. He had to be around somewhere. He had to be okay. There was no way a building killed him, so he had to be here, right?

Instead, you found nothing. You couldn’t find Ben anywhere. You didn’t know if he walked out of this play or if he had the Novichok in his system and he was still knocked out and someone took him. You didn’t know if the energy blast knocked him out because of how much was pent up in him and he hadn’t come to just yet.

You dashed into the shadows, knowing you had a new task at hand…

Find Ben.

No matter what it took, no matter if you’d end up crushing every singly building or destroying every city and killing yourself in the process… you would stop at nothing to find Ben and get him out of the clutches of whoever took him.

Tag List:

@deans-spinster-witch @roseblue373 @nancymcl @jackles010378 @hobby27 @chriszgirl92 @lyarr24 @wirdbeimaufhebengebunden @prettyinplaid94 @globetrotter28 @suckitands33 @capricxnt @k-slla @david-tennant-obsessed-blog @deangirl96 @mimaria420 @ashdoctor @muhahaha303 @angelbabyyy99

[luc3]

Hair. (French Folks Traditions.) part 1.

In Pliny (Natural History, book 11) it is mentioned that man is the one of all animals who has the longest hair, especially the "hairy", inhabitants of the Alps and Gaul.

For a long time, women's hair has been a sexual symbol that should be hidden with a veil or a bonnet. Since the Middle Ages, only young girls have the right to go out bareheaded. According to demonologists, devils have a particular taste for women's hair.

-

To comb your hair :

In the 19th century, to have beautiful hair and find a husband, you had to comb your hair in the moonlight (Provence.)

However, if a woman combs her hair while walking in the countryside, evil spirits will immediately come and grab her by the hair (Alpes-Maritimes.)

In Normandy, surprising a woman combing her hair when you enter a house is a bad omen.

In Puy de Dôme, the woman who wants to receive communion in church must comb her hair the day before midnight, but never the same day.

In the 17th century, Abbot Thiers reported that combing your hair on Friday brought lice.

Cutting your hair : The phases of the moon have a direct influence on the growth and beauty of hair. Depending on the region, opinions differ as to the best time :

They must be cut at the new moon but they will fall early (Vosges, Berry.)

They must be cut at the end of the new moon, but never during the full moon if you do not want to get sick. (Côtes d’Armor.)

In Poitou, it is recommended not to cut children's hair in May, lest they go crazy.

We avoid colds if we cut them on Friday in Bas Languedoc.

In the Northern Alps, the new moon was preferred, but it had to be absolutely waxing. At that time the hair grew back quickly and vigorously.

-

Magic Medicine :

Recipe to avoid losing your hair (Lorraine) : apply to your scalp a wild cat skin that has been soaked with cow urine for 7 days. Then rub your head with butter made with the milk of a black cow that does not go to pasture, or wash your head with sow's milk.

To avoid being hoarse, there's nothing like a lock of hair stuffed in your mouth (Brittany.)

To avoid headaches all year round, you must comb your hair before sunrise on Good Friday, in Moselle.

-

[Excerpts taken from M.C Delmas in Dictionnaire de la France Mystérieuse, and from my grandmother's memories.]

pic source

Part 2 "love magic" here.

[hamsterbellbelle]

Hello🐹Now that is near the end of the year, it's time for the personal top-5 list of my builds and CCs that I’m most proud of😤also a little bit of self-promotion…_(:з」∠)_  

This year I did 22 builds (a little bit more than last year...xD) Last year I said I'd hope to build Mass Effect Normandy, Shepard’s apartment, a high school fit for the Cyberpunk 2077 world...but none of that happened..._(:з」∠)_ Well I'd hope again I'll be able to build those this year xD

Anyway…to the list! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

5. Komorebi Thrift and Bubble Tea Store🎦|| This year I tried to create a No-CC build every month, and honestly I'm quite surprised how much stuff sims 4 have (of course debug items included...xD). Interestingly, the thing I love most with this build is the vending machine at the entrance..._(:з」∠)_

4. Nomad Campsite🎦|| I had a lot a lot of fun building this. This turns out better than I imagined ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ Only thing I wished I could've done is make those tent a "real room" so electronics inside won't break..._(:з」∠)_

3. Waterfront Nightclub🎦|| I really really love those catwalks above the dance floor, it added so many potential to storytelling ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ This is also one of the very few builds that I'm not using in my game-play save...instead it's for you guys hehe🧡

2. Lestat’s Apartment🎦|| I love vampires and I love cyberpunk, this is one of my dream apartments xD The way the showcase video is made is also one of my favorites ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

1. Abandoned Subway Strip Club🎦|| I've build like 4~5 strip clubs now and honestly this is my favorite one ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ I just wish I had more space to really build the subway parts with more abandoned tunnels...

To the CC List! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

I know I didn't make much CCs this year...but somehow it's still kinda hard to pick a favorite...I like them all xD

5. Heart Shape Animated Neon Sign || Seriously huge thanks to Syboulette for her patience and guidance🧡🧡I never thought I'd be able to make animated stuffs like this \(≧∇≦)/ And also, check out this 🔞18+ animated neon hehe Animated Phallus Sign

4. Miniature Space Hamster Set || When the poll results came out, I was kinda disappointed...but then I thought:😤I'll do it myself! And OMG I'm really not good at making build-mode items xD I'm also so glad that Sims 4 Studio added the function to mod stairs and fences just in time for the project ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

3. City Living Cyberpunk Food Stall || I need to make more of these ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ xD

2. Ashtray with Animated Smoke || My first ts4.script object...I feel so proud of myself xD...Python is weird..._(:з」∠)_

1. Secret Passage - Science Portrait || I love secret passages...bookcase doors, hidden door behind a shelf, etc...I really gotta make more of these...xD

[ancientorigins]

Trace the steps of two researchers as they delve into the curious case of the Knights of the Star, uncovering clues to the existence of a giant sacred pentagram hidden within the heart of France. Founded by King John II of France, the existence of labyrinth cathedrals reveals centuries-old clues to ancient connections between faith, history and symbolism.

Through meticulous research and insightful analysis, witness the unfolding of a captivating narrative that intertwines the realms of religion, royalty and sacred geometry. Embark on a quest to unravel the secrets of the Knights of the Star and the transcendent mysteries they guard within the sanctified landscapes of France.

[albinoshepard]

N7 Month 2023 - Day #02: Tension.

In every ordinary vessel of the Alliance, the commander rarely goes into the cargo hold except to prepare for a mission, but the Normandy is not an ordinary fleet ship, from its design to its colorful crew. It's precisely one of its members which pushes Abigail Shepard to often abandon the bridge for the lower decks of the ship.

As always the turian Garrus Vakarian, former SSC Agent, was busy working on the targeting systems of the M35 Mako, the landing vehicle, and was so focused on his work that he didn't even notice the Commander staring at him silently. That's why he suddenly became nervous when he turned around and found her in front of him. She in return seemed almost pleased with that reaction, and smiled slyly before clasping hands behind the back and clearing her throat:

"Vakarian, still calibrating the Mako's weapons?"

"I... Um... Yes, the last fight with that Thresher really overheated them and I wanted to - um - make sure they were ready for the next ground mission, I..."

"Is it common practice for all Turians to work so much? Why don't you take a break? I have some... Questions, about the culture of your people - you know, to... Analyze Saren's behavior, so we can anticipate his moves." - She seemed unusually nervous too, but he certainly didn't notice.

"I - um - of course. I'll finish these calibrations and I'll join you in the common room."

"Very good. Don't delay. Unlike what people say about female humans: we don't like to wait." - She smiled, again with that sly look, and she walked away with quick, almost hopping, steps.

The Turian waited until she had completely disappeared on the elevator and finally heaved a deep sigh, as if he had been holding his breath until that moment, but as he began to relax again, a deep and thunderous laugh came from the bottom of the hold. He turned in that direction, to give the Krogan mercenary hidden in the shadows an interrogative look: "Wrex?!"

"What?" the other replied, unable to stifle the hilarity that the scene had unleashed in him. "Oh, hell! Get a room the two of you and get it over with!"

"What?! No, no - I - we - I don't... She's the commander! I can't, I... It's not what you think!!"

"Of course. And you're lucky she doesn't know how to interpret the subtle vibrations in the tone of the turian's second voice, or she probably would have already jumped on your neck."

"What the...?! No, she can't... I..." If he were human he would probably be a fiery phosphorescent red color right now. He huffed in annoyance, not knowing how to respond and headed towards the crew bathrooms before reaching the Commander. For some strange reason he felt the need for a cold shower.

📌

When I think of "tension" I'm reminded of the relationship between Shepard and Garrus at the beginning and I always curse BioWare for not having explored it further in the first chapter of the trilogy. 😁

That's why I wrote this short story about Abigail and her favorite Turian.

It's written straight away and quickly translated from Italian so sorry if it's not perfect. It was just to give an idea.

📸

N7 Month Challenge 2023

Day #02: Tension

Prompt List - @n7month

🎮 Mᴀss Eғғᴇᴄᴛ 1 Lᴇɢᴇɴᴅᴀʀʏ Eᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ ℹ️ Pʟᴀʏsᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ 4 | Lɪɢʜᴛʀᴏᴏᴍ

[captain-price-unofficially]

Jagdpanther of schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 654 (654th Heavy Tank-hunter Battalion) hidden in a country house in ​​Normandy, summer 1944.

[angelasscribbles]

A Fervid Fixation Epilogue

Series: A Fervid Fixation

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Drake

Rating: Teen

Warnings for this chapter: None

Word Count: 686

My other stuff: Master List.

In the Ariége department of the Occitania region of France, outside a sparsely populated village nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains not far from the borders of both Spain and Andorra, a young boy with chestnut-colored hair flying out behind him ran across the verdant green fields of his family’s ranch screaming, “Papa! Papa!”

“Wait, Gabriel!” His mother laughed as she shifted her ten-month-old daughter from one hip to the other, “Papa is coming! Move out of the way of the horses!”

It was October and Drake, along with the handful of other ranchers in the area were returning with the Mérens horses from their annual migration back down into the valley from the mountainside where they had spent the summer months.

Gabriel’s cousins joined him, all three boys running and jumping with excitement.

Riley looked at Savannah and shook her head as she laughed, “Every year!”

Savannah laughed in agreement as she watched her sons. One with russet brown hair and blue eyes like the father that he would never know, and one with the raven hair and brown eyes of the man that had raised them both.

Anton wasn’t always a present father, his job often keeping him away, but he was a doting one and their relationship was full of love and affection.

Drake often joked that it was the only reason Anton, aka Jason, had helped them escape. Because Savannah, whom he had kept in touch with after helping Drake stage her disappearing act, would have never forgiven him otherwise.

Anton came and went but Drake, Riley, and Savannah had made the small ranch their home. Located in the south of France, it was far out of the way of touristy destinations like Paris, Provence, Bordeaux, or Versailles. Well away from any place that a royal tour or diplomatic detachment might visit.

Drake and Savannah had already spoken fluent French while Riley had barely known two words in the beginning, but she had eventually learned to speak French like a native. As far as any of their neighbors knew, Drake and Savanna, aka Dominic and Sylvanna were from Normandy, and Riley, aka Ranae, was from Canada. All of the children were native speakers.

When the herd was back in their winter pastures, Drake trotted his horse to the yard and dismounted, “Who wants to help me untack Thunder?”

“Me! Me! Me!” all three boys jumped and squealed gleefully.

“Okay,” he laughed, “Come here!” He picked the boys up one by one and swung them up onto the sturdy back of the five-year-old Mérens gelding.

He made a purposeful detour past Riley so he could stop and kiss her. He leaned into her with a smile “Missed you!”

The boys giggled as he pressed his lips to hers.

“Papa!” The baby girl in her arms reached a hand out to pat his face.

“You too, mon bébé!” He kissed her chubby cheeks and hugged Savannah before giving Riley another smile as he led the horse to the stables.

That night after dinner, baths, and bedtime stories, Drake climbed into bed and held his wife close as his kids, sister, and nephews slept safely just down the hall and gave silent thanks for whatever miracle had brought her into his life and allowed them to successfully escape the wrath of a jilted king.

It had been five years since they had fled Cordonia. Five years of living mostly off the grid. Five years of raising Mérens horses, blending with the local farmers, and hiking in the mountains until they knew their way to the remote cabin Drake had built hidden deep in mountains well enough to find it in the dark.

Behind a false wall in the back of the walk-in closet in the master bedroom sat an old, scuffed-up duffle bag filled with cash, weapons, and forged passports giving them citizenship in a myriad of countries. While he hoped they never needed to use it, he was never without an escape plan, just in case.

After all, the statute of limitations on murder never expired.  

Merens Horses

[nicolettecallednikki]

She'd always had a thing for Esteban. It seemed silly to say, with Charles right there, the Prince of Monaco, Il Predestinato, widely acknowledged hottie, but for Pascale Gasly, the only full-sibling of Pierre and the only girl in their Brady Bunch family, it had always been the slightly goofy looking dark horse, Esteban. Whatever Pierre had to say about Esteban, it was double for Pascale, who'd seen first hand what their families fighting had done to the two young boys. She'd been helpless to fix anything about their relationship, all her attempts only making it worse.

"It's him or me," Pierre said harshly, once the two had had a fight and she'd tried to go to Esteban to console him. Esteban who had no one but his parents and a nothing but a motor home, against Pierre and all their brothers, Maman et Papa, Anthoine and Charles who always, even when he was in the wrong, sided with the blonde, and all his friends at school.

"That's not right," she'd squeaked, trying to stop from crying, "You two are friends."

"Not anymore, sœurette," he said, coldly, "Not ever again."

The way Pierre spoke of Esteban in the media made anxious. She knew her brother, knew the longer Esteban stayed silent on the matter, the more he'd speak on it and the more stupid he'd sound. He was getting kind of frantic about it, fanatical, and even he made note of it.

"I'm talking about him as if he were my girlfriend," he'd stopped himself once, to point it out, his ears tinged red in embarrassment.

It had been years since that final argument, at least the final argument she'd witnessed, and Pascale had stood firmly- proudly at times, frowning at others- by her brother's side ever since. Blood was thicker than water, after all, and thicker than the pressée they'd all enjoyed as kids together, she supposed.

But when Pierre's move to Alpine was announced, Pascale's throat constricted as if she'd lost access to air. She knew Esteban wouldn't want him there, that he'd been pulling, quite publicly, for Mick Schumacher, and she didn't blame him. The picture he'd posted of the two little boys from Normandy? He'd had to crop her out, she knew because she had the same pitcher hidden in the bottom drawer of her desk at home. She'd been at Pierre's side, even then, but there was no question she was staring adoringly at the brun, as she was prone to even in those early days.

It was only when it was announced that Alpine wouldn't allow the Gasly's and Ocon's to attend the same races that she was able to take a deep, full breath again. She didn't know what she'd do when face to face with Esteban again, but at least it wouldn't happen often.

[livelikeinadream]

#lisieux #normandie #explore_normandie #france #discover #hidden #instagood #photooftheday #photography #travel #travelphotography (presso Lisieux, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgJ2SirM9OH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[dragonflight203]

Mass effect replay thoughts, continued. This time running through the Citadel quests with Tali and Liara:

-Khalisa repeatedly emphasizes that spectres work for the Citadel.

This is a recurrent theme throughout ME1: Is Shepard loyal to the Citadel or the Alliance? Do they consider themselves a spectre first or Alliance? Can they be reconciled?

I noticed last playthrough that when introducing themself, spectre is usually the paragon option. Alliance is neutral or renegade.

This is another theme that, as far as I can recall, is dropped in ME2 or ME3. Again, spectres are very downplayed in those games and Shepard is essentially just treated as an Alliance soldier.

Shame - it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Shepard was forced to pick. What if they had uncovered Alliance behavior that was a threat to the galaxy that the Alliance wanted to keep hidden or had covered up? Something that forced them to choose between the Council (the galaxy) and humanity?

(Well, something more immediately dangerous than the nuke Hackett asks them to retrieve in ME1...)

-In the interview, if you go neutral when asked about handing the Normandy over to the Citadel you get asked about humanity and the respect of the galaxy.

If you go paragon and state that the Normandy's crew is Alliance, this is skipped and the interview goes straight to asking about Saren.

-I enjoy how much more flexible ME1 is about quests than the later games. This is the first time I'm starting the quest about keepers by speaking to Jahleed. Although I'll probably regret it at the end when I have to run all over the Citadel a second time to actually scan the keepers.

-The Bhatia quest is rather sad. The whole mess could have been avoided if the military had actually asked Nirali if they could keep Samesh's body for research. He agrees!

I do feel the research is important, but essentially stealing her body like that was not right. If he had pushed back I would have made sure he received it. The Alliance isn't going to get recruits if they don't respect their dead.

Sidenote: The first game acknowledges that the Alliance is flawed.

-Continue to love Pallin. Paraphrased: "Knew one of your kind would make spectre. Hope you're better than the one they're sending you after."

"I'll do everything I can to stop Saren."

"Hmph, that's what worries me."

Man is consistent. I will presume he and Castis are BFFs moving forward.

-Udina's unhappiness with Shepard is reasonable. Humanity is being judged by Shepard, and Shepard is a total wild card. Paragon or Renegade, they'll do what they want to do and to hell with the consequences. That's rather hard on Udina, whose job it is to clean up and smooth ruffled feathers after those consequences.

-I like Din Korlak. He doesn't toe the party line; he's a strong advocate for the Volus and won't settle for them being treated as anything less than equal. He doesn't just want Volus to get theirs, he wants the Volus to have a say in who gets what.

He and Udina are actually very alike - outspoken, demanding, pragmatic. They also both betray the galaxy to Cerberus in ME3! Hmm, not sure if that says something about them or about Bioware.

-Din never mentions the Volus relationship with the Turians directly. The closest is something along the lines of trading services for protection.

Interesting, given that as a diplomat he must coordinate with the Turians frequently. As grumpy as he is, he's still presenting Volus in the most positive light possible to Shepard - and being dependents ain't part of that.

-I appreciate Calyn's continued interruptions that the Volus are actually very favored by the Council. How are the Elcor treated by comparison?

-How did the Volus and Elcor wind up in the same embassy anyway? The Volus have been around for a long time. The Elcor are very new. If they didn't ask for this, no wonder they're huffy that humanity has their own, separate embassy.

-As far as I can tell, the Consort is supposed to be a geisha.

-Nelyna, paraphrased: "I have your name and you'll be contacted. Is there anything else?" Excellent customer service voice. You can tell she gets a lot of mistreatment. Hope the position of greeter is rotated and she doesn't always have to deal with this.

-The meeting with the Consort is very strange. She tells you not to come any closer. She then gets up in your personal space and starts touching you. She's supposed to be an amazing woman that makes people feel great, but she's all business the whole meeting while she presses her body against yours. Then she tells you to leave and not come back until everything is sorted with Septimus. What was Bioware going for?

-Why does she even ask Shepard to do this? Are all the other spectres absent from the CItadel? Do none of her clients have a good relationship with Septimus? Did she want it to be someone who wasn't a client? The last would be my guess, but the whole thing is very strange.

-After the Rachni wars, the Krogan were granted several colonies. Making a note of this as I often see it discussed about the genophage. From the start of ME1, the Krogan did get new worlds.

-Shepard to Avina: The Krogan stopped the Rachni. The Turians stopped the Krogan. Who will stop the Turians?

Avina: Not in my programming, the Turians are on the Council and not a threat.

Implicit answer by the game: Humans will stop the Turians.

Another thread that got dropped in future games, but ME1 does position Humanity to potentially go up against Turians in the future. Can't say I'm sad that didn't happen, but it would have been interesting. Maybe as an outcome of bad choices.

-Love Helena Blake. Very pragmatic woman. Red sand and slavery are bad. You, spectre, take out my rivals doing these bad things. Then I'll take over their gangs, clean them up, and raise them to greatness!

Btw this is totally just a conversation and you can't charge me for anything.

And she's not wrong... The gangs do need to be stopped. I look forward to talking her into becoming a social worker again.

-Barla Von, paraphrased: "The tale of how you survived the great tragedy on Akuze is truly remarkable. I am amazed each time I hear it."

How often is the tale of Akuze told??? Why is Barla Von, an information broker and financial advisor, repeatedly listening to it???

-Most other species tend to refer to Shepard as human. Volus call them Earth-clan. Nice touch.

-ME1 spends a lot of time building the shadow broker up. If ME3 had spent as much time building up to the endings the backlash would not have been so bad. The endings would have felt like a natural outcome of the game.

-There are dozens of species in the wards. 80% of species acknowledge the Council as an authority. Only the most powerful species have embassies.

ME1 makes it very clear that the galaxy has a ton of intelligent species, even if only a fraction are shown. Not sure if that's something Bioware will utilize in the future or not.

-If the Keepers are interfered with, there are harsh penalties. Like rehabilitation. What does that constitute that it's considered a harsh penalty? Why do I strongly suspect it's a polite euphemism?

-That C-Sec Officer is very casual about dropping slurs (jelly) when speaking to Shepard about the Hanar preaching on the presidium. All while gunning for a promotion. The Presidium is shiny, but Bioware's not pretending it's a utopia.

-The Alliance is so very blunt about their goals. Admiral Kahoku, paraphrased: "It's about time the Alliance got one of our own in with the spectres. We need people like you to deal with our... problems."

Yes, Kahoku, that's the purpose of the spectres. To advance their own interests. That's why every species gets at least one member with a "I can do what I want" card. I am sure the Council was thrilled to receive this report as well.

-Tali and Liara continue to be a contrast I was not expecting. About the Council meeting area, paraphrased:

Liara: They make decisions that affect trillions of lives. Awe-inspiring!

Tali: We asked them to wipe out the geth 300 years ago. Maybe if the had listened we wouldn't be here.

Like, damn. Something similar occurred around the Krogan statue that I did not write down.

Liara's out here bright eyed and bushy tailed and Tali's just dropping truth bomb after truth bomb. I'm getting whip lash.

Edit: Fix spellings

[sol-consort]

omgg i just read your Earthborn Shep and Thane post and ykkkk who else can have that past criminal angst? Earthborn Shep and Jack. Like they both had to do whatever it takes to survive at the end of the day. Like Shel gets why she likes to stay under the engine room alone and needs the noise and the solitude to feel safer and all the trust issues they both have. My friend you opened up a can of worms in my brain sjjdjdkck. Your mind…so powerful 💥

YES EXACTLY! fuck I wish I could've brought it up to Jack ingame when she says we wouldn't understand her. I wish earthborn Shepard had to chance to say actually they're very familiar with the world she's currently living in.

Shepard used to be in gangs since the earliest memory they could recall! With no parents who ever claimed them and no support system, they had to go out there and put food at the table themselves before they knew what algebra was!

Earth, the human's homeworld and cradle, has treated Shepard so badly. he same planet you sacrifice everything to save in ME3 is the same one that let freeze without a home in some alley.

The only option was to pick up a gun and fight for survival, run with scummy people, and befriend the lowest of the low in order to avoid getting stabbed in the back. The government hid those suffering kids in the shadows of glamourise buildings and pristine gardens for alien tourists to gawk at.

And Shepard's saving grace was the fact the army was willing to give you food and shelter in exchange for being willing to die for them. It just makes being labelled a war hero all the more bittersweet. People didn't care about humanity's saviour when they were a kid rotting in the street.

Shepard would completely understand Jack and defend her against Cerberus. Have her back when it comes to confrontations with the crew. Old habits die hard, and even Shepard still sleeps with a gun hidden under the pillow, so who are you to judge Jack sleeping in the engine room.

Maybe Shepard goes there too when stress becomes too much, and they revert back to their teen self looking for any shelter from the rain. They go to the engine room and sit in the corner, reminding themselves they're stronger than anything thrown their way.

Maybe it was Anderson who first noticed Shepard doing that in the first Normandy and kept it their secret. Knowing their history and never putting them on the spot, which is why Shepard is so chill with Jack's requests and behaviour.

In the shadowbroker info, it shows that Jack activity searched online about Shepard's history, watched the spectre ceremony halfway through before closing it, and even looked into your achievements. She was clearly frustrated with you being another decorated ship captain who had every opportunity handed to them on a silverplate.

If only she would've dug more and found the articles about Shepard's hidden past, the interviews with the gang memebers who used to be in your close circle, the paparazzi shots where your clothes slipped to reveal a part of a tattoo, speculations about its meaning and if it's related to a gang symbol.

All those things the alliance pays triple the market price just to keep hidden from the first page results of search engines. Keeping the stained glass imagine of The Commander Shepard as clean as ever, polishing your history until nothing is left but a symbol of humanity's greatest achievements, not the stain that is your attempt at survival after your own kin abandoned you.

Earthborn Shepard is just so interesting! That sort of scandal would follow you for life. Old habits and bad reputations. Especially with a paragon, Shep, who's all kind and proper, that used to be an actual monster in the streets.

Even more sweet when you see Jack again in ME3 and know she followed in your steps and left that life behind. Finding a reason to live besides pure survival. I always let her punch me because nothing would phase earthborn Shepard, who knows how this is normal, friendly things in the criminal world. Who used to have their own friends to wrestle with for fun. Who did a lot of stupid things like play russian rullet in their youth.