#hook loader

[saxandviolins77]

[the-sword-lesbian]

There’s a Valkyrie in my repair bay…

“In” is a sort of operative word here, because the only parts “inside” are the crown and 60% of the torso. The legs and three of remaining wings are hanging out clear into the scrapyard. And the fourth wing is still sitting in the crash site half a mile down the hill.

If a drone or any Colonial Empire ships pass over they’ll spot her. And then she’s done for. And my entire family probably will be too.

But we couldn’t just leave her out there.

After we got the Valkyrie towed 'inside', a process that took all three of our heavy loaders and the skifftruck, some of the uncles went to work with the arc cutters on the crown. We figured after being down for three hours now if the pilot still hadn't ejected already something must be really wrong, so we set ourselves to the task of getting them out.

"Ay cousins!" one of the uncles shouted. "Get a chain over here and we can pull this cut plate out!"

Theresa tossed a coil and hooked it on to the crane while I threw it up the scaffold to uncle Rica.

"Estra," they said after catching the chain. "Come up here and help us get this thing open."

I took off up the rails of the scaffold, right as the crane started pulling at the plate.

"Alright take it up Theresa!" uncle Ortega called out.

The slack pulled out of the chain and there was a heavy groaning noise on both ends before the cutout of the plate snapped loose and flew past our heads.

We waited for a moment in silence to see if someone was gonna crawl out or something. "Hello!" Uncle Theo shouted towards the hole in the Valkyrie's crown "We're from Claret Family Salvage, "he continued. "We towed you out of the desert and we're just looking to make sure you're alright yeah?" Another prolonged minute of no response before he passed me a torch. "Hey Estra, take a look inside, Goddess knows I'm too fat to squeeze in that hole," he added the last part with a chuckle.

I laughed in return before taking the light from him and sticking my head down in the gap. The inside wasn't particularly large, no bigger than my bunk honestly. I didn't see any panels or controls or even a chair to sit on. Which should have struck me as odd at the time but I guess I must have glossed over it. Half of the space was taken up by a large, bulbous looking sack of some sort. But I saw no people, living or otherwise. I pulled my head back out of the hole. "Get that chain over here, and some drop lights. I'm going down in there."

Five minutes later cousin Martine and I were inside the crown, a few drop lights hung on the walls.

"So... where is the pilot?" Martine asked.

"You're the mech fanboy," I replied. "You tell me."

"I dunno man, there's no controls or anything in here," He said. "What's this thing?" He pointed at the sack.

It was attached to the ceiling and part of the back wall of the crown, up close I could see a reinforced, rubbery green texture to it that almost looked like it was... sweating?

"Condensation maybe?" Martine asks, gesturing to the wet sheen of it.

I reached up to run my hand across it and a small zap of static arced from my fingers to the sack, and the whole thing suddenly convulsed violently.

"Fuck!" Martine shouted as we both jumped back. "Goddess, what the fuck is that?"

I had a hunch and I didn't like it. Nerves twisted in my stomach as I stepped towards it. I raised my torch up and after a moment's hesitation I pressed the bezzle into the rubbery material, the whole thing lit up like a sickly green lamp and I gasped in horror as I made out the humanoid shadow inside it. Without thinking I pulled the knife off my harness and drove it into the material as shallowly as I could before running it across the bag. As soon as it opened this viscous gel, thicker than oil poured out all over the floor, followed immediately by a mass of cables and a mostly naked human body.

"Estra what the fuck??" Martine shouted again.

"Get the doctors!" I shouted up to the uncles before kneeling next to the body. "Martine help me get these cables untangled from them."

He knelt down on the other side and started tracing the various tube with his hands, trying to get them loose. I put the fact that they looked borderline emaciated out of my mind while I started looking over the only thing resembling a piece of clothing or armor which was the visorless, full helmet fully incasing their head, with more cables coming out of it, I could see some fasteners on the side of it and went to go undo them before Martine spoke up again. "Estra," he said shakily, a pale horror in his voice. "Look..."

I looked over to where he was holding his light to see one of the cables he'd traced and where it ran straight into the pilot's spine. "What the fuck..." I mumbled looking at the series of other connectors coming off the length of their boney spine. I quickly began looking over the pilot before I noticed something on their arm. I pulled my light over it to see a tattoo in bold back lettering.

VALKYRIE CORE MODULE NO. 7723

"Martine..." I said feeling sick. "It's not a pilot..."

"What do you mean they're not a pilot?!?" He shouted, equal parts fear and confusion.

"It's part of the machine," I said following the cables up into the bag and straight into the machinery of the mech beyond that. I looked him in the eyes. "The Empire turned people into computers to run their war machines..."

[lazyduchess]

Hooking into TS2 Lua!

Custom script loader loads all .lua scripts from a folder on startup, can use all Lua functionality from base TS2 plus new things such as custom cheats, file reading/writing and more :)

[delaware-lemme-smash]

Could we have some hcs of reader referring to some of the older MHA men (coughAizawacough) as "beekeeping age" and then they make her explain it? LMAO.

For those who don’t spend all their time on TikTok like I do, ‘beekeeping age’ refers to an attractive older man, usually in 40s/50s. Some of these guys technically don’t apply but we’re putting them in anyway!

Characters: Aizawa Shouta/Eraserhead, Yagi Toshinori/All Might, Maijima Higari/Power Loader, Sasaki Mirai/Sir Nighteye

Contents: The existential struggle of trying to explain a meme to people who aren't chronically online.

Aizawa Shouta/Eraserhead

Age: 31

Yes, he’s only in his thirties, but Aizawa has the vibe of a retiree. He looks like someone who should be muttering “I’m too old for this shit” at any minor inconvenience. In fact, he often does. He’s said it several times today. 

Most especially when you looked over at him and told him that he looks like he’s ‘beekeeping age’. Now, as a teacher, Aizawa isn’t as out of step with popular culture as he might like you to think he is. Even if he doesn’t really bother with social media himself, he has twenty students who are all hooked to their phones like it’s a dialysis machine. He picks stuff up just by proximity, and it’s not the first time he’s heard the phrase ‘beekeeping age’. And while he might have a vague idea of what it means, he’s not just going to let you get away with calling him that. 

He looks straight at you, lifts an eyebrow and asks, “What does that mean?”

Which leaves you floundering a little, because you have to explain to Aizawa that it means you think of him as an attractive ‘older’ man. 

While he’s the furthest thing from vain, he finds himself a little bit offended.

“What the hell do you mean ‘older’? I’m thirty-one.”

“You have to admit, Shouta, you do give off the vibe of a grizzled older man.”

“I’m too old for this shit.”

Yagi Toshinori/All Might

Age: 55+

Toshinori’s the only one who really qualifies for this trope, and naturally, he has absolutely no idea what you’re referring to when you tell him that he’s beekeeping age. He grins uncertainly at you.

“I’m…not sure if that’s a compliment or not, but I’ve always thought that beekeeping looks like a relaxing hobby! As long as you’re not allergic!”

Of course, you take a little pity on him and explain that it means he’s a hot older guy. 

“Oh, are you referring to a DILF?”

Once you’re done spraying your coffee or whatever you were drinking everywhere, you demand to know where Toshinori heard that word and if he knows what it means. Let’s be real, Toshinori doesn’t run his own social media and doesn’t know squat about memes.

“Oh, a charming young lady walked up to me at a signing once and informed me I am what the young people call a DILF. Still can’t get anyone to tell me what it means! Slang these days! Ha!”

I dare you to try and get Toshinori to refer to himself as a DILF in front of Aizawa. Just for the hell of it. 

Maijima Higari/Power Loader

Age: 41

Higari can’t catch a break. Not only is he very short and look a couple decades younger than he actually is, leading to a lot of unfortunate misunderstandings, now he has some whippersnapper calling telling him to go start a beehive. 

He’s probably the only one on this list that actually knows what it means. I feel like because he’s so in line with cutting edge technology that he’s pretty on top of social media as well? He doesn’t seem like the type to lose step with the rest of the world when it comes to these things. So you don’t even have to explain what you mean when you tell him he’s beekeeping age. 

“Buzz off.” 

Sasaki Mirai/Sir Nighteye

Age: 38 

At first Sir Nighteye thinks you’re making some kind of joke. He stares you down, looking rather menacing even while his mind is turning over the phrase ‘beekeeping age’, looking for the pun or the play on words. When he can’t find it, he finally has to admit defeat and ask you gravely: 

“What does that mean?”

Sir Nighteye’s a little put out when you tell him it’s about good looking older men, because he doesn’t consider himself particularly old. Pacify him by telling him that he just gives off the dignified air of a mature man. He might scoff, but he’ll be somewhat more mollified. 

“I suppose I can accept that as a compliment. Although I think you ought to come up with better jokes. That one didn’t even contain a pun.”

[boneapplet]

From Rust and Bone pt.1

Chronicles of the Lost Primarch

Relationship: Rogal Dorn x oc/afab!reader

Warnings: mentions of the heresy, description of injuries and wounds

Word Count: 1140

Masterlist

pt 1 | pt 2 | pt 3 | pt 4 | pt 5 | pt 6 | pt 7 | pt 8 | pt 9 | pt 10 | pt 11 | pt 12 | pt 13 | pt 14 | pt 15 | pt 16 | pt 17 | pt 18

               As the crackles and strange howl like sounds echo through the pod as it drifts through the warp. Searing pain dulling as Dorn’s vision fades, his mind replaying bits of the turmoil he had just been jettisoned from. Fighting the traitors aboard the Sword of Sacrilege, making a stand amongst the onslaught of fallen marines and then one of his gene-sons pushing him into this pod.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

               Trudging through the slopes of mud and pillars of rocks jutting from the soaked earth, the destination clear in her mind. Signaling the large beast trailing behind her to stay put as they near the wreckage that had fallen from the sky that morning. Adjusting her patched up chem-suit and her backpack full of gear, as she climbs up the metal pod. Glancing around to ensure no one else had yet arrived before pulling out of her bag an arc cutter and begins to sear into the haul door. Sparks flying as she cuts through the numerous seals of the door. Groaning with the effort she uses to roll the door aside, hoping to find a core or even transmitter parts but instead she is greeted by the sight of a golden figure laying there unconscious.

Cautiously she looks over this immense figure, if it weren’t for the dark bruising and the gauntness of his features, he seemed as if a broken, armored god. A disappointed sigh escapes her lips, moving to look around the pod but finding it far too buried to the ground to search in a short time frame. Deciding to scavenge what wire she could reach as the sound of hissing and pitter patter starts to draw near. Jerking her head up only to be greeted by the sight of darkened clouds and what seemed like a wall of green-sizzling rain advancing towards her.

Stashing the wires in her bag, about to make a run for it but halting at the very edge of the pod. A part of her unable to leave this figure here to face such a gruesome end. Whistling over her mount, lashing rope around the large figure as to pull him out of the pod. Moving things aside on her sled and through other things out before pulling him onto it, covering him in an acid-resistant tarp. Hoping onto her mount, dashing to try and escape the canyon at the least. Reaching the mouth of the canyon as the acidic rain finally descends upon them.

Knuckles turning white as Kessa clings to the handles of the saddle, corrosive rain bearing down onto them, slowly eating away at her tattered chem-suit. The colorful reptilian beast weaving through whatever cover it could find as to provide what protection it could from the rain. Sliding into a cave, it releases a high-pitched melodic sound to signal their arrival.

Shucking off what she could of what remained of the chem-suit, having to cut parts that had fused to her skin as to remove it properly later. Hoping off the saddle, stumbling on trembling legs as she leads the beast deeper into the tunnel where she detaches the sled and saddle.

“You did so well, Arravox” Kessa praises the large reptile, through it a large chunk of meat as a treat.

Letting the creature head to where the rest of its colony lay resting. Utilizing metal chains to make a harness around the golden gilded man before hooking it up to a salvage cargo loader she had scavenged years back. Carefully, Kessa uses it to move him into her dwelling, rusted metal walls, cogitators cannibalized from a derelict agri-spire strewn on a workbench.

Undoing the harness, she examines him more thoroughly. Finding parts of his armor is fused to him and his left hand is missing. Grimacing as she slowly carves away at his armor, mumbling quiet apologies that fall on deaf ears as she uses the bit of anesthetic on him as she separates the pieces that fused to him. Utilizing a scalpel to carve away at the dead tissue and blackened muscle, rubbing over the various wounds a beast-fat balm, mixed with chemical-neutralizing soot from the vent walls to prevent rot. Wrapping each of the exposed areas with cloth. Moving her focus to treat the stump of what remained of his left hand. Treating the bleeding as she removed the pieces of old, jagged pieces of shrapnel, then the burnt and dead tissue. Rummaging through the various medical supplies, she’s scavenged in the past, finding a cap to put onto the wound that just barely fits due to his size.

Draping a pelt across his waist as to provide him some form of privacy. She treats her own wounds as she contemplates how she is going to keep this hulk of a being alive. Bracing herself before getting to work, piecing a cradle together with beast-cages, fragments of stasis caskets and chemical filtration units. Implementing an old vent-breather and vital monitors she had scavenged off a corpse. Powering this amalgamation with a broken plasma lamp. Barely able to haul him into it even with his armor now having been discarded.

There is where this mysterious figure stays for months, healing from whatever horrific event he has gone through. It had taken a month and a half for Kessa to feel comfortable to leave his side. Tending to his wounds and doing her best to keep him breathing as his vitals would fluctuate. She’d been worried when his vitals had gone flat, worried that even with her efforts he had gone brain-dead. Burning through various parts to improve the cradle, finally being able to breathe once the vitals show that they’ve steadied out.

The following months were relatively quiet, with its vitals steady she was able to do chores around the cave as the rain continued outside. Kessa vents to the stranger, even if he never responded, the only sound being the hum of recycled air and his only reaction being the occasional twitch.

“I fed you from a tube today. Got some salve into the burn on your hip. You’re welcome.” She remembers saying after having run out of nutrient drips and resorting to slowly feeding him broths and honey.

One day, he stirs. Opening his eyes in a dim bunker smelling of engine oil, scorched fur, and stale oxygen. Looking around as he rises from the cradle, he finds a woman half-asleep beside it, wrapped in a patched blanket. His body aches, it’s scarred, gaunt, and his mind is foggy. Watching as the woman notices that he’s awoken and jumps with a bit of startle. He doesn’t speak at first, too much time has passed, and the weight of reality crashes down on him all at once. When he finally talks, his first words aren’t declarations of vengeance or imperial dogma, they’re simple, raw.

“Where… am I?”

[inbabylontheywept]

"The reaper had a scythe. I have a combine harvester."

Arlach tapped his fingers nervously. He’d have gladly given up his life for the liberation of his people. A combine harvester (even a deluxe AI driven model) was a pittance compared to that. Still, he didn’t really understand what he was hearing.

“I uh… heard you’re hooking up my strawberry picker to an air defense cannon?”

The human technician assembling the gun held up a hand, finishing up some last tweaking of the wire harness. He touched two wires together carefully and swore when a shower of sparks shot out of the contact.

Set back, but not defeated, the man paused his task to answer the farmer’s question.

“See, you’re looking at this wrong. It’s an AI harvester, and it works great for strawberries, but machines don’t really see ‘strawberries’. They rate strawberry-ness. There’s a lot of ways to manage that, but it looks for a generally pointed shape, some seeds, and that nice red color. So your run of the mill strawberry generally receives an almost perfect strawberry-ness score, but something like this-”

His hands dug through all the pockets of his work suit before they finally found their target. He fished out what had been a standard ferroslug before it was painted bright red and smattered with a handful of black dots. He took a moment to admire it himself before tossing it to the farmer and continuing.

“Well, it’s not a strawberry, but it scores as one. Well enough that the machine gets positive feedback from its alignment unit every time it puts one of these babies where it's supposed to go.”

Arlach stared at him blankly.

“So what, you’re convincing it to fill a cargo container up with painted bullets?”

The technician grinned.

“There's no a limit to how fast it's allowed to fill that container up. At no point did the alignment protocol even consider that it'd be capable of throwing a 'strawberry' at mach nine. And the cargohold is important, but the rocket its attached to is more so. You know what looks a lot like a surface to orbit rocket?"

Arlach’s brain clicked.

“The hypersonic missiles they've been throwing at us.”

The grin widened. Arlach himself felt slightly awed to have found the connection.

“Will it work?”

The human nodded.

“It’s damn near the only thing that can. To shoot down something going that fast, that low, you either need a dummy missile that can brute force outrun it, or enough computing power to hack a station. The alliance is too chickenshit to send over their actual military AI's, but these myopic-type digibrains are supposed to be safe for civilian use because the idea of convincing your tractor that a bullet is a strawberry and a WMD is a cargo loader was a little too creative for the morons over at John Deere Galactic. And if that digibrain just so happens to function near the exoflop level, they're going to have a hard time sneaking anything larger than a bee through this airspace.”

The alien’s hands went over its crest as its mind reeled.

“They're not the only ones who would never think of this. It's brilliant. I never would've considered it.”

The tech shrugged good naturedly and went back to retrieve the two ends of wire that he’d dropped earlier.

“Eh, it's not coming from nowhere. There’s something of a human tradition about using farm equipment for war. I'm just lucky to be part of the next evolution in this. The reaper himself only used a scythe. Now I get to use a combine harvester.”

[sims3fiend]

Sims3SettingsSetter thing

OLD POST REALLY SORRY IF YOU BOOKMARKED THIS I'M DUMB LMAO

NEW: https://www.tumblr.com/sims3fiend/764382296987025408/sims-3-settings-setter?source=share

---

Was bored ripping my hair out trying to do optimizations so I made this instead of anything actually worthwhile. For now it's mostly just a novelty. Rushing it out as I'm at work 4x12hrs starting tomorrow :)

This is a ALPHA IT SHOULD BE SAFE BUT IT MIGHT ALSO NOT BE. Speedwriting this post as I've gotta go sleepy.

Ignore the strange names for things i-it's an alpha.

Simsfileshare

To use, have an ASI loader like this or maybe this and shove it into the folder where the sims 3 exe is. Press insert to toggle

What it does:

Renderer Flags:

This was the original idea and what this was solely going to be. I found a function that set things like wireframe and other renderer things, so I made a script for it.

Some useful things it can do are turning drop shadows off, which is nice for reshade as it lets you do a better looking AO. Some people might find the pips, scene boxes, etc. useful but idk. Some of it is neat to look at I guess.

Game Values:

Just the one for now, max lots, it's still effected by the weird range/frustum cull thing that effects shadows, so outside of that range extra lots wont load. These are going to be static values that can be edited ingame. There's a few other ones I've found like ObjectSizeCullFactor but I need to properly test them. I'll also add some informational ones that can't be changed like loaded object count, etc.

Game Config:

This is where things went off the rails…

I'm hooking two functions here to grab and set boolean and string config values directly as they're called in memory, which is important as some are overridden or altered, or aren't listed in the files at all (ForceHighLODObjects my beloved). Currently it lists mostly everything in the SGR file and some ini settings. The boolean stuff is a pretty sure bet, the strings might be overwritten elsewhere idk. Please keep in mind that some of these settings can be very damaging to your game and sanity, do not use ones you don't recognize on a save you love.

To enable the config overwrite, tick the box next to it and hit save. They won't do anything unless the box is checked.

I'll be adding tunables (like LightingCommon) into the list… eventually. Currently they're a little… weirdly/interestingly/uniquely written in the decomp'd functions I've been looking at, so I haven't been able to get their values. There's probably a really simple way of doing all of this in one of the dlls or packages or something but idk. If you know lmk.

I'll also probably try and find the in memory location of some of them, so they can be changed ingame without the need to restart.

Issues:

If you have any problems/info please message me either on discord(fleshtexture) or tumblr ! Keep in mind it's still an ALPHA (or whatever) and I haven't really tested it that extensively.

Known problems:

Config sorting is yucky

Code looks yucky, weird names for things, don't look until I rewrite!

There was a freezing issue due to how I was hooking d3d9 but I think I fixed it? Idk I've never used imgui before.

[osakanone]

Exotic doctrine theory: Grappling & Booster-fu

Source of the song is "If you Dare", anime is Orguss 02 episode 1

When all conventional means of machine combat are forclosed, only unconventional means remain: This is what seperates the aces from the jobbers, bitches: the capacity to improvise.

A fighter pilot will jam the WEZ, that's weapon engagement zone: the minimum arming range of a missile before it will hurt both the enemy and yourself -- but what about mech pilots?

You get up in their BAZ; the Ballistic Attack Zone, with the tip of the barrel behind you. How do you stay safe up close like this?

You ever seen any soft-bodied octopus or starfish get into a crab?

They have hard bodies and are all soft underneath, like a mech. They're not impervious.

Why? Any hard body is made of levers:

Drive any joint to its limit and you have an instant fulcrum to rip at the inner structures and shatter the outer form.

But then what?

No blades? No pile bunkers? No problem.

Ground talons. Rollers. Grappling hooks. Joints.

The sheer fucking mass and density of your armour plating.

Your whole body is a weapon.

Some of you make 3:1 against your mass with your boosters.

That's a lot of energy and if it has nowhere to go very bad things happen.

Some of you can do this with neural implants but you've got biofeedback out of the wazoo to contend with, which is why so many of you go twinkly eyed with overload daze out when you lock up with an opponent.

The smart among you are already running a specialist grips and inceptors in your cockpits, so you can dip out of the feedback when you need to and you're TAZ compliant: that's TORSION, ASPECT and ZONE controller, so named for the work of a Dr Senerchia, a fighter who deserved better than they got, and a treasure to us all.

So what does that mean to you?

A mixture of special software, and a pair of extra thumbsticks for your index fingers on your grips above the triggers.

Those of you familiar with loaders or cargo-work will find it familiar.

The rest of you: they're there to override and guide cueing information based entirely on brutal trial and error that'll make the size or weight of your frame irrelevant in CQB.

You can't rely on fixed solvers and playback to do the work for you with some existing motion-plan: You need to invent a new one on the fly using all of your fine control inputs.

So how is this relevant to you?

A Class A heavy support is fucked against a Class F attacker surely with the height difference and loadout, right? That's fifty tons of mass and nine meters of stature apart.

But watch an A slam its talons into the dirt, wrap the F with its wire anchors, and then perform a boost suplex, knock its barrels under the deflection plating of the other guy and follow-up up with a full sabot alpha-strike at point blank.

Any trainer worth their salt will teach you this shit.

You should know how to grapple with your sisters, and to practice regularly in and out of the cockpit. You need to get familiar with how bodies roll across eachother in motion.

You get lucky and you'll get some special training with oxytocin boosting mucus membrane massage and carotid restraint to simulate g-loc until you see stars to keep it memorable.

Have fun out there.

Class dismissed.

[borninwinter81]

DIY budget cyber/industrial outfit - first time in public!

I made a couple of previous posts about this dress here and here, as well as the matching collar, and I thought it would be fun to show how I styled it when I wore it for the first time on Friday. Honestly I was a little concerned it would just look dumb, but when I tried it with the full makeup and shoes I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

Apologies for the abysmal photo quality, especially in the first image. I don't have a good camera and I wanted to try and show the full outfit. That blurred mirror selfie is the only head to toe picture I got.

I didn't mention in my other posts but in addition to making patches for the dress I also nipped in the seams so it fit me better (it was my size but kinda shapeless, and I wanted to give myself a waist). This is very easy to do with almost any dress, skirt or top, you just put the garment on inside out, pinch in the side seams so they fit the contours of your body (try and do this equally on both sides) and pin them together. Safety pins are best so you don't accidentally hurt yourself.

Take the garment off and draw a smooth line with tailors chalk connecting all the pins, then sew along that line, either with a machine or by hand. Turn right side out and try it on again. Provided you're happy with the fit, trim away the excess fabric. You may need to be careful if it's a fabric that could fray - I usually go over the seams again with a zig-zag machine stitch to try and minimise this. There are also products you can buy like fray-check. If in doubt, or there isn't much excess fabric you could just leave the seams untrimmed.

The length is a little out of my comfort zone so I wore gym shorts underneath to help myself feel less exposed and reduce the risk of flashing - I tend to do this with any dress or skirt that's above the knee anyway.

Continuing the budget theme, rather than buying any new accessories (again, cyber stuff is mega expensive) I looked through my wardrobe for items I already had that might work.

These goggles are not the usual kind of cyber goggles, but they matched everything else I was wearing. I was given them by a friend who was getting rid of them ages ago so they cost me nothing!

I really didn't feel like making and wearing cyberlox, so instead I just got some yellow hair elastics and did a ponytail.

I made these arm warmers about 12 years ago. You can probably tell that they began life as a pair of skinny jeans. To cut down on the amount of sewing I needed to do I used the existing hem and seams. After cutting them to a length I liked I did the pinch and pin thing to make them fit to my arm, and put in zips along the outer seam to make them easier to put on. As it turned out this wasn't necessary because the fabric is stretchy enough that I can pull them on and off. The zips add a nice bit of visual interest though.

I ripped a hole in each one for my thumb, and I had a pack of extra large hook-and-eyes, so I sewed the "eye" parts down them and added some old bootlaces. I've never been 100% happy with this decoration, but I haven't had any inspiration on how to change them in the last 12 years.

I wanted a necklace in addition to the collar, and couldn't think of anything more appropriate than this. I originally got it for a cosplay, Vasquez from Aliens, and with the big yellow industrial loader from the end of that movie which Ripley uses to fight the Queen alien... it seemed there was kind of a connection there.

I once met Jeanette Goldstein whilst dressed as Vasquez and told her she was my childhood hero and she signed these tags, but unfortunately most of the signature has come off when I was cleaning them.

Lastly, the boots. As with any goth outfit the footwear tend to be the most expensive, particularly if you want ridiculous platform heels like these.

When it comes to footwear, I really would not recommend any alternative brand names like Killstar, Koi or similar. They're often terrible quality, the heels will snap, the soles will peel off, zips will break. In my opinion the only decent specifically alternative shoe brand are New Rock (even they're lower quality than they used to be in the 90s) and although New Rock do make heels I wouldn't wear them often enough to justify spending £200 on a pair. I prefer flats the majority of the time!

The brand of these is Funtasma, and I believe they are intended for use by pole-dancers, meaning they're decent quality and will be up to a night of dancing in a club. I took a change of shoes along with me to put on at the end of the evening but they are surprisingly comfortable for the first few hours.

I got them about 15 years ago on sale, and at that time they were around £40. Not cheap but not super expensive either, and I've definitely got my money's worth out of them. I had them re-soled once with special toughened soles that have extra grip so they're safer to walk in, but that's it. One time I even did the 3 mile walk home at 2am in 6 inches of snow wearing these because I didn't want to wait hours for a taxi (an occasion where I did not take a change of shoes!)

So, not your standard cyber outfit, but one that gives my own spin on this look (which should be the goal with any fashion style - a guideline to create something unique, not a rulebook that you have to follow 100%) and was put together super cheaply. The only new things I bought were the dress, fabric to make the patches, and a pack of multicoloured hair elastics.

[the-last-magpie]

CLICK UNDER THE PICTURE FOR THE LINK TO THE CHAPTER

(Or you can go to:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63138403/chapters/162182083 )

Chapters: 7/7

Fandom: Transformers G1

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Hook, Constructicons

For @constructiconweek 2025!

Summary:

You can have a functioning squad or you can have: - a twitchy excavator; - a not well-mannered bulldozer; - a cement truck that sees through his mouth; - a very done but caring loader truck; - a wheel-loader that goes on a trip; - a crane who cannot get out of bed. In the background, Devastator scoffs at them.

Hope you enjoy!

[one-of-many-journeys]

Day 75

Meridian

After my very late arrival to Meridian in the morning, I slept until noon. I'll need the rest. Out to trade fabrics and parts for my armour, then I set to work. The local weapons merchant was more than willing to lend me his space and tools.

I sewed the shield components into the fabric of my old Nora skirt, the one Teb gave to me, and reinforced an undershirt with ribs of machine tubing and plating along the back, tough leather at the front, to which I affixed the ancient armour. The sleeves are full-length, separate leather pieces, lined with fur and stacked with more shield generators. Threaded a ribbon through the headpiece to finish the set. Hooked it all up to a miniature force loader of my own design, synced the system into my Focus, and there it was. A sturdy shield.

Back in Olin's apartment, thinking. A dangerous thing with what might be my final battle just over the horizon. I thought of Rost, mostly. If he'd survived, maybe he would have joined me here, on this battlefield. What's a second exile for a soulless man? I haven't accepted defeat, far from it. I know exactly what Rost would say to that.

I applied his paint. All those years, all those symbols he tried to teach me, which I always ignored, and he never explained the one writ on his own face. Death-Seeker. The Nora believe the machines of the ancients were faithless, soulless things, after all, and that's where I came from. My soul has always belonged to the mountain.

This is my only mission—not just this battle, but all those to come as I forge ahead and repair Gaia, chasing her scattered, conscious subordinates. Chasing who or whatever made them so in the first place.

I was starting to get too deep in my head about it. Stopped by the lodge for a meal, and to show off my armour. Obviously. Then I rode the elevator down to the ridge to see who else had arrived over the past day.

The first I met, impossible to pass by on account of his enthusiastic greeting, was Teb. So he came after all. A little behind the rest, due to his injuries, but here nonetheless. Not fighting on the front, thankfully, but helping stock supply caches around the village and the path to the Alight. I'm glad he's here, despite my telling him to stay away. He was the first person besides Rost to show me any kindness that I can remember.

The next new arrival I met, to my surprise, was Elida. I was glad to see her doing so much better, and she'll likely be safer here than in Brightmarket. Both she and her father made the journey; she was stocking supplies along with Teb, and gave me something of my own. Just in case.

Vanasha and Uthid were making preparations too. I'm glad Uthid decided to join her in Meridian after all. The pair seem to be getting along well; Vanasha a woman of many words and teasing jokes, and Uthid enduring them in gruff silence, not without fondness.

Uthid thanked me again for stopping him throwing his life into the hands of a few greedy mercenaries. He didn't even come here just to seek a glorious death in battle. Not that he wouldn't cherish one if it came his way, I'd wager.

Vanasha actually bared her heart to me, a little. All those years as a spy, it must be novel being allowed to tell the truth she's kept inside. She endured Jiran's reign, the whips of his soldiers, cruelty of its priests and poverty of his people. Then she went west with them, all in service of stopping his legacy once and for all. The cult now marching on the city are the final remnants of the mad king's legacy. She's been waiting for this day for a very long time.

Petra was there too, but I knew she wouldn't miss this fight for anything. Her cannons—which inspired my own Behemoth force loader modifications—would now defend Meridian instead of breaking down its walls. I gave them another test run on a couple of training dummies across the river. She's had them mass-produced; four of them on the ridge and more up on the city walls, along with huge bowls full of bombs for ammunition.

Next I met Nakoa. Still scarred and sun-burnt, but looking much stronger and happier. She found the Nora's new title for me pretty amusing, but expressed her joy that the Matriachs have now opened the border to outcasts. She can return home to her brother and aunt once the battle is over. This fight against the Eclipse was personal to her too. The only raider feared more than Zaid in the Sacred Lands was Helis himself.

Next I spoke to Janeva, here along with his guards and the former prisoners of Sunstone rock, pardoned by Avad in exchange for their service. The king really is wasting no potential ally. Once this is over, there'll be no one left for Janeva to guard. Unless he decides to take prisoners, that is. Maybe his preferred, archaic manner of punishment would be the way to go for them.

By the riverbank, standing apart from the rest—or perhaps just hoping to avoid his former warden—was Nil. I worried for him after I made my departure at our intended arena, but he seemed to be doing as well as ever. Which is to say, not especially. He expressed his usual excitement at the chance to kill without recourse. Whatever happened to staying apolitical? Uncomfortable as his relish makes me, he's a formidable warrior. I'm glad he's here. If he survives the battle, which he's likely hoping he won't, I wonder what accepted enemy he'll turn his blade to next.

Further on, at the foot of the Alight, I met Inatut. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, given he'd proclaimed his intentions to strike out as a Werak of one, but here he was, in the city of the man who challenged the honour of his tribe. The challenge Inatut almost died for. He was still wearing the clothes from a Carja corpse, but seemed more comfortable in them now. Better suited for the climate too. All his life he'd been a fighter, a bringer of brute force. What better way to test himself than in a great battle against a demon just like the one that plagued the Cut?

Closeby was Aratak, here for similar reasons. He'd brought half his Werak with him, all willing to join their former Cheiftain to repay her victory against the Daemon. I know it can't have been easy for them to make the journey—not just because of its length, but because they still bear the scars earned protecting their lands from the Carja. Aratak told me more of Cyan as well, that slowly, he was introducing hunters and Shamans of many Weraks to her and her knowledge. He's come a long way. I know Ourea would be proud of him, though she already held so much pride for her brother.

I made sure to let him know I beat his time at the Hunting Grounds too. He was already well aware.

Aluki was nearby as well, the overeager huntress I met at the Banuk encampment. She believed that I was responsible for restoring the machines' aggression in the grove, and though I tried to explain what had really happened, she thanked me for the service. She's about as Banuk as they come, living only to fight and fight another day. She came for the tall rumours of the Shadow Carja's death machines, as I'd hoped she would. I'm sure she won't be disappointed.

I headed back to the village, eating at the tavern. The village will be cleared out by nightfall, as it has been these past few days in expectation of the attack. Even if we can defend the city and the Spire, I doubt the village and surrounding farmlands will weather the force. And it's such a beautiful place.

Riding the elevator back up to the mesa, I stopped by the palace to check in with Avad and Marad one more time, rain starting up in a light fall as I walked over. Erend was there, looking out over the city. Nervous, I could tell, but he put on a smile and a jovial laugh when he spoke to me. Pressure's getting to him—the Vanguard, the soldiers, the city...Well, try the world.

Avad said preparations were all but complete. Marad's scouts in the west had spotted signs of activity and passed word back from the previous night. Ranks forming, carts of blaze being dragged out of the ravine in the Jewel. They estimated an attack very soon, maybe even as early as tonight. Lucky I returned when I did.

It must be difficult for Avad, here in the palace—and I don't mean any sarcasm in that. He may be safe and in luxury, but to watch the battle raging from his vantage, unable to intervene...He'll just have to trust that all his preparations have been enough. I know he's done all he can to defend the Spire, despite his earlier misgivings. I'm grateful. Of course, the whole world should be too, they just don't know it.

Back in the city square, by the defaced statue of Avad's father, damn cause of this whole mess, the soldiers and Vanguardsmen sat together, eager for my attention, for further news. They'd been instructed by Marad not to let news spread that the attack could occur this very night, but spread it had regardless. It was a tall order; they have families here. The city was swept up in panic, even more feverish than it had been these last few days. People carting their goods back to their homes, calling out for friends and family, whispering their private fears. We have to make sure the fighting doesn't make it this far.

By the memorial in the old Sun Ring, the priests led a hymn to the setting sun, just as beautiful and mournful as the first time I heard it, that first evening overwhelmed in Meridian as the stars came out. When I arrived in this place, its scale felt impassable, something I could barely wrap my head around—and a couple of weeks earlier Mother's Heart had instilled the same feeling of scale and relative smallness. Then I saw the world, that map of landmasses so large neither place was even an impression on its surface. And there are other worlds, or at least other planets. A long time ago, the Odyssey tried to make it to one. All of it, impossibly large, so nearly dead for good. Nearly so again, unless we win.

But what I kept thinking as I listened to the priests, looked around at the altars dressed with the affects of each tribe, with their own strange symbols and stories, was Apollo. If humanity had been given its knowledge as intended, would this mesa still stand empty, just a rock in the desert? What stands on it now, and in so many other niches carved into the new lands, could never be worth the suffering brought on by utter ignorance, but still, there is value in it. There's something here that wouldn't have been otherwise. All tribal myth ever did was hurt me; I thought that was all it was capable of, but what I felt inside the ring was like that brief warmth brought on by the Blessing in Mother's Heart. A part of something, more than I ever could have guessed. What I am is embedded deep into the metal bones of this world.

I wandered off to the temple overlooking the Spire. I watched the city's forces milling around up there, making ready. My forces.

Back in Olin's apartment just after dark. Exhausted, but restless too. It wasn't just nerves—I hadn't killed a machine all day. That's a first in a very long while, especially if you don't count the days I was unconscious in All-Mother mountain. I'm sure I'll more than make up for it once the Eclipse make their move.

I stripped off my armour and once again settled down to sleep in the bed of a man I killed. I kept thinking of Elisabet. More of her journals had been restored, and through them I learnt more about her life at Zero Dawn and Gaia Prime. The constant stress, the overwhelming guilt at the fate she'd consigned all of humanity to—a suicidal battle against an unbeatable enemy. My odds feel almost as slim, and here I've roped in all my allies with me. I would do it alone if I thought I could win.

Elisabet wrote of the Lightkeeper protocol, how 'creepy' it would have been to raise and train a clone of herself. I guess she'd be freaked out by the fact that I exist. I wish she could see me.

I spoke to Sylens through my Focus in a last ditch effort to gain even the coldest of comforts. No response. I wonder if he's still listening. Surely he'll be watching the battle from afar—he knows how crucial my victory will be. Is he closeby, ready to take my place if I fall? Somehow I think not. He has more in mind for himself than saving the planet.

No, I'll face the night alone. Could be I wake up to another peaceful morning—as peaceful as preparations for war can be. Could be I'm dead by sunrise. Less chance of that if I get some rest.

[fictionalafvsmybeloved]

Imperator Bavarium Tank from Just Cause 3 (if you haven't done it already)?

WOOO! My first ask!

Behold the Imperator Bavarium Tank! Built to serve in the military of Medici, a fictional mediterranean island nation ruled over by the dictator Sebastiano Di Ravello.

It's a wheeled fighting vehicle based on the Italian B1 Centauro, So its already off to a good start.

The 8x8 wheeled chassis is a good pick for the mountainous terrain of Medici and its (assumedly) light-weight gives it a decently high speed and good logistical mobility.

Being a medium weight wheeled vehicle means its armor is somewhat lackluster, failing against sustained small arms fire (like most video game tanks do). But this is completely made up for by-

THE BAVARIUM SHIELD! When activated it makes the vehicle invulnerable to small arms and almost all heavy weapons for four seconds with a four-and-a-half second recharge time. Now that's a good APS! Still has to be manually activated though.

It's armed with a twin barrel cannon, and while that's cool it's more practical to have just a single cannon fed by an auto-loader. The main guns fire the standard "Video Game Tank Bullet" which is probably some sort of HEAT or MPAT round in reality. It does have a coaxial MG, always a plus.

It's optics art apparently included in the glowing red angry eyes on the turret front and the driver's position in the hull, so most likely digital/video. No visible backups, unless the sights are mirrored on each side of the turret, but even so there should still be a set of analogs.

Often crewed by one person (video game standard again), but at-least there are hatches in the turret AND the hull.

Plenty of miscellaneous greebles like headlights, tow hooks, and maintenance panels.

It also comes in Rebel Blue!

FINAL SCORES

Credibility: 7/10 - Ready For The A1 Model

Coolness: 8/10 - Anime Opening

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

loader ror2

SMASH Tgirl with a grappling hook and a cargo moving suit hell yes

[masked-umber]

The USJ arc(final)

Tw: Gun violence,Attempted Murder,Threats of violence

Entrance: Thirteen, Shoda, Kamakiri, Kodai, Pony, Tsuburaba, and Kaibara

Central Plaza: All Might, Juzo, Awase, Monoma, and Midoriya

Mountain Zone: Kendo, Yanagi, and Tetsutetsu

Conflagration Zone: Shishida and Bondo

Downpour Zone: Komori and Rin

Headed to the Entrance: Tokage, Fukidashi, and Vlad King

???: Kuroiro

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Central Plaza:

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Despite the victory against Nomu, the fight had been very costly as All Might can barely maintain his muscle form, and he can't move, so he asks Shigaraki if he's prepared to fight in an attempt to scare him and Kurogiri away.

Frustrated Shigaraki starts vigorously scratching at his neck complaining about Nomu's defeat, as tears well up in his eyes, he can't believe his master lied to him, in his eyes All Might is still as strong as he's always been. All Might continues to threaten Shigaraki in an attempt to get him and Kurogiri to flee.

------------------------------------------------------------

Juzo tells Midoriya, Awase and Monoma they should head back to Thirteen and their class. Monoma seems hesitant but he agrees helping a shaken Awase to his feat, hooking his arm behind his back, Juzo asks why Monoma is doing that as Awase wasn't injured, Monoma shrugs Awase is his friend so of course he'll help him out. As Juzo, Monoma, and Awase start walking back Midoriya doesn't immediately follow he knows Nomu took a lot out of All Might and he could revert to his weak form at any moment.. exposing himself to his class and the villains.

Kurogiri attempts to comfort Shigaraki by telling him that Nomu put All Might in really bad shape, his underlings are recovering from All Mights and Vlad Kings attacks, and that shadow student hasn't returned with any heroes yet, so if they work together they can still kill All Might. Kurogiri's words seem to calm Shigaraki down enough for him to stop scratching at his neck, he agrees with his words and him and Kurogiri go to attack a defenseless All Might.

------------------------------------------------------------

Juzo, Monoma, Awase, and Midoriya begin to panic, Juzo attempt to calm the group down, as Monoma panics All Might can't lose he's All Might. Midoriya runs forward despite Juzo's warnings.

Midoriya uses his quirk to move at blinding speeds and attempts to intercept Shigaraki and Kurogiri. He attempts to use a smash to hit Kurogiri's weak point, but Kurogiri creates a portal for Shigaraki to stick his hand through, the latter reaches for Midoriya's face in an attempt to kill him.. before he can use his Quirk a bullet flies through Shigaraki's hand, saving Midoriya.

Shigaraki pulls back holding his hand and looks over at the Entrance where the bullet came from.. Kuroiro came back with the U.A. teachers.

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Entrance:

------------------------------------------------------------

Hound Dog helps Tsuburaba and Shoda with Thirteen, before Thirteen tells him to check on Kodai and Kaibara, while Eraserhead runs to help Tokage and Fukidashi with Vlad King.

After shooting Shigaraki in the hand Snipe redirects his aim to shoot a villain in the mountain zone who had tried to electrocute Yanagi, Kendo and Tetsutetsu, luckily Tetsutetsu's steel body conducts electricity. The villain gets shot in both of his shoulders causing him to fall down.

Villains all across the USJ soon realize that reinforcements have arrived in the form of Shihai Kuroiro and the U.A. staff. A couple of the villains attempt to fight back against the teachers but Present Mic repeals them with his quirk using a loud "Yeah!!!", as the villains are reeling from Mic's attack Ectoplasm opens his mouth and exhales a sludge that turns into many copies of himself that push the villains back. Nezu orders Power Loader, Midnight, Cementoss and Eraserhead, when he gets back, to also help protect the students.

------------------------------------------------------------

Shigaraki contemplates retreat because of the overwhelming odds stacked against him, when he is suddenly shot multiple times by Snipe who hits his arms and legs, Kurogiri uses his smoke to defend a collapsed Shigaraki the best he can from Snipes unrelenting gunfire. Kurogiri seems nervous, Snipe is shooting to kill.

Nezu whispers something to Snipe who then sighs slowing down the rate he shoots his gun at. Nezu tells them that they'll most likely need someone whose quirk can capture all the villains from a distance. Shoda and Tsuburaba prop Thirteen so she can use her black hole quirk.

Kurogiri recognizes the attraction of the intense gravity and uses his warp gate quirk to escape, but before they leave Shigaraki gives on last threat, he will be the end of All Might, and then he vanishes.

------------------------------------------------------------

Aftermath:

------------------------------------------------------------

Juzo tries to run over to Midoriya to check if he's okay but he's cut off by Cementoss who uses his quirk to create at wall to block him from All Might and Midoriya. Juzo asks why Cementoss did that and Cementoss tells him that it's for safety purposes, Juzo seems uneasy about leaving Midoriya but he trusts his teachers, so he heads back to Awase and Monoma.

------------------------------------------------------------

Power Loader comes back to the entrance with a mushroomed covered Rin and a very apologetic Komori.

Eraserhead arrives with Tokage, Fukidashi and Vlad King. Nezu jumps down from Snipe's shoulder to check on Tokage.

Midnight comes back with a knocked out Shishida, and an awake Bondo. Mic asks her what happened and Midnight admits that she had to knock Shishida out with her quirk because he was rampaging.

An Ectoplasm clone leads the students outside and after a moment Tetsutetsu, Kendo, Yanagi, Awase, Monoma, amd Juzo exit and join the group, as an ambulance and the police force arrive.

The students after being questioned start talking about the attack and how cool All Might was in that fight. Tetsutetsu smiles as he very enthusiasticly tells an uninterested Kamakiri about his fight and how cool Kendo and Yanagi were, Shoda is fretting over Tokage's missing limb, she keeps telling him shes fine, but it doesn't calm him down. Tsuburaba is helping Kaibara stand up, he has a slight nervous blush on his face.

Kodai keeps looking at the ambulance until Rin, who still has some mushrooms covering him, taps her on the shoulder, he asks Kodai if shes already he heard she hit her head pretty hard during the attack. Kodai looks at him and blinks a couple time before responding "I'm fine.. do you know if Midoriya is alright?", Rin rubs the back of his neck and tells her that he's sure Midoriya is fine he's really strong after all, Kodai nods agreeing with what Rin said as a mushroom falls off of his shoulder.

Monoma asks the detective at the scene who is apparently named Tsukauchi if Midoriya and Vlad king will be alright, and Tsukauchi nods and tells Monoma that the green haired boy will be fine, and that Vlad King is strong and won't let a pesky injury like that keep him down. Monoma seems annoyed at Tsukauchi for treating him like a child, but Kendo drags him away before apologizing to Tsukauchi for Monoma annoying him, although Tsukauchi tells her that he didn't mind, it's understandable that he'd have questions.

As Hound Dog gathers the students back onto the bus and Tsukauchi is told by another police man that they've apprehended a suspect 400 meters from the USJ.

------------------------------------------------------------

Recovery Girls office:

------------------------------------------------------------

All Might sits in a chair with his arm in a sling, as Midoriya rests in a bed. All Might asks Midoriya of he's alright and Midoriya tells him that he's fine, but he does tell All Might that he unleashed a full powered smash against that Nomu without breaking his arm, All Might seems surprised by what Midoriya said but before he can respond, Detective Tsukauchi walks into the room.

Midoriya freaks out and asks All Might if Tsukauchi knows about his condition, All Might nods and tells Midoriya that Tsukauchi is a trusted friend of his so of course he knows.

Tsukauchi tells All Might about Thirteen and Vlad Kings conditions, telling him that they'll be fine, he also admitted that if the heroes didn't arrive at the time they did then the students probably would've gotten more bady injured. However All Might counters his last point saying that the students fought bravely and made the villains look like fools, class 1-B will make fine heroes.

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LOV base:

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Kurogiri's warp gate opens and Shigaraki falls to the ground bleeding. Shigaraki complains to someone or something about being shot multiple times by Snipe, his underlings getting arrested, Nomu being defeated, and how they failed to kill All Might.

He complains even more about All Might, he snaps at a monitor that he lied, All Might is still as strong as he was in his prime, but the Monitor tells Shigaraki to calm down their will always be other opportunities to kill All Might, and that All Might has gotten weaker, before telling Kurogiri to patch Shigaraki up.

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Let's go gang, the USJ arc has been completed now it's onto the sports festival arc.

Fun Fact: Tsuburaba has developed a small crush on Kaibara during the events of this arc.

Also not a fun fact just a random fact, Tokage's hair is still braided from when Bondo braided it on the bus.

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Beginning: First day in 1-B

Previous: USJ arc (part 5)

Next: U.A. Sports Festival arc (part 1)

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