#i've been meaning to make full armor for years but. you know how that goes

[seagullcharmer]

sleepy. tired. achey. grouchy. all shaping up to be a rough week. etc. but at least there's animazement next week

[cure-icy-writes]

You run into Trouble near the fruit section of the grocery store, perusing the vegetables with a smug grin like she knows something you don't.

"Hear that?" she says, gesturing at the ever-present overhead speakers. They're playing something that's about as close to punk as you can get on the radio in an alternative grocery store, but pales in comparison to your actual music tastes. "My boyfriend got a pretty big record deal. I helped him write that song, you know."

Despite your better judgement, you're impressed. It's toned down and radio friendly, but the technical skill is good. The lyrics, though... eh, you've heard better. "Your boyfriend must be pretty good, then."

"He is; have you heard of him? I mean, probably not, you don't seem the type to," she says, then launches into an explanation of the punk genre.

The thing is. You're into punk already. You like death grips and metallica and rise against, and the grunge teens screaming their hearts out at a little venue down the street from your apartment that you like to visit on weekends.

But, well, ever since becoming a single parent, you haven't had the time to get into the fashion scene. Hell, going grocery shopping without the baby is practically a vacation for you. But you have long hair, put in a neat bun that you learned from your ballet days, and a pink sweatshirt and leggings, so the woman's probably made up her mind about you already.

It's only when she mentions his full name that you stop and pay attention.

"Wait, did you say-- I think I went to high school with him, actually," you tell her, blinking. It's been four years since you graduated, and between the joint pain from years of intensive ballet classes and the marriage and subsequent divorce, you feel so much older than your age. You give the woman your name, and ask if her boyfriend remembers you.

Her expression turns...sour. You have a feeling you've made a mistake, like when you were younger and still pretending to be something you weren't. Back in high school, your looks and dignified way of talking drew a lot of clique types to you, the kind that tried to make you into one of them. She seems like the opposite of those girls, but their equal, somehow.

"Is that so. Well, he actually has mentioned an old flame by your name," she says tersely.

"It was high school; besides, you've got nothing to worry about," you reassure her. You decide not to mention that you maybe liked him too; your so-called friends at the time hated the way he always dressed in oversized hand-me-downs, but you were drawn to him somehow, for his diligence at skateboarding and the devil-may-care attitude he wore like armor. "I've got a kid at home and no time for dating anyways."

"Well," the woman says, saccharine sweet, "Maybe you should check out one of his concerts? He's touring in town, you know."

There's definitely something off about her. But you've been keeping an eye on the local music scene anyways, and if nothing else, maybe the opening acts will be promising. You check out the guy's music on MTV, chat with some of your friends, and there's already a group planning to go.

Well, okay, you've been trying to keep an eye on the local music scene. You slip out of it sometimes and forget, or get busy with parenting, and the little bug has been learning to crawl and keeping you insanely busy trying to baby-proof every possible surface.

It's a nice break, honestly, when you hire a babysitter and attend the show. You're looking forward to it, even. Except everything, all of the sudden, goes wrong. Your high school crush starts the concert by inviting his girlfriend up for a special song where she'll sing the vocals, and the lyrics sound more and more familiar. Details that she shouldn't know. Details that... oh. Has she been gossipping with your old 'friends' from high school? It's been years. Why is she still so hung up on this? You never even dated the guy, and she's singing some spiteful song about how she thinks you're stupid and shallow for.... what, 'turning him down' back in high school? If anything, she's the shallow one, for only dating him once he got famous.

But somehow you're the villain here? It's so, so fucked up, and the concert was supposed to be an escape. But here's this weird heteronormative jealous lady, on stage, singing about her beloved "Sk8er Boi" and how they rock each other's world.

[egg-emperor]

There are really people that didn't want Eggman to be in Frontiers??? He's been such a vital part of this franchise for sooo many years... he's even more iconic than characters like Amy, Shadow, etc. He's literally the main villain!

Yeah, I've seen a lot of anti Eggman on Twitter for a bunch of silly reasons, to the point he was actually trending multiple times not too long ago because of how many people were bitching about him, it was that bad. And people were happy about how he doesn't seem to be the main villain in Frontiers and some that didn't know he was in it at all were glad but then disappointed when they saw him. And I'm just like haha you're not getting rid of him!

It's often people saying they're sick of him being used as the main villain, even though that's the whole point and has been since the beginning. They don't complain about main villains being used all the time in other series, so why Eggman? My guess is they just look for a reason to hate just because they hate Eggman or aren't interested just because he isn't a generic stereotypical edgy design villain but they can't blame him for lacking good taste :P

And the beauty of Eggman is the endless possibilities for what he's capable of, from creating killer robots to harnessing massive eldritch horrors and tons more. I don't understand how people think he can get boring. You just need to be creative and imaginative like he is to see that he still has tons of unexplored potential and he deserves the spotlight and chance to show it. It's so cool how many things one man can do, it's far from getting old.

The only thing that's been mostly the same in the past few games is how they keep reusing the Nega Wisp Armor sequences for bosses but how is that Eggman's fault? Changing villain won't solve it, they just need to start making his fights different instead of repeating the same thing. It's not his fault the devs have been too lazy to change it up lately lol. And it's not like the eldritch horror bosses have gameplay styles that good either tbh, there's just a huge bias.

It often goes hand in hand but people also think he isn't evil or threatening because he doesn't have a generic edgy design and he's also funny. Even though his characterization is consistent and he hasn't stopped being evil and a serious threat, it's just that the tone has been more lighthearted and doesn't focus on the effects of his evil as much but it doesn't mean it isn't there! I'd like more focus on it but he clearly hasn't stopped doing glorious evil fucked up shit!

People blame general gameplay style and writing on him a lot, they'll usually say one of these if you ask why they don't want him but they look for any reason to hate because they don't like his design and personality, even though they're beautiful things that make him unique. They should give him a chance to prove his brilliance they can't see already by encouraging his full potential to be explored, not asking for the whole character to be thrown out.

But yeah Eggman is a fantastic, well established, multidimensional character that's endlessly entertaining with endless possibilities for gameplay and story, it makes him the PERFECT recurring character and main villain. He's one of the most relevant characters besides Sonic himself as the main villain that's been there since the beginning! There's no reason why they should start to remove him from main canon adventures. I don't get those that demand it and celebrate the idea.

We don't know if he's the main villain in Frontiers and it doesn't look like it with the little we've got so far (though I'd love if he was because I adored the twist in Lost World and you can't make me like any final boss more than Eggman lol) but I'm really happy he's in it and they at least haven't decided to remove him entirely despite the demand because of course they wouldn't. And I really hope he's well written and characterized and even better if he still gets to do cool stuff regardless of role!

The haters aren't ever getting rid of the star of the show! 💜🥚🌟

[komotionlessqueenmm]

Imagine # 807

Words - 1,215

Gif NOT mine.

If this gif is yours (or you know who's it is) please let me know, so I can give you/them credit.

Gif credit goes to - @depressed-janae (Unless told otherwise. I've been told otherwise, so gif credit goes to unknown.)

Year posted - 2021

⚠️SMUT WARNING⚠️

Note - Italics means the reader is singing.

----

With a grumble Dagur stormed out of the forest, brushing off the dirt from his armor. "Down by the reeds, down by the reeds, swim the sirens of Oakvail out to the seas." A beautiful voice sang, catching Dagurs full attention. His face flushing red when he noticed (Y/n) was in the river bathing, her breasts just barely hidden by the water. "Down by the reeds, down by the reeds, float the souls left unbroken by white balverines." She continued humming, unaware of Dagurs presence. "Down by the reeds, night blooming weeds embraced those who go dancing in sad moonlit dreams." (Y/n) dipped her head back into the water, rinsing the soap from her hair, and accidentally revealing her breasts, Dagur froze unable to tare his eyes away from her. "Down by the reeds, a twisted path leads to banshees who breathe out a cold winters breeze." Blood flowed from his cheeks to his growing erection, as he continued to stand there frozen. "Nobody knows, nobody sees, the sirens of Oakvail, down by the reeds." (Y/n) hummed softly to herself, jumping with a startled gasp when she caught sight of Dagur. "I'M SORRY!" He panicked, diverting his eyes to the ground. "How long have you been there?" (Y/n) asked as she sank down further into the water. "Since you started singing." Dagur muttered with embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Dagur look at me." (Y/n) demanded sternly, Dagur complied and looked into her eyes. "Did you see anything?" She asked with seriousness, scoffing when Dagur smiled sheepishly. "Seriously!?" She scowled at him, her brain going blank when she noticed his bulge. "You... You watched me...?" She stammered finding it hard to look anywhere else. "I'm sorry." Dagur gently kicked a pebble at his feet. "You liked what you seen?" (Y/n) finally tore her eyes away, looking into his green eyes. "What?" Dagur frowned with confusion, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Did you like what you saw?" (Y/n) asked leaning up so her breasts were almost in sight. "Y-yes." Dagur stammered with a blush. "Join me." (Y/n) beckoned him into the water, smiling softly up at him. "Y-you want me to?..." Dagur licked his lips. "Yes." Her smile widened as he began removing his armor.

"Ah ah ah Dagur." (Y/n) tutted him with a playful grin, pointing to his undergarments. "Remove all of it sweetie." She bit her lip, watching him hungrily as he slowly removed his undergarments. "Are you going to watch me?" He asked as his thumbs hooked into the sides of his undergarments. "You watched me." She reminded him with a grin, standing up so he could see her bare breasts again. Dagur froze his eyes locked onto her supple looking flesh. "Come on sweetie." (Y/n) coaxed him smirking when he removed what he had on left. Afterwards he approached her, joining her in the river. "It's a bit cold." Dagur shuttered, but it wasn't necessarily from the cold. "Let me warm you up then." (Y/n) mused as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself flush against his body. Dagurs hands instantly went to her waist, keeping her in place, his heart hammering erratically in his chest.

"Calm down big guy, relax let me make you feel good." (Y/n) hummed as she kissed up his thick neck. Dagur moaned softly as she kissed and nipped at his skin, her hands stroking along his arms, fingers tracing the miscellaneous scars on his arms. "I'm calm." He argued, shuttering when she found his weak spot. "I can feel that." (Y/n) giggled, rubbing his throbbing cock with her thigh, making a moan erupt from Dagur. "Don't tease me like that." He growled through gritted teeth. "Or what?" (Y/n) sassed, gasping when Dagur pulled her into a kiss, hoisting her body up and wrapping her legs around his waist. The pair of them moaning into each other's mouths, as his cock rubbed along her pussy. "It's been awhile since I've done this." Dagur admitted breathlessly, grunting when (Y/n) grinded against him. "I've been to busy." He admitted sheepishly. "Thats okay, you've got me pretty worked up, so I won't last very long." (Y/n) confessed as her hand dipped below the water, stroking his cock. "You're so thick." (Y/n) cooed lovingly rubbing her nose into the scar on his cheek, her actions and words stunning Dagur.

"You're so beautiful." Dagur murmured softly, blushing in embarrassment when she froze. "Y-you really think that?" (Y/n) stammered, despite the fact that she had his cock in her hand. "Yeah." Dagur smiled softly, choking on his breath when she brushed her thumb across the underside of the head of his cock. "Good." She pecked his lips. "You're mine now." She added before slipping him inside of her awaiting cunt. "And you are mine." Dagur growled as he thrust up into her, his hands holding her hips bruisingly tight. "Yes!" (Y/n) cried out thrusting her hips down to meet his thrusts. Dagur kissed her passionately, his beard scratching her face deliciously. (Y/n) wrapped one arm around his neck, trailing her free hand down to play with her clit. "Your stretching me so much." (Y/n) panted against his lips, biting down onto his jaw playfully. "Bite me harder." Dagur grunted, moaning when (Y/n) sank her teeth into his neck. "Just like that." He praised as he dug his nails into her soft skin, his thrusts becoming a little more erratic and sloppy as he neared his end. "Cum for me Dagur." (Y/n) encouraged nibbling roughly at his neck, leaving her mark on his skin. He hugged her close to his body, growling as he came undone, pumping his sticky hot seed into her. The sensation of him cumming sent (Y/n) over the edge, her body shuttering as she came undone.

"I-I'm sorry I watched you bathe." Dagur murmured as he sank into the water a little, pulling himself out of her. "I'm not." (Y/n) giggled as she nuzzled into his neck, kissing the dark mark she left on his neck. "Really?" Dagur asked with wide eyes. "I've had the biggest crush on you ever since I first met you on Berk." (Y/n) admitted with a faint blush. "You have? Even after everything I did?" Dagur pulled her back a little, looking into her eyes. "Yeah... I hated myself for it until now... Now that you're not trying to kill Hiccup and the dragons." (Y/n) blushed a little, biting her bottom lip. "And... You want to be mine now?" Dagur asked referring to what she said earlier. "Yes I do." (Y/n) nuzzled into his scared cheek. "I-I love you (Y/n)." Dagur nuzzled into her hair. "I love you too." (Y/n) hummed with a content smile on her face. "You know... I've also had a crush on you since we met on Berk." Dagur murmured quietly. "Is that why you always went easy on me?" (Y/n) asked with a grin. "Maybe." Dagur grinned cheekily making (Y/n) giggle. "Aw you're so precious." (Y/n) cooed before pulling him in for a sweet kiss.

----

*Not my best work... I'm probably gonna be writing some more fics with Dagur so there's that.

[bookofmariokingofmaiami]

This is the second time making this post because i am angry as fuck because for some reason when I added the names it didn't save so I'm doing this shit again 

Hey! I had a stupendus idea, the past few days I've gathered a bunch of mitten squad quotes and captain sauce quotes

Soooo, I'll put wich book of mario characters would say each quote and we'll see what happens

Yes I know 99% of the mitten squad quotes is gonna be bolivia and carbon

Also, some quotes reference characters and locations, so I'll put an [ ] with what I think the book of mario counterpart would be

MITTEN SQUAD SEGMENT 

Lewis:"I have successfully turned an ordinary kitchen utensil into the most valuable fork in the known universe, no one man should have this kind of power, but I am not mortal man, as a sexualy identity as a big rock being thrown into the ocean"

Princess of peaches, talking about 1 TEC-20"The robot wasn't able to pick the lock and I lacked the fire power to blow the bitch open" 

Marc:"I left a broom there too so my bucket wouldn't be lonely"

Carbon:"Calm down vegetarians I am talking about animals in video games, animals in real life matter way less"

Barney one:"Killing it isn't the hard part, the hard part is getting away from the explosion of the goddamm Nagasaki bomb strapped up its ass that was rigged to explode once it died"

Bolivia:"Todd Howard [barbie], even in death you find a way to fuck me"

Bolivia:"We came back to the little shit with the ant problem and killed most of the ants, I left one alive for the boy, either he becomes a man or that ant will have a very good day" 

Goomb:"Me brain fixed gud no hurt no more"

Marc:"Picked up trash for the make a wish kid"

Bolivia, talking about maria:"Because she hits like a bull with down syndrome and has the personality of a piece of plywood"

Belize:"You might be wondering, who is the boy and who is the girl? I won't give it away but I will say this, the knife is a whore"

Maria:"I had armor, i had supplies, i had pockets full of room temperature tomatos"

Bolivia:"For some reason I thought that stupid the horse v2 could fly, bad decision on my part"

Carbon:"For some reason this shrapnel character had 200 BB's, what a weirdo, who caries around 200 BB's?, anyway, I talked to daddy and brought my 300 BB's and headed off to clear off the Jefferson memorial"

Goverman::"Get a juice box and strap on your helmet, because we're going to hell"

Carbon:"I punched a puppy to death"

Marc:"My iq is similar to that of a 14 year old block of cheese"

Lewis:"Theres an oxygen exhaust pipe, the second best tipe of pipe to suck on to keep yourself alive, for those who need hand holding, that was not a drug reference, this is a family friendly channel, it was a suicide joke"

Bolivia:"I got an amazing slow motion shot of dogmeat getting fucked to death by a nuclear warhead"

Maria:"My only option was to become a vampire, wich sucked"

Bolivia:"But just as when like how every virtual dog goes to hell when it dies, what the fuck does that even mean?"

Carbon:"I took advantage of a unconscious military officer and beat him to death"

Barney one:"Nothing else says more victory than overdosing on drugs after a war"

Prof. Ceasar reality:"And decided to go to the much bigger and much more research facility x-13 research facility facility center, WHAT? I think I had a stroke"

Bolivia:"Used more than 3% of my frag mines to blow up a dog"

Carbon:"The last few coursers ran for their non existence lives and I went after them because I'm not letting anyone get away, one got away"

Maria:"I got a warning saying that nuka world is intended for those level 30 or above, Mathematics show us that me being lv11 is close enough to lv30"

Carbon:"Killed a pain-maker and got a glimpse into the big G in the sky who manifested himself as a fire axe floating in the air, this voodoo shit has no place in zion so I chopped of the pain-maker's legs and arms so If there is an afterlife he will be a cripple in hell for all eternity"

Goverman:"Its head turned into jelly, I threw its egg down into the nightmare bellow, and then I jumped after it"

Carbon:"A herd of big hornets paid the ultimate price for being alive"

Goverman:"Used his gun to turn off a woman"

Maria:"Me being the player can't open the door, theres a know you have to twist it its a whole process"

Goverman explained why maria survived the fall:"One of them belonged to God and refused to die"

Goombell, talking about hoko saba:"The dragon I pretended to not exist a few minutes ago is one of my mom's friend's kids so I had to play with him even tho he's weird"

Belize:"There was no hamster's luck in a garbage disposal chance that I would follow this giant fuck all the way to the cit ruins"

Lewis:"Along the way i saved a shopping cart from drowning and returned it to its family"

Prof. Ceasar reality:"Its about 24 million cheez its away from New vegas"

Bolivia:"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to bedworld"

Carbon:"With enough notches in my pistol to spell psychopath in braille"

Gooverman:"I spie with my little eye a ville whore who deserves to die, I cleaved her back in half with my stick and what I saw was glorious"

Maria?:"Its kinda like playing the floor is lava, but you can't see the lava and instead of burning to death you turn into a vegetable"

IDK"I hid from Ringo by hiding in ringo"

Bolivia:"The plate worked as well I thought it would, wich means it didn't work"

Bolivia:"There was a 3 for 1 discount on dead raiders if you use the promo code granade at checkout"

Belize:"The only explanation is that has a 5th appendage wich he pulls out on special occasions, wich probably isn't the case, we all know elmo doesn't pull out"

Goomb:"You don't need those things, Jesus got trough his life without any guns"

Goombape:"When i played it as a children"

Barbie:"Its like how you don't know if your life has any meaning until you die and see your score"

Belize:"This was the most stealth oriented part of the game by a metric mile"

Bolivia:"I stripped him naked, talked with Elliot [lewis] whose face bothered me for some reason,Talked with the samurai[maria], talked with red dead redemption [barney one]"

Carbon:"Some idiot spilled red paint on the clouds"

Bolivia:"Before traveling with the wizard, I spent some time pestering earnie with the prospect of friendship, by walking back and forth in front of him, making him think i wanted to talk to him just for me to keep on walking,I was voted the quietest guy I high-school and I know how loud earnie is screaming inside his head right now, it's kinda fun to be in this side of it :) ,also this isn't related to the video in any way, I just wanted to make it known that i have a sealed copy of elmos letter adventure for Nintendo 64 and you don't"

Maria:"I knew I could use that as a lighthouse of sorts in order to cast myself further into the ocean until i drowned in my own disappointment"

Goombell:"Vulpes[carbon] was adopted, his mother is both infertile and imaginary"

Belize:"Being alone is mental, you can be surrounded by friends family laughs and love on Christmas morning and still be alone in your head"

Bolivia:"I acted in self defense by committing various war crimes"

Carbon:"My throwing spears were broken and wouldn't fly,stupid fucking game" 

Bolivia:"That wasn't a lie, it just wasn't the truth"

Maria:"If there's anything Shaun b knows to do is die"

Boombell:"The number of bear traps I activated for sexual reasons turned my angles into a fine powder"

Goverman:"Where the grass is green and the air is even greener"

IDK"I consulted a doctor who flucked out of medical school and followed his advice by killing myself"

Belize:"Being a futuristic[X-nauti], nazi dominated world version of polly poc,etc it has its own set of drawbacks"

Marc:"They're mass effect 3 of fallout 3's 5th dlc, I've never played mass effect"

Lewis:"Who loves their father like how their brother loves his mother's sister"

Carbon:"Like most existential crises it went away after I killed somebody"

Carbon:"If you're wraped in chains and dropped into an empty bathtub to drown, a snorklew won't save you"

Goombape:""A wise man once said "hi! Jeanie may's here"  and he's right, there has to be a better way""

Browser:"After it took 3 grown man to kidnap a baby with a gun"

goldbob:"The lever action gun riffle can kill a mutant in a single shot if you land a shot that can kill it in one hit"

Maria:"Its 2020, Noone wants to use their hands anymore"

Bolivia:"Before journeying into more death, some jackass hit me with a granade and killed me, not the explosion, the granade bouncing off my soon to be corpse is was what made me dead"

Belize:"Some Neanderthals gave me their bullets to hold in a pretty rude way >:("

Princess of peaches:"Im not worried about offending blind people, it's not like they'll be watching this"

Carbon:"30 seconds is longer than you'd think, ask anyone whose been on fire"

Lewis:"I was as useful as a comatose toddler with a nerf gun at pearl harbor"

Goomb:"I also poused the challenge to satisfy the curiosity of mine regarding the birds in the sky that Don real because birds aren't exist"

Marc:"Any doctor worth their weight in styrofoam cups can fix a leg with their feet"

Bolivia:"I had me a silenced weapon, but I didn't account for today being his birthday, this changes everything, so I shaped for hollow point"

Carbon:"Maybe if Steve earlin had a gun instead of a snorklew he'd still be alive today"

Marc:"It took me 30 minutes and 3 phone calls to get my food because I'm too much of a pussy to go outside at 10 o'clock at night while drunk in a Christmas sweater after news year to steal my own food of one my neighbors doorstep"

Maria:"We've got rogue, tank dampse, and squidword"

Lewis;"And they're no joke, but I am, I am the big joke and my body is the punchline"

Bolivia:"I got mentally Nagasaki'd by this guy at the stables"

IDK"And went outside where Victor is unhappy with me, after killing Victor, Victor came out of the lucky 38 to avenge victor" 

Bolivia:" i shot a kid, i sent that little bitch to the moon"

Sushiya,  testing her products:"The door was of its axis, a plate was misbehaving on the chair, a cattle was dancing on the table like the whore she is"

Carbon:"And went shopping for dead bodies, they weren't in stock,  but i know a guy who knows a guy who could help me out, both of those guys are me"

Bolivia:"Now vault yosh is I your head too, and he won't be going anywhere"

Maria's son:"As much of a monster that I look like, I think it's gonna work"

Sushiya:"But you know what they say, imagination is what happens when annoyance meets drug use"

Carbon:"If they're stupid enough to be in my way they might as well be my enemy"

Goverman:"But the slippery bastard was too clever, he walked around it, I didn't even know that such a maneuver was even possible"

IDK"Homeland security at this point has yet to be impregnated by a sentient barrel of oil"

Bolivia:" if I drunkenly put a giant hole on my sink with a goddam coffee cup imagine what I could do with a gun"

Belize:"Got ambushed in the freezer while searching for chicken nuggets"

Goverman:"But the fucken bullet Williams come flying out of fucking nowhere"

Maria:"The next second you're in a universe where everything that exists is the sick bastard child of a drunken fuckfest between a pin screen and a light brush"

Bolivia:"Ask the cashier if they have a granade, if they say no, say nothing for a few seconds, put a big smile, put your hands on theirs and quietly ask, would you like one?"

Sean hampton:"Can't do anything until I have my arms around a fat man"

Barbie:"The premise of this run is that I have no arms and I must dab"

Maria's son:"I told you before that I was a genetic disaster"

Bolivia:"And in that cabin, theres some west Virginian mountain folk who are so deep in incest that one of them somehow managed to be his own father"

Bolivia:"Can you hear that? It's…. It's an air conditioner! And it's so fucking anoying, aw no I hurt it's feelings :( "

Goverman:"He could probably put the end of his musket inside his mouth, pull the trigger and still miss"

Barney one:"The big beaver ended his life in stile, he even made a summersault into the afterlife"

Goverman:"Im a good Christian boy,  I'll save my ammo for my suicide"

Carbon:"I am not Cinderella, I'm a parasite"

IDK"I played with a doggy too, it used the flesh on my arm as a chew toy, and I booked his nose with a nuclear newspaper to show that that kind of thing isn't allowed in the mitten squad household"

Sean hampton:"The crusable is a magical weapon like divorce papers, capable of tearing everything it comes across in half"

Barbie:"The curse of grandma sparkle managed to reach me all the way in hell"

Barney one:"If you are gonna get a cat, you might get a gun aswell"

Belize:"Corn on the Joe sat back not helping his brother's"

Carbon:"I bought 24 regular bullets,28 hollow points, and 60 that need to wear a helmet"

Bolivia:"After the squad died I had to content with the leftovers, the scraps, statically speaking the majority of what remained"

Lewis:"What I need to face is like a toddler with a learning disability, that would be fair"

Carbon:"I took both left eyes of this dead guy "

Carbon:"It took longer to pull out the Esther than it took of kill the general"

Sushiya, while high:"Deeper inside shit got weird, i killed a giant skeleton right? Nothing weird about that, but then his body just kinda danced in place really slowly, I tought speeding up time would fix it, that was a massive fucking mistake, and changing time back to normal was an even bigger mistake, he'll be hunting me until I die, but until then he'll still be dancing"

CAPTAINSAUCE SEGMENT 

Carbon:"They're old, how hard can it be to turn them into blueberry jam and ram them into the grass"

Belize:"I guess if you do electrocute a tank enough it would just explode"

Boliviz:"Id have a better chance of finding a snowball down here than winning a coin toss"

Marc:"How does my Christmas lights break to a stiff breeze but these ones are practically terminators"

Barney one:"I never tought id see the day where I would have to hire a sniper to assassinate a troublesome light bulb but here we are "

Lewis:"I get the feeling if you try to milk a minotaur then you're gonna be its wife"

Sushiya:"In the history of mankind do you think we've ever seen a snake fight an octopus?"

Goverman:"Lets see if you can wobble your way trough the grim reaper" [the grim being carbon]

Goldbob:"Its a steaming pile of something ill tell you that much"

Goverman:"He died? How! Did he have an allergic reaction to the sun?"

Goomb:"Michelangelo is Swiss cheese and where good to go"

Bolivia:"It really looks like I'm taking a sharpened stick to a bazooka fight"

Maria:"HOW DID I GO FROM FIGHTING AN OCTOPUS IN A SUIT TO WW3???"

Princess of peaches, talking about 1TEC-20:"Im playing pictionary with a blind robot"

maria:"Theres on the nose dialogue and then there's punch you in the nose dialogue"

Bolivia,  talking about barney one:"This lady looks like her father was half refrigerator"

IDK"Im supposed to sabotage the mail missile assembly line but it looks like someone got here before me"

Belize?:"And the ghosts of previously murdered pianos???"

Maria:"Im getting outsmarted by puppets"

Bolivia:"After careful deliberation with my associate we've come to the conclusion that the local government must have Removed all quarters from circulation,  the laundromat went under and before you know it the entire society fell into nudism and then anarchy "

Carbon?:"This is like the hunger games of sesame street"

IDK"Im a weird shotgun santa"

Garlic?:"Oh damm! CTHULO IS THICC"

Krump:"What kind of interdimensional time traveling toilet is this?"

Carbon:"Wheater it be cultural appropriation or demonic abomination,  i don't realy care im just gonna try to hit it with a pee bucket" 

Carbon:"THIS IS THE MEDIEVAL RUSSIAN VERSION OF DRIVING INTO BATTLE WITH A TANK BUT SHOOT PEOPLE WITH A BB GUN"

Belize::"I DIDN'T KNOW GRANNY WAS TAKING GRAVEDIGGER TO CHURCH THIS MORNING" 

Goombell:"This isn't a bridge its just the worlds weakest motorcycle trebuchet "

Bolivia:"Oh hellow mr berry"

Carbon:"Giant alien space worm 2020, make America worm poop again"

Bolivia:"When did snuffy[barney one] decide to judas me and join the hobbits?[origamis]"

Lewis:"Theres a surprisingly high amount of chickens in this map and a dramatic lack of eggs"

Bolivia:"Im pretty sure we've sent the first claim to the moon"

Maria:"And yet I'm forced to defend myself from stuff like bloodthirsty scp's using nothing but uncooked t-bone stake, I mean technically its doable but it doesn't make It any less ridiculous"

Barbie:"What's the point of a metal detector if literally everyone here has somekind of cybernetic, like I swear to God If I walk trough here aND you guys start pounding the shit out of me just because I got a couple of extra inches of robo-dong IM GONNA BE PISSED"

Bolivia:"Everyone's wearing slick black suits meanwhile I look like somebody skinned a couch from the 70s"

Sushiya:"Is this bacon flavored weed or weed flavored bacon?"

Sean hampton:"Do you think that Darth Vader ever had to deal with a rebel or a henchmen who was into getting chocked? Like starts force checking them and they tell him to go harder?"

Koopley:"I was stabbed to death by a naked man with a spear and my arm is perpetually running"

Koop kotu:"So I'm crazy enough to be locked behind bars but not crazy enough to think I can fly*

Bolivia:"Usually spooders have 8 arms not 8 abs"

Carbon:"I just bludgeoned Jesus to death with a stick of meat, I'm guessing he's gonna be back in a couple of days he's gonna be looking for me so we'll start running now"

Carbon:"Im done with words, shooty goody time"

Maria?:"Id have a better time cutting down bushes then these strange little robo hobits"

Belize:"Dad this is not the time to be dancing with crabs!"

Maria:"Thats my little brother, who has a fully posable deny devito action figure,I've always been jealous of that one"

Bolivia:"The turns are tabbleling"

Maria, talking about barbie:"She's not exactly the brightest tool at the picnic"

Belize:"Are you kidding me mom? Realy?, you were the one that said you're sick of seeing donkey kongs donkey dong"

Maria:"I have no idea what was in that Wonster energy drink that made him go master roshe style"

Bolivia:"I want to file a complaint against Stacy [belize] for T-posing to assert Dominance over me"

Marc:"Believe it or not dangling a padlock the size of a shoebox from a doorknob does as much work as I want to"

Caesar reality:"You can never have too many rotten floor bananas"

Carbon:"Poisoning your boss is probably not the best way to skip work, but ya boy gotta do what he has to do"

Goverman:"I'll take nicknames of my penis for 300$ alex"

Starvinden?:"I guess we'll just leave you in your special sarcophagus mr tutan-deez-nuts"[browser]

Lewis:"I've been skipping work for 2 weeks now and I'm starting to think that my computer isn't even plugged in"

Bolivia, talking to maria:"Your suit smells like a wet fart and your mouth smells like a ashtray"

Bolivia:"If anyone needs me I'll be on the insane asylum,  why am I caressing a mannequin on top of a boat?"

Carbon:"Would you like to hang yourself or be crucified? Dealers choice!"

Bolivia talking about carbon:"He's doing something ingenious probably diabolical……..or he's dressed as a panda"

Marc:"We should really pay for security around here not only are people breaking in there is also a giant spine breaking chickens"

Maria to Bolivia:"You are very angry at that stake"

Sushiya, after using its products:"I wonder why was I twerking at the office statue"

IDK"WHY IS THERE A GIANT NAKED MAN IN THE LOCKER CHOCKING ME TO DEATH WITH A CHAIN??!!!"

goombell:"I guess we're gonna leave the cookie monster dildo in the locker"

Sean hampton, to Maria:"My love for you is like diarrhea, sometimes I just can't hold it in"

Bolivia:"You're watching me In a Google video platform playing a game from a Google gaming platform that was translated using Google translate, if this isn't a dystopian future I don't know what is"

Bolivia?:"I couldn't have predicted the run after her like a velociraptor made out of pool noodles"

Lewis:"Jumping Jack neighbor help me!"

Bolivia:"Bread! There's no bread,there's your bread! That's a cookie God dammit"

Belize:"So I can be invited to the worlds saddest birthday party"

Maria:"I guess we're playing ring around the Rosie till I lose his dumb ass"

Carbon:"If you see jehovah's witness you tell them to eat shit"

Bolivia:"HOW CAN YOU AFFORD A GUARD BIRD AND NOT A DOOR STOP?"

Bolivia::"For my shopping list I need to find a floppy disk with a s, but for the distraction I could use a floppy dick with sunglasses and a tie"

Carbon:"I really hoped that your little bird bath had a couple inches of water so I could steal a tiny toaster to throw it in with you"

Belize::"Its pretty safe to say Mr voice bad Benjamin good, but we just saw Benjamin talk with the grim reaper and pull around a cart wich is about the size of a child's body"

Goombell:"She may have a crush on the interdimensional death fox"

Maria:"Its like the herpes of craft supplies"

Barney one:"Everyone wants to split checks for keano Reaves, even if they're a 10ft dragon made out of logos and seizures what is going on right now?"

Sushiya, high, again:"When I dilapidated the banana and poked the mayo's brain then had an indept conversation with the strawberry cocoon did bread get arrested? I didn't see the police come by, that would make sense because the alcoholic cat ran away"

Carbon:"IF THEY HAVE AN ASS TO PULL PUNS OUT OF THEY HAVE TO HAVE A BRAIN TO THINK THEM UP"

Goombell:"I think I graduated for the university of food torture"

Well, this is all, took some time but it's here, hope you enjoyed

Frequent reblogers

<《{[(@boom-fanfic-a-latta )]}》>

<《{[( @gumdorp )]}》>

PLEASE REBLOG!

[dindjarindiaries]

Am I don't know am "I'm sorry but... who are you?" "I'm sorry if I give you the wrong impression" and "I've got you" with Din? Maybe something like Din finding out he has a lost child?... I'm sentimental with fathers and children relationships ok?

character: Din Djarin

prompts: “I’m sorry, but... who are you?”, “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression,” and “I’ve got you” from a prompt list that’s since been deleted!

warnings: mentions of death

rating: PG

masterlist

It’s been many moons since he last saw you. Din tries not to think about you anymore—but sometimes, he can’t help it. He wants to know what happened to you. If you ever made it out safe. If you were living a happier life now, like he wanted you to. He never wanted to force you out of his life, but it was too dangerous. Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to him, but at least he knew that you were going to be in a safer situation.

The thought of you came up when Din arrived to the marketplace here on Vallera, aiming to pick up some quick supplies for the Crest. He’s returned to his life of bounty hunting after he found the child’s home—as hard as it was to leave him. He only works for Greef, who he knows is reliable and won’t mess with any other Imperial warlords. Din’s still not used to having to cut the amount of supplies down, now only having to fend for himself like he used to. He wishes it felt more natural. Instead, he finds himself feeling as if he’s always missing something, like he’s never quite complete no matter where he goes or what he does.

Din left you here on Vallera, which is why you’ve come to mind. He wonders if you’re still around. He won’t let his hopes get up—he never does. He knows you probably wouldn’t want to see him anyway. The decision for you to be left here wasn’t a well-received one by any means, and Din will never forgive himself for not trying to leave on better terms. But in the moment, his care and concern for you conquered all else, and he was able to get away fast. He knows there were still tears running down your cheeks as he turned on his heel and left. Din wanted more than anything to run back to you and wipe them away, to tell you that everything’s okay and that he’d never really leave you. Instead, he did just that. It was the best option for you and your safety.

Din lets out a soft sigh, hoping the noise doesn’t pass through his modulator as he walks through the various booths. He can hardly remember what he’s supposed to be getting, now. The thoughts of you have consumed him whole. He curses to himself, attempting to swallow back the painful feelings as he presses on. Din observes the booths as he passes them, trying to get his focus back on track. Fruits. Meats. Cloths. Health—

Suddenly, there’s a tugging on his cape. Din immediately stops, his hand brushing over his holster as he turns around to face whoever’s standing there. He sees a young girl cowering away at his rash actions. She can’t be older than eight, and instantly Din softens as he releases his hand from his blaster. He’s blown away by how familiar she looks—and his heart aches upon realizing that he’s recognizing you. It’s almost as if her face is yours but with more childlike features. Now I’m seeing her everywhere, Din thinks to himself. It’s gone too far.

“Can I help you?” Din asks the child, trying not to let his voice be too harsh nor too soft.

The child’s hands clasp nervously behind her back as she looks up at him, and Din’s heart softens upon seeing her innocence. He’s always had a soft spot for children, knowing how he ended up himself—alone. After he took the child under his wing, that softness only grew. “Are you a Mandalorian?” she asks, keeping her voice gentle. Din’s once again reminded of how much she sounds like you.

“Yes,” Din answers simply.

The little girl smiles, her dark eyes lighting up. “It’s you!” her small voice exclaims, almost cracking a bit in her joy. “Mommy told me to find you.”

Din feels confusion fill him immediately, and he bends down closer to her level as he tilts his helmet at her. “I’m sorry, but... who are you?” he questions softly.

The girl’s face falls, and Din’s heart almost shatters upon seeing her evident disappointment. “Oh,” her voice says, sounding distant. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. Mommy must’ve been talking about a different one.”

Din knows there wouldn’t be another Mandalorian, and so before the little girl can turn to leave, Din reaches forward to place his hands on her shoulders. His visor meets her eyes as he addresses her firmly. “Who’s your mother?”

When the little girl says your name, Din feels his heart practically launch into his throat. This is your daughter. Having a piece of you in his hands again makes him want to collapse with relief on the spot, but he knows he has to continue his investigation if he wants to find anything out.

“Where is she? Is she safe—are you safe?”

The little girl’s eyes start to tear up already, and Din’s heart begins to crumble inside his chest. “No.” Her small voice is a ghostly whisper, and Din’s protectiveness instantly starts to kick in. “Mommy is... gone.”

“Gone?” Din can barely recognize his own voice through its sheer emptiness.

“There were bad people,” the little girl starts to explain, swallowing back her tears. “Mommy told me to go. She said they were going to hurt us. She told me to find you.” She stops, her dark gaze looking at Din with sadness and desperation. “I’ve looked for you here everyday.” Her gaze falls again when she adds her last bit. “I went home once, but Mommy was...” She doesn’t finish. She doesn’t have to.

Din hadn’t saved her. He swallows hard, trying to keep his emotions in check for the sake of the last piece of you he has left: your daughter. “Why did she ask you to find me?”

The little girl’s gaze goes back to Din, and he sees a warmth there as she answers. “She said you’d help me find my Daddy.”

Din furrows his brow beneath the helmet. How could he help her find the father? Unless... Din freezes completely. The last time he was here was all those years ago. Nine years ago. He remembers that night before he left you. He remembers all the other ones just like it before that.

He can see it clearly now. The fact that this girl’s gaze looks just like his own. The brown locks that match his own untamed mane underneath his helmet. It makes sense. He’s the father.

Din feels as if he can’t breathe, but at the same time, he’s never felt so full of life before. He doesn’t know what to say, so he says the first thing that comes to mind. “Ad’ika?”

His daughter’s eyes start to fill with tears again. “That’s what Mommy used to call me.” She then stops, her eyes widening as realization fills them. A smile grows on her lips as she looks at him. “D-Daddy?”

Din nods, kneeling down and opening his arms to her as she practically runs into them. She starts to cry with joy into the cloth of his shoulder, and Din holds her as close as he can manage. He closes his eyes and feels them tearing up, thankful for the helmet that hides such an emotional reaction from the people around them. “I’ve got you,” Din coos to his daughter. He feels a tear escape his eye. “You’re safe now, ad’ika.”

“I missed you, Daddy.” She grips the cloth beneath his armor tighter.

Din swallows back his emotions, instead pulling her even closer. “I missed you too.” Both of you, he wants to add—but somehow, he knows you’re here, even if he can’t see you.

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon back again. Heads up im going to be busy for the next week about so it may be a bit til I submit my next bit. I'll try to get something in though! Even if its just a bunch of incorrect quotes I have stored up or songs that inspired the story (or if you have questions you haven't been able to ask you can ask those, literally any question is fine).

1: Not particularly, but it does give him an advantage in everything basically. Cause he was taught how to survive in many different areas (like treating wounds and how to survive in a tundra when you have nothing), this teaching is what allowed him to live alone for 4 years, and is what gives him a strong advantage in the Pit because he's almost fully trained in fighting and has many different tactics for multiple scenarios. Ranbob was distraught and was sent into a depressive episode when he discovered that, almost his entire family was dead, and got even more distraught and sent into a state of hysteria when he found out he was the one who killed them. He acted much the same when he found out he killed his friends, Ran's friends, and every single mentor and leader that was there. Knowing full well he may of very well doomed Mizu, if anyone was still left alive of course. 

2: Grievous remained salty for the rest of the day, and showed distaste in Ranbob as well. But the day after Grievous was back to being friends with and gently pranking Ranbob, forgiving him for yesterday's accident.

3: Eh? It depends I'll say. For life threatening situations and stressful situations, yes definitely. He doesnt last long before breaking down and begging Benjamin for help. But if its something like getting everyone to work toghere, giving directions, stopping fights, or even making calls in a very important decision, he doesnt get overwhelmed too easily. Benjamin is basically the co-leader of the group, only really leading when Isaac is unable too. 

5: Yep! Just cause this is a mythical and fake world doesnt mean there can't be some real world attributes. Im trying to keep it mythical but also use real world functions and trying to show the change/mix in times (like how while some of the world is machinery and its slowly gaining popularity, it's still mostly midevil based)

7: If the person is in the arena he gets revenge. Though sadly he can't get it outside cause last time he did that he got banned from fighting for a month. But if he sees one of the people who made fun of Jackie in the arena he makes sure to go hard to them, pushing them to their limit, but not pushing hard enough to make them lose if that makes sense. He makes sure to fight in a way that's draining and causing pain for the person, but not draining enough to make the round end so he can drag it on until the person collapses. 

8: He does! He's kept all of his books from his adventures and sometimes re-reads them to make sure he doesnt forget anything. And sometimes if the others beg, he reads them outloud to the group as a sort of bedtime story. He goes wack, he wacks Jackie when he's being a little shit, he wacks Grievous after a prank, he wacks Genevieve when she brakes a training dummy, he wacks Levi especially hard when he gives Jackie alcohol after he specifically told him not too. He watched the dressmaker, baker, farmer, fletcher, cleric, cartographer, and butcher! He learned all tricks of the trade and learned how to properly make clothes, map maps, how to take care of animals and what certain animals need, how to cook anything basically, how to harvest and preserve food, and how to make arrows and the basic necessities for a bow. 

Ran does not necessarily make them often, he mostly only wrote them down so he wouldn't accidentally brew a potion of poison and drink it thinking it was a healing potion. Its considered no longer necessary to go into the nether, as the only thing really needed is netherwart and building supplies, but the building supplies are very rarely needed and every major city has a netherwart farm. Also cause I wanna add it, no one knows about netherite. Only a few adventures know about it but consider it a hoax, it's only Rans netherite sword that actually proves that it does exist. I actually wasnt planning on it at first but now definitely, I could do a lot of things with them in the SMP grounds. Weeks, it takes weeks for Ran to decide their ready. Because they need to pass whats basically tests about mobs of the nether and their habits, mine plenty of gold, learn about what to and what not to do around Piglins, learn about bastions and fortresses and areas to completely avoid, learn to be able to take multiple mobs on at once, and be able to withstand the heat there. Watson tries to get Ran to lighten up on the requirements but Ran is firmly sticking his ground and Watson ends up giving up and letting Ran do whatever. Though even with all of Rans training their not completely ready for the nether. The fishermen originally refuse to go through, but eventually go through, mostly to make sure Ranbob is safe, and because Cletus wouldn't stop whining about going. 

10: I am very tempted to add angst here because their fighting against Dream after all. But I've made a lot of angst so far so I'll only do it if you want me too. 

12: He does end up stepping in! He goes to Ranbob one night and says how he's noticed he's been stressed and always sad and asks how he can help. Ranbob brushes him off at first but is debating going to him again and asking for help one last time.

13: Yeah he's like a final boss. When you fight as a General your allowed to use your own personal weapons and whatever tricks or tactics you want, along with 3 potions of your choice. While when fighting as a typical gladiator, you have to use the weapons supplied (although unless specifically stated you can use any weapon given at any time), and have to use tatics and tricks specifically allowed in the rules. Though there are 2 more titles! Sergeant and Corporal. Ran and Watson are both Sergeants, they get to use personal weapons and mostly any tactic and tricks they want too. While Grievous is a Corporal and only gets to use his personal weapons. 

14: Yep! The whispers disappeared gradually the futher away they got from Mizu, and even while he was moving away from Mizu Dream was asking, almost begging him at the end, to come back to Mizu. Saying how the futher Ranbob gets the lonier and colder he feels, and how he's sorrh, trying to guilt trip him into coming back to Mizu, or at least coming closer again. 

15: It is!

1: Huh. What kind of things would people learn if they chose other idols, exactly? Also, ouch. Why do I keep asking questions I know will hurt me later on?

2: Gently pranking. I applaud his restraint. Is that how Grievous forgives people? Gently pranking them? Just joking with them in general. Also, who laughed at that little situation?

3: So Isaac’s good with everyday things, not so much high stress situations. Gotcha. Is there a reason Benjamin is able to remain calm where he can’t? Practice, experience, personality trait?

5: Very cool. Can’t wait to see what else you do with that, honestly.

7: Petty. I love it. 

8: Aww, adventure bedtime stories! Also, him wacking people is so funny to me, thank you for that. And Levi gave Jackie alcohol? How did that go down? Did Jackie get drunk, or did Watson manage to keep them from drinking it? Watson sounds like he could probably establish a small village if he so chose, and honestly, good for him.

Dang. Does this mean like, everything from the Smp has been lost? So many of them had netherite armor and stuff, what happened there for people to not even know it’s a thing anymore? What happened in general, for so much of the past to be lost to history? How does their little Nether trip go? Anyone get hurt? Are piglin tribes around to trade with? Do they find anything cool, like a fortress or bastion?

10: It’s your AU, do what you will. I’m going to read it regardless, because for some reason, I enjoy breaking my heart like that(and the AU in general). Just give us some bonus hurt/comfort if you do, please? Just a smidge?

12: One last time? What does that mean, exactly? Should I be concerned?

13: Huh. So how many people know that Jackie’s the General? What kind of status does it give him? And how many people have managed to beat him when he fights all out? Would you say he and Ran are on par? How about him and Watson? And do the Sergeants and Corporals fight before the General, as like, mini bosses?

14:Oh no. Did it ever cause Ranbob to try and go back to him toward the end, or did the Fishermen manage to distract him long enough to get away from the whispers just about completely?

15: Yay!

[uchihasass]

Dear author, for the end of the year asks how about: 3, 15 and 18?

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year

it's probably this sasuke pov from a light that never goes out (i think i like being inside his head a little too much):

Losing his purpose—when all the despicable lies came to light, and all the elaborate games he'd been used as a pawn for revealed their endgames—nearly eviscerated him. Heart and soul liquefied and drained alongside the screams that spilled from his raw throat. He ended up an empty husk of a person.

And it was then—at his most dire time of need, that those bonds manifested themselves in front of him as if they had never been severed in the first place. When he couldn't be certain if his desolate life held any meaning at all, those very bonds had wrapped around him like a suit of armor; a phantom shield like a Susanoo borne out of their infallible faith in him.

Naruto's unbearable persistence.

Sakura's misguided devotion.

Kakashi's crippling regret.

Itachi's… best intentions—his unshakeable love for the brother who wouldn't know better until it was too late, and his immovable loyalty for the village that asked too much of him.

Sasuke could not be certain that he believed in anything anymore, except perhaps the cyclical nature of things. The bonds he cherished destroyed him, and the bonds he destroyed salvaged him. Unfortunately, coming full circle didn't leave him with the right answer.

There was likely no right answer. That in itself was the answer, if there ever was one.

15. something you learned this year

oh so many things in terms of writing!

i am a compulsive writer. if i get into a ~zone~, it's a real struggle getting out of it. i've stayed up all night writing sometimes. i've also taken spontaneous sick days to keep writing. writing gives me an adrenaline rush when i'm in this place. it's a high like no other i've experienced. problem with this is that it's difficult to sustain it. and i also can't evoke it at will. this is why i'm really trying to make a habit out of writing. being a compulsive writer is super fun, but i think being a consistent one will be more fruitful in the long term.

18. current number of wips

hmm, five... or six if i count an unpublished work.

two sasusaku, two kakasaku, and one iotnbo.

[fullmarvelheart]

Wakanda

Pairing: Avengers x Enhanced!OFC

Word Count: 3,000

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of violence, mentions of past trama

A/N: Welcome to Chapter 5 of Blue Starlight. I hope you all enjoy the story as well as the way I wrote the characters! The gif is not my own. All rights to the original creator. I hope you guys enjoy!

Series Masterlist

The plane lands and I'm almost blinded by the bright sunlight that reflects in off the tarmac as the ramp is lowered down.

Waiting for us is whom I'm assuming is the King, based on what Cap briefed us over, along with his personal guards. When Cap told us about the Dora Milaje, to say I was impressed is a gross understatement. I knew they were the fiercest warriors in Wakanda but seeing them up close, they're almost as intimidating as Natasha is. Even the Kingsguard looks exceptionally deadly.

"Should we bow?" Banner asks Rhodey as they exit the jet before me.

"Yeah, he's a king." Rhodey responds in an almost serious tone. Which apparently Banner doesn't catch onto.

As the Captain greets King T'Challa, Banner clears his throat and starts to bow.

"What are you doing?" Rhodey questions loudly enough to catch the King's attention.

"Uh, we- we don't do that here." The King says, somewhat awkwardly.

I chuckle to myself as the group begins to walk.

"So how big of an assault should we expect?" I go to answer the king but am cut off.

"Uh sir-sir, I think you should expect quite a big assault." Banner says pushing his way to the front while I roll my eyes.

Shut up. You don't even have the slightest idea.

"Thanos will most likely send one of his support ships, like the one that was in New York not too long ago. He calls them Q-Ships. He won't send his full army here, just what is deemed to be enough to overwhelm the forces on Earth, so the stone can be retrieved." I explain loudly but lower my voice as I get closer to the King, who looks at me curiously.

"How are we looking?" Natasha asks softly, diverting attention away from me, thankfully.

"You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and..."

"A semi-stable 100-year-old man." A new voice says walking up to us.

I take in a sharp breath and freeze. The Winter Soldier. Please don't let him still be with HYDRA! That's not something else I want to deal with today. But, he's smiling and doesn't look anything like the last time I saw him. He's not glaring at anything and he has plenty of emotions that I notice, just with one glance. He outwardly looks happy, healthy, but I can see pain and guilt still present in his steel blue eyes.

I can see it because I recognize it in myself.

As both Cap and him share a friendly embrace, I see Sam move into my periphery, though I don't acknowledge him.

"Are you alright?" He asks in a whisper.

I blink out of my frozen state and give him a tight smile and nod. As I'm turning back around, I see Natasha give me a curious look before turning back towards the Captain.

"How you been Buck?"

"Uh, not bad, for the end of the world." He says solemnly, yet with a small smile

I swear, this is the most I've ever heard him speak in one go. His voice isn't raspy from misuse anymore either. Maybe he's-

As if he can feel my eyes burning holes into the side of his head, he turns to face me. His eyes widen in recognition as his face changes from shock, to confusion, to anger, to regret, and then suspicion, all within a second.

"It's good to see you again, Blue." He says skeptically.

"You too, Soldier." I say in the same tone, brushing my fingertips over the hilt of a dagger on my thigh.

He glances down, catching my movements which freeze immediately.

"You remember...?" I ask softly, not knowing if I need the confirmation for his sake,... or mine.

"I remember everything." His piercing gaze moves back to me, his features stiff and cautious, waiting for me to make a move.

"Blue?" Natasha inquires, trying to lessen the tension.

"My ability..." My explanation comes out more timid than I would like as I move my hand away from the blade and give her a shrug.

Come on! Surely he's not more terrifying than Thanos! At least this one I know I can stop.

"There won't be any problems, right?" Cap asks seriously, after clearing his throat.

The Winter Soldier, or Buck I guess, says no. I can only shake my head.

"Good. Coms on and Rhodey, suit up. Saddie, I want you out here while we go in with Vision, incase anything happens." I nod in understanding as he, Natasha, and Dr. Banner follow the King and his men inside where Wanda and Vision had disappeared earlier.

I watch them trek inside while a knot forms in my stomach.

"You're nervous."

"Huh?" I turn to find Buck staring at me curiously.

"You used to make that face whenever the men were in the room. Whenever he was in the room." He explains.

I sigh and wrap my arms around my stomach while letting my head hang over.

"Can you blame me? This whole situation is something I was hoping to avoid. Plus, I wasn't exactly expecting to see you and when I did... I didn't know what would happen, or what to expect." I keep my gaze fixated on the pavement below me as I hear him take in a deep breath. Though, I know he was thinking the same thing as I was. "But I'm terrified. Like I was then." I admit with a whisper, looking up at him.

He hums, walking closer to me.

"What should I call you?" I ask suddenly causing him to snap his eyes to mine and stop.

He hesitates looking at the ground before back at me.

"Bucky please, Saddie." He says teasingly.

I roll my eyes but crack a small smile. So Buck is a nickname then. Didn't know he knew the Captain that way...

"Your arm is different." I note as I look at the black metal appendage edged with gold markings. Much different from the previous silver one with the infamous red star.

He hums thoughtfully, looking down at it with a small nervous smile.

"I like it, it suits you." I tell him sincerely as I turn away from him, not waiting for his reaction.

I walk over to Sam and begin to talk to him while Bucky joins us with a rifle one of the Kingsguard gave to him. Rhodey appears in his armor and things begin to click in my head as I remember Sam and Rhodey's hero names. Falcon and War Machine. Definitely not who I'd expect to be next to at a time like this.

At one point, I decide to sit crisscross on the tarmac with my fingertips pressed into the pavement and my eyes closed. It's almost like I'm in a meditative state. I feel the energy running through this city, running under it. There's an endless supply far below me, that I manage to tap into.

It's immensely powerful!

"What ya doing there, Saddie?" Sam calls out. I realize there's probably blue wisps circling around my hands or even arms.

"Recharging and resting." I say, distantly.

"Meditating." Bucky answers at the same time, causing me to huff and send him, where I think he is, a playful glare.

"Are you already tired, kid?" Rhodey jabs humorously through the ear piece.

"I'm a creature that relies on energy for power. If my stored supply runs out and I can't tap into a source fast enough, I have to rely on the power my body holds. Meaning, I'd lose consciousness soon after I'd start pulling from my own life-force. Thanos has an army coming for Earth, and I want as much power as I can hold." I tell them, still in my meditative state. "Plus, relaxing like this allows me to extend my powers beyond Earth."

"Creature?" Sam mumbles in question to himself.

"What does that mean?" Bucky asks curiously in reference to my abilities while talking over Sam. He still doesn't know the full extent.

"It means that I can sense when they arrive." I tell them, ignoring Sam's notice of my slip. Though, with that and what I said in the aircraft, he should be piecing it together soon, if he allows his mind to focus on it.

They don't ask anymore questions after that, and leave me to myself. After what feels like several minutes later, I feel a very strong hum of power moving towards Earth, and quickly. I call my power back to me and absorb as much of the energy as I can from below me, I can see the bright blue growing brighter from behind my eyelids.

"Saddie?" Bucky sounds worried.

My eyes shoot open as I jump to my feet, looking towards the sky.

"Saddie!" Sam calls, trying to get my attention.

"They're here." I say fearfully, not moving my eyes.

I summon an energy ball as I see one of their ships quickly descending straight for us.

"Hey, Cap, we got a situation here." Sam says while looking to where I am.

That wasn't enough time to get the stone out safely!

I prepare to launch the ball in my hands when the dropship pings off the shield, exploding instantly. The force of the strike is absorbed back into the shield.

"God, I love this place." Bucky says in stark amusement while I reabsorb the power in my hand.

"Yeah, don't start celebrating yet, guys. We got more incoming outside the dome." Rhodey warns as the rest fall fast, impacting the Earth.

I feel the vibrations from the impact rattling though my bones and my breathing becomes harsher. The shockwaves bounce off the dome, making me feel only the tiniest bit safer.

"Is this what you were expecting?" Sam asks, looking at me.

I nod slowly with wide and fearful eyes, unable to speak. Though, how do you speak when one of your worst nightmares is occurring before your very eyes and is becoming reality?

Alarms blare through the city and the dread I have been feeling for some time now, grows in the pit of my stomach to the point it becomes nauseating. Unfortunately for me, I joined this fight, so I can't back out now. I swallow back whatever fear I can and focus on the chaos around me.

After several minutes, the Captain, Natasha, Dr. Banner, King T'Challa, and his warriors come running out of where they led Vision and Wanda. Dr. Banner goes straight to where a big red and gold suit had been laid out as warriors rush out to the tarmac.

"You two," Nat gestures to me and Bucky. "Come with me."

We chase after her into a transport ship that is filling up with other warriors of the Kingsguard. I see Cap and T'Challa board theirs with half of the Dora Milaje. When we get in, Natasha stands up front with Bucky right behind her, and me on his right, like it used to be. As much as I hate the memories, the familiarity of a fight and his presence is comforting.

Sam and Rhodey take off and fly above us as we all head towards the front line while we begin to merge with other ships on the way.

"How we looking, Bruce?" Natasha asks through the coms.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it." I hear what sounds like rockets through my ear piece and cringe at the loudness "Wow! This is amazing man. It's like being the Hulk without actually..." His loud enthusiastic voice is cut short as I hear him fall.

I try to stop myself from giggling at him but can't help but slightly laugh out loud when I hear Bucky's chuckles beside me.

"I'm ok, I'm ok." I hear, but before I smile again, I actually notice just how many of the dropships there are... and just how big they look from here. I've never seen them in person, just heard stories.

My stomach lurches at the sight. There will be so many. Can we even win this?

"I've got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line." Rhodey calls out.

I move forward slightly, in hopes of recognizing which two of the puppets Thanos sent here. Bucky gently grabs my arm, snapping me out of my head, and gives me a questioning look. I move back to his side but keep my eyes set on the edge of the dome in front of me, not looking at Bucky. I'm not sure if I'd be able to hide my fear if I do. Rhodey and Sam do a fly over as they begin to circle back around.

The Captain, King T'Challa, and the Dora Milaje pile out of a transport. My transport group follows and Natasha, Bucky, and I merge with them. One of the legions begins to chant as we move forward. Though I can't distinguish the words over the sound of my blood pumping in my ears. Natasha comes up next to me and gives me a small assuring smile. I try my best to do the same, though I'm sure it's more of a grimace. We form a line and I finally spot the two of the Black Order that Thanos sent. I scowl and clench my fists at the sight and memory of those two.

"Do you think there's any chance of surrender?" Natasha muses.

"No, it's not the way of the Black Order." I say with a slight growl.

"Well, there's always a chance." Captain says, but it's not reassuring.

He looks at me and motions for me to follow as him, Natasha, and King T'Challa start to walk in the direction of the dome's edge. I swallow the lump in my throat and proceed to fall into line with them.

Cull Obsidian and Proxima Midnight become clearer the closer we move to them, and I try to push back my fear again. While Cull stands several feet tall than the other, with a much broader stance and deadlier appearing body and weapon, it's Proxima I fear the most. This sight of the midnight blue and black hair, brown horns, black and blue war paint, and lifeless grey eyes that make me tremble slightly. Proxima drags her sword along the dome's edge, almost hypnotized by it, watching the power crackle along her blade. She finally stops when we're at the edge, only separated by the dome.

Cull and Proxima snarl once they set their eyes on me and my lip twitches up in annoyance.

"Where's your other friend?" Natasha quips, and I have no idea which other one she's referring to.

"You will pay for his life with yours." Proxima says in the most emotionless tone I've heard her use. Her mechanical voice sends an unpleasant shiver down my spine. "Thanos will have that stone." She moves closer, as to intimidate. But so do I.

"That's not going to happen." Captain says, seemingly unbothered but determined.

"I will make sure of it." I growl.

Proxima directs her gaze to me.

"The traitor... or at least, one of them." She muses, a gleam flashes in those deadly eyes as she smirks at me. "You are nothing without your other half. A child in regards to your abilities. Weak." I know she's trying to get a rise out of me, I know it, but it's working.

Her words stroke the grief and self-doubt I had buried for this fight, making it rear it's ugly head. Before I get the chance to even move, King T'Challa speaks as Natasha moves me back.

"You are in Wakanda now. Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood." I look at the King with wide eyes, knowing he doesn't realize just who the Mad Titan is.

"We have blood to spare." Proxima states before striking her sword up into the air.

I scowl at her, but that falls into a frown when the drop ships begin to whirl and extend. We quickly make our way back to the frontlines.

"Are you ok?" Natasha asks as me move back towards the group.

"No, not really. But I'll be able to fight." I tell her, gathering what courage I can. She gives me a hesitant nod, but says nothing else. "I really hate her." I grumble, which earns me a small chuckle from Nat

I try to clear my mind and focus on my powers on the rest of the way back. I focus on what I feel, where it is, and how I can use that to my advantage, like I was taught. We get back to our forces as Bucky looks on edge but doesn't look away from the ships.

"They surrender?" He asks sardonically, knowing the answer.

"Not exactly." Captain breathes as I move to Natasha's side.

I feel the ship release the army that lurches inside.

"Here we go." I nervously breathe.

Falcon flies along the edge, circling as a scout, but I can already feel the pounding of their sharp and deadly paws vibrating against the ground. As they get closer, the thunderous pounding reaches my ears over the sound of my own heartbeat. I absorb the little bits of kinetic energy from them as they run. I feel Natasha's stare on my loose fingers which begin to glow a slight blue.

King T'Challa begins a battle chant as I feel the army slow at the edge of the tree line. Proxima strikes her sword down, letting it fall out of the air, and the army begins their charge forwards. There's more of them, more than I imagined. And they spill out of the tree line like a tidal wave of death, charging towards the dome.

[the-last-ghost]

Okay everyone, I've been reading the whole "humans are space orks/fae/weird" tags for a while and have been working on my own story to add to it. This is part one and it's really long so stick with it and hopefully you enjoy the read!

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We have all heard their stories growing up; all heard the myths and legends surrounding them. It’s almost impossible to believe that they were real but there is still proof, scattered among the cosmos, almost as impossible itself. I’ve heard them called many things over the years: wanderers, outcasts, lost souls, fae, immortals, demons, destroyers, even death itself. Every name I have heard, if the stories are to be believed, is true and well earned. I haven’t seen one myself, nor has my father, nor his father; rumor is, they haven’t been seen in nearly 3,000 years… Imagine my surprise finding one now…

I realize you may not know anything about the creatures of which I speak; I guess I should say that most people have heard the stories… Well allow me to tell you about them; these, as they call themselves, Terrans.

The story goes that long ago, back in the early years following the foundation of the United Species Federation (USF) (about 8,600 years ago-standard) they sent envoys and scouts out across the stars to find life and if it showed promise, to bring it into the fold of the USF. No one quite remembers how the first contact went, however, it is believed that it went fairly well, what with the Terrans conducting their own search throughout the stars on what they called their, “Third Golden Age of Space.” Apparently they had already gone to space twice before but some form of internal conflict put the exploration to a halt. Records indicate that they melded swiftly and smoothly with the Federation but were always considered to be the more wild and fearless of the 189 species. It wasn’t until the 9th year as a part of the USF that their home world was formally classed as a category 7 deathworld, 3 tiers higher than our previous maximum (supposedly they had to completely re-do the scale to make it work.) The few holo-picts of the world (if you’re lucky enough to find one) showed a world full of beauty and wonder but as we all know, beauty can be deadly in the cosmos.

After joining the Federation, they primarily set their focus on science and exploration; the things they found were astounding and those they made were breathtaking. I remember once going to the USF capitol on Jurhan-3 and seeing a “small-scale” version of one of their Epsilon-Frigate class starships’ power cell; they called it the “Apollo Reactor” and it, still to this day, harnesses the power of a collapsing star held in perpetual stasis. I am unaware of the science behind it but the Apollo Reactor was nearly 8km long, just as wide, and 6km high and the energy the star gives off can, theoretically, power half of the planet indefinitely-to think they put a larger version of this in their starships! They created works of wonder in ways that are now lost to us, for with them went the skill, knowledge, creativity, and much needed insanity to create these wonders. They came up with ideas and solutions for things we never would have even considered and, true to their nature, set out for a solution with an alarming dedication (although the wonders that came from their accidental discoveries are just as marvelous.) Not only were they the creators of the impossible, they were the seekers of the undiscoverable. They would set out on the planets, moons, asteroids, and among the stars in search of all those things our legends said could not be found; and they would find them! They would purposely seek out our own myths and legends and while many were proved wrong, they in turn were becoming legends themselves…

Then one day there was a request for a team to explore one of the many dead-zones the USF had listed and, since they were aptly suited for hazardous work, they volunteered. As it was, they went out with their usual compliment, a Gamma-class frigate at about 13km in length was the command ship for the operation. The Icarus, is well known for what the exploration lead to; and for that, we can’t hold it against them. The Icarus set out with its two Delta-class cruisers, each about 9km long, in tow towards the dead-zone. This is one of the few aspects of their past that we still know actually happened and its easier to view the formal log…

USF Doc. 1193.34-D164Y228

Icarus Expedition Captain’s Log:

--196-- We have successfully completed our jump into system X33-KL09 and are preparing for our initial scan of the system.

--197-- Initial scan shows little promise of habitable locations as expected; will conduct systematic, thorough, cross-examination of each planet for possible mineral harvesting.

--198-- Outer rim planets, X33-9, X33-8, and X33-7, all devoid of any significant deposits of any usable minerals; moving inward towards the system core.

--199-- X33-6 and X33-5 both show heavy iron, copper, sulfur, and other usable mineral deposits. Locations marked and transmitted to the Federation Fleet Command (FFC.) Moving on to innermost planets.

--200-- X33-4 shows sign of former habitation; holo-picts will follow. No sign of current life, no atmosphere to speak of, no signs of water, no signs of vegetation. Will collect samples and transmit them to the FFC. Ground Exploration Team 3 (GET3) sent to surface, base established. GET3 will remain on surface until we leave the system.

--201-- X33-3 appears strange on our scanners. It’s almost as if there is something…wrong…with it. Unsure of how else to describe it. Standby for holo-pict.

--202-- Contact! All ships requested to pull back to X33-4 and form defensive perimeter; lethal force NOT authorized. Standby for further orders.

--203-- Sentient life has been met; sudden fleet emersion from the warp. Non-USF signals. Attempting to hail unknown contacts.

--204-- All attempts at contact have failed. Will attempt other means of ***BREAK—ALL HANDS TO STATIONS—SHOTS FIRED AT CRUISER: RISING SUN—PREPARE TO ENGAGE CONTACTS***

--205-- All ships, unknown contacts are hostile. Open fire on all Non-USF craft. Engage at will.

--206-- Attached is the video footage remaining of the engagement.

--207-- All ships, damage report. *Silence as ships report in* Confirm: Cruiser: Fallen Star destroyed? *Silence while awaiting confirmation* Understood. Enemy fleet as either been destroyed or fled the system. Remaining craft ordered to collect survivors and GET3, then prepare to warp to nearest USF outpost.

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

--236-- Final tally of expedition fleet to system X33-KL09: One (1) Delta-class cruiser, Fallen Star, destroyed. 728 of its crew confirmed KIA, 109 of its crew un-accounted for (presumed KIA), 246 of its crew recovered and accounted for with varying injuries. One (1) Delta-class cruiser, Rising Sun, minor hull damage. 17 of its crew confirmed KIA, 0 of its crew missing, 942 of its crew accounted for. One (1) Gamma-class frigate, Icarus, severe hull damage, thrusters at 48%, and near catastrophic Apollo Reactor failure. 593 of its crew confirmed KIA, 197 of its crew un-accounted for (presumed KIA), and 806 of its crew recovered and accounted for with varying injuries. Requesting immediate support to attached coordinates. Sending Delta-class cruiser, Rising Sun, ahead of remaining vessels to prepare for our non-warp arrival.

--237-- Contact re-established with unknown forces. All crew to stations. Enemy ship determined to be on collision course; prepare to repel boarders. *Screams following the sound of impact—Sounds of metal wrenching itself apart—Silence* Shields down. Thrusters now inoperable. Boarding parties attempting to take ship. Will not allow this to happen.

--238—Cruiser, Rising Sun, has exited the system. Life-support systems failing. Authorizing the Manhattan Protocol*. God be with us.

--239—Attached video contains the final moments of the Icarus before the Manhattan Protocol was engaged. All hostile contacts were terminated.

*Manhattan Protocol: If the ship is boarded by hostile forces with no hope/chance of rescue or survival and no friendly forces remain in the system, the detonation of the Apollo Reactor is authorized. Said detonation will result in the immediate atomization of the host craft and nuclear explosion centered on the craft powered by the energy of the dying star. Possible outcomes could leave the system uninhabitable or create a minor black hole (if an Alpha-Class Capitol/Command Frigate is detonated.) This protocol only to be used as an absolute last resort.

----------End Formal Log-----------

As you saw, this no doubt lead the USF to mobilize a task force to secure the dead-zone and establish the identity of the unknown, openly hostile species and determine where they came from. Up until then, we had yet to see these Terrans in open conflict; there had clearly been minor skirmishes but nothing of real note. We were quite unprepared for their way of making war for these simple, bi-pedaled creatures seemed to pose little threat and were believed to have been primarily peaceful; quite at odds with their tier 7 deathworlder status. Apparently this had been the first ship lost in war in over 450years for them, a fact that they were extremely proud of, and so naturally they took it personally and set to it with there trademark dedication. Their sciences switched from focusing on exploration to tracking, from genetic mapping to mapping the weak-points of starships, from creating stronger mining tools to creating near indestructible hull armor; and it was beautiful. That’s when they were rumored to have been called the Fae, after myths from their own past. Beautiful beings capable of untold devastation. And so, the USF went to war against an enemy they knew little to nothing about, with these Terrans on point.

When contact was made again, after nearly 4 years of searching the dead-zone and the surrounding systems, hostilities were immediately established and our foe finally identified. They were called the Xulrata; fierce bi-pedaled creatures that would stand nearly 13ft tall and weigh upwards of 1200lbs. They were covered in a thick, leathery hide that seemed impervious to most of the federations weaponry but somehow the Terrans were able to find ways to pierce it. They had two massive canines that jutted from their lower jaw, deeply set eyes the size of my fist, and hands with the strength to crush a grown Sarlot as if it were nothing. We learned real fast that the only sure way to kill one, was to remove the head; even then, sometimes the body would continue on until its heart failed it, they were nightmare creatures and we lost a good many men and women to them in the following millennia. The Terrans had their own name for them, as they so often did; they called them Orks, after yet more creatures from their myths and legends-although, these myths appeared to be very, very real.

------------End Part One------------

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Please share it around and I'll get to work on part two!

[sometimesrosy]

Hi Rosy! i've read one of your recent asks and in one of them you said something about a hand metaphor? i'm kinda new to the fandom and was wondering if you could explain that metaphor to me. Thanks ;)

Sorry for not answering this earlier. I’m trying to clean out my inbox which is at 125 backlogged asks right now. I won’t answer them all, because some will be outdated, and some are questions I didn’t want to answer and some are parts of multiple asks that i did answer but didn’t erase, so this is my housekeeping time, (while I have turned off anon.) A lot of these questions might be things that felt like really big questions that i had to focus on and didn’t have the time or brain power to do. This falls into that category. So let me see what I can do with this.

It’s actually a really striking visual story that has been happening since season 1.

Bellarke’s relationship can be illustrated by the close up shots of their hands, and the way they touch each other. It’s hands and wrists. The contact between that part of their bodies, is VERY interesting. That the camera has a tendency to focus in on them is a sign that they want us to PAY ATTENTION to that. Because it is not part of the script or dialogue or even action, usually, we don’t necessarily READ it as part of the story, but it’s a visual story that affects our feelings, often unspoken, about their relationship, and works on a subconscious level.

The first time we saw it, was when Bellamy caught Clarke as she fell into the trap. He saved her by her wrist. The camera focused on that. This was the moment when both of them realized that he could easily have gotten rid of his rival by letting her go, but that he couldn’t, that it wasn’t his instinct, means this was NOT who he was. They both came out of that with a different experience of Bellamy.

Then we saw the hands touching again, when, after torturing Lincoln, he reaches down and removes the awl from her hand, taking the burden of the morality from her, telling her “who we are and what we need to be to survive are two different things.” This goes back to when she killed Atom for him because the burden was too much for him to bear. Their relationship has become one of mutual support. BIG change.

let me think. The next time was, I think, in Day Trip, when he’s trying to teach her to shoot and his hand on her back gives him the shivers. Or he is thrown by the intimacy. Notice that her hand was not involved. So it was more about how his feelings towards her have moved forward, and she is still unaware.

There is physical hand contact after that, but I’m trying to focus on the close up shots on camera. Because the act of shooting a close up is not just about characters moving through the action who might touch each other but is about part of their storytelling intention. Because of that, I’m not counting the full body shots where their hands touch each other, like the reunion hug in season 2. And I might very well have forgotten some moments, in which case, it can be your job to do the investigation and watch for hand touches in the Bellarke relationship. Or if you want, look for them with other characters (I don’t think we actually GET that kind of shot with other characters, but you can look for it.)

So I think the next time we get a focus on hand touching is when Clarke is pulling the lever, and Bellamy puts his hand on hers, and they say “together.” One thing I noticed in that shot was, even though that was hand on hand action, they were still separated from skin to skin touch by some impressive armored fingerless gloves that Clarke was wearing. But, even despite the separation, that hand touch was a sign that they were together, and supportive… although, since she left him shortly afterwards, that barrier she had between him and her really, perhaps, DID keep them apart.

The next hand closeup? I think when Bellamy finds her captured by Roan. The first thing he sees is her hand, tied to the post. Then he touches his hand to her hair/face. She does not return his touch because she is tied up.

Then there is Hakeldama. BIG scene. Big for hands. Because he kneels down and takes her hand… no he takes her wrist. And she takes his. And they stroke each other’s wrists with their thumbs. Very intimate, and infact, rather sexual. Mutual. But over the clothes. They are still holding something back. It is almost like proposal scene. I personally think that’s when Bellamy realizes he’s in love with her. She’s just glad to get him back, but he’s so freaked out by the intimacy and realization of love, that he panics and handcuffs her. Which is, well, not a good sign for their relationship. 

After that? The next hand touching? Is wrists. And it’s in Nevermore. He takes her wrists and wraps her wounds. Followed, shortly after, by her taking his hand and wrapping his wounds. Mutual care for each other, although each time, the touch is not returned. They are still separated, not on the same page, but show mutual care and attention. And their love for each other does seem to be equal, if not open to being received. I’d say they aren’t ready to be together. But they are ready to be partners again.

The next hand touch is pretty significant. When Clarke is taking the flame and she is afraid. She reaches out for Bellamy and he takes her hand. This is full skin contact, mutual hand contact. Not him touching her or her touching him but both touching each other, and there is nothing in their way. There is also no narrative reason to touch. No excuse. No tool. She just wants his hand because she’s afraid and wants to hold onto him. And he holds onto her to give her strength. That’s it. It is ENTIRELY about their relationship and feelings for each other. They are emotionally in the same place. They are emotionally laid bare to each other. They are mutually caring and needing and trusting.

The next hand touch is ALSO pretty significant. It’s the list scene. He puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, and she puts her hand on his, to deepen the contact. And THEN she presses her cheek to their hands, making it even more intimate and taking their touch, and their relationship to another level. Yes. A romantic level. I maintain that is Clarke making a romantic move on him, because it is the same move she made on Niylah, but this time with emotion involved. He however, is again thrown by the intimacy and maybe worried about what it means. Whatever it is. He leaves. Vulnerable. (he forgets his armor aka his jacket. that’s another symbolic piece of storytelling that was confirmed by cast and crew. the jacket is his emotional armor. if it’s off he’s vulnerable, if it’s open, he’s comfortable.) She takes it as rejection. Their emotional relationship takes a few steps backwards, and is teetering on the edge, with lots of uncertainty on both their parts.

The next hand shot? Hmm. IDK. I’m now thinking about solo hand shots. For instance, when Bellamy is bloodying his wrists to get out of confinement. And when Clarke is holding the gun on him and her hand is shaking.  They are definitely separate there, but reacting to something the other has done.

No. The next hand shot where they are touching is actually when Clarke hugs him on science island. He comforts her, and she, still thinking she’s about to die of radiation poisoning, grabs onto him tightly, clenching her own hands around him, not wanting to let him go. This is a decision on HER part. That she wants to hold onto him, that perhaps she’s not letting go of him and he is the good in the world. Actually, even though we know she lost him in the following 6 years, that is an accurate assessment of her thoughts of him. She held onto him thought he was gone and her memory of him is what kept her going. And he was the good in the world. 

The next touch is actually 6 years later when the reunite. And THAT’S where we get Bellamy’s hand on her back, with all her bare skin, in a shot that looks like a love scene. But isn’t. This represents HIS OWN emotional state on getting her back. She’s not there yet. We don’t really get hand closeups from her during that. Just him. And his hand is so gentle and intimate and protective of her. That is a lovers hand. But she is not on the same page, still reeling from his absence and torture and near death and having him back. 

I don’t think there were any other hand close ups, but I feel like I’ve forgotten some.

Anyway. I think there are various elements that can go into the symbolic reading of what the Bellarke hand close ups mean in their relationship. 

Is there bare skin contact? Or are there clothes and other barriers in the way?

Is it mutual? Is he touching her? Is she touching him? Are they touching each other at the same time? 

Is it hand to hand or hand to wrist?

You can also look at the touches that AREN’T given close up status. They might also contribute to how their relationship grows, but for the symbolic story? I’m sticking to close ups. 

And if you think this is all just bullhonkey, and I”m making a big deal about random touches that don’t mean anything (i mean go ahead and insult the filmmakers, cinematographers and editors, but okay,) then COMPARE the way Clarke and Bellamy touch each other to the other characters. Or RATHER, compare the way the Bellarke touches are treated ON SCREEN as opposed to the way OTHER touches are treated on screen. 

My specialty is the written word. I analyze story and character and books and text. But I also have a LOT of training in art, which is often about symbolism, and a little training in film, which is a VISUAL medium. If you only look at dialogue or scripts when analyzing film, then you are missing a lot of the story.

So take a look at the visual, symbolic story of Bellarke hands, and try to think about what it means to the larger story. 

Oh. Well. It doesn’t mean A THING to the larger plot. It does not relate to the plot. It ONLY RELATES THE TO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLARKE GRIFFIN AND BELLAMY BLAKE. And it’s a story that goes back to season 1. When they still hated each other. 

[jzeeeeeeeee]

Game of Thrones 8.06 Series Finale Recap and Review

THE NIGHT IS DARK AND FULL OF SPOILERS

This should be kind of obvious but I'll be discussing the final episode of Game of Thrones here so if you're not caught up don't read this unless you want to be spoiled!

CITY OF ASHES

Tyrion walks us into the episode, literally, walking through the ashes of King's Landing, closely followed by Jon and Davos. Ash is everywhere, still raining down, floating in the air like snow. I can only imagine the smell, if the scent from piles of burning dead outside Winterfell was bad this must be a thousand times worse considering they've always said how bad the city smelled to begin with... The horror on Tyrion's face is evident and surely echoes our own, as he walks by dead children and a near-naked burnt man stumbling out of the ruined city looking truly shellshocked. Tyrion tells Jon he wants to go on alone and heads for the destroyed Red Keep. Jon and co. run into Grey Worm and the Unsullied sentencing some Lannister soldiers to death in Dani's name and under her orders. Jon tries to tell Grey Worm that the war is over and the enemy soldiers are prisoners now, pleading for their lives. But the overwhelming loss must have had a hollowing effect on Grey Worm, emptying him of every last fuck he had to give. It almost comes to blood between Grey Worm/the Unsullied and Jon/random Northmen but Davos intercedes, quickly urging Jon to go speak with Dani directly. As Jon walks away, Grey Worm goes back to slitting throats of Lannister men like it's nothing, as if to show Jon how truly empty his fuck-tank was.

Back to Tyrion, walking around the remains of the Red Keep. He follows the steps down just like he told Jaime and sees the gigantic mountain of rubble covering the exit he had described. He starts digging through the rubble and finds jaime's gold hand. Digging further he uncovers both his siblings, dead on each other's arms. The music is haunting, a slow violin rendition of Rains of Castamere. This scene was picture perfect in it's tragedy, the bricks washing all color out of the scene save for the Lannisters. I might not have liked the way Cersei's end came or Jaime's middle finger to his redemption arc but seeing Tyrion kneeling there crying over them definitely gave me the feels.

PLAZA OF PRIDE

Arya walks past dead bodies and ruins out into the square in front of the Red Keep where the mysterious remaining half of the Dothraki are riding around on their horses, cheering and raising their arakhs in the air. We switch to follow Jon who's walking past the Dothraki and Unsullied towards massive, imposing steps of what is apparently left of the Red Keep. It makes me think of the Mayan Temple of the Sun, draped with a truly ginormous Targaryen banner. Jon looks at Grey Worm when he gets to the top of the stairs like "this is not handicap accessible". Just kidding, Jon looks at Grey Worm like he's gone as bonkers as his Queen. Dani and Drogon come flying in overhead and land somewhere behind the ruined Keep. Drogon's wings behind Dani stretch out and fold as she comes walking into the foreground. The sight is truly amazing and I've watched that part alone a hundred times. This is a powerful leader with men fiercely loyal to her returning victorious, no longer that little girl in Essos constantly on the run from assassins. There's a nice juxtaposition of the Unsullied lined up with precision thumping their spears in perfect unison, while the Dothraki are in a frenzy behind their orderly rows, practically doing wheelies on their horses as Dani delivers her victory speech.

Ok let's just stop and appreciate this character for a minute. Let's just imagine going through what she went through, it truly must feel like destiny, step by step bringer her closer to madness, all that power she has. She has a huge dragon that is closely bonded to her, she's the Unburnt not just a Khaleesi, not just a Queen. She's conquered before, and liberated before. When a character is too OP you just know they can't last... Remember the speech she gave when she named the entire khalasar her bloodriders? These men watched her walk out of fire, TWICE, unharmed. Who wouldn't kneel? They must think her a goddess! Grey Worm is devoted utterly because he was freed by Dani and he controls the Unsullied. The naming as Master of War, a great boon to him I'm sure, leader of ALL her forces now. He's still covered in the blood of dead Lannister soldiers as he steps forward to accept the nomination.

Danaerys speaks passionately, fervently as any champion of fire would. I could practically see flames dancing in her eyes as she talks of liberating the people of King's Landing. The show told me she's going crazy so I guess she must be. Jon's eyes when she starts talking about liberating the entire world... But it seems Tyrion agrees with me and in a fit of pique and anguish he casts off his Hand of the Queen pin to the ground. Dani commands the guards to take Tyrion and he locks eyes with Jon as he's walked off, with this "Your girl done gone nuts bro" face.

Arya catches up with Jon on the steps, urging him to see that Dani is a killer and he's in danger from her since she knows his true heritage. I like how he's surprised to see her, asking for its the audience what she's doing there in the first place. He doesn't even question the fact she came to kill Cersei and walks off to go find Tyrion's cell.

BROKEN THINGS

Jon and Tyrion discuss what happened and Jon can't deny what Dani did was wrong but he's trying to justify it by naming all the things she lost along the way to madness. Tyrion reiterates what Arya was saying, that Jon's life is at risk because of his claim to the throne. Jon actually rolls his eyes before sitting down to take it all in. It seems like Tyron admits he had feelings for Dani here, saying he loved her though not as successfully as Jon did. He walks Jon by the hand to the idea that she's the biggest threat to the people, especially his sisters. He lays a choice at Jon's feet, knowing that only Jon has the chance to bring this to an end.

Jon leaves to go find Dani in the Keep. Drogon is stretched outside like the largest cat ever, briefly getting up to see who's disturbing his rest but let's Jon go by without even a puff of smoke. Dani's walking through the ruined throne room, stretching out her hand to the Iron Throne she's sought after for all these years, touching the arm briefly. The ruins of the throne room and the snow-like ash in the air are the payoff from the vision she had in Qaarth's House of the Undying. She's contemplative, making a meta comment about the throne being made of a thousand blades from Aegon's fallen enemies. This is a sort of dig because the throne GRRM had described and imagined was more like the one she does here. Jon comes in to rain on her parade, angry about the Unsullied executing Lannister soldiers along with the thousands of dead and burned children outside. He seems to be giving her one last chance, begging with her to see reason. As she says her final words about building a new world and breaking the wheel I'm heartbroken because I know what's coming next without anyone telling me. "Be with me. Build the new world with me. This is our reason, since you were a little boy with a bastard's name and I was a little girl that couldn't count to 20. We do it together. We break the wheel together." He kisses her passionately this time, "You are my Queen, now and always", not breaking away like he did at Winterfell and Dragonstone, and I know the instant the knife goes in her heart he's sobbing and so am I. It's like she had plot armor her entire life... until today.

THE IRON THRONE

Jon lays Dani's body down on the ground and suddenly Drogon's there, sensing something wrong with his mother. He nudges her with his head but she's gone, and the sadness that pours out of him is an echo of my own seeing her tragic story at an end. This girl had been on this path since her birth, freeing slaves, serving justice to those who deserved it and I'm supposed to believe right at the end she decides to kill all the innocent people she came to save. Ok fine I'll go along with it for now since we're on mega fast forward this season and maybe I just missed all the subtle steps on the way to Dani's madness. Back to Drogon... He's so full of anguish he let's out a few huge bursts of fire, melting the Iron Throne down to slag. The scene was awesome in the true meaning of the word but I'm a little confused why Drogon would understand the meaning of such an act. And why didn't Jon move out of the way more? He has a weird thing with facing dragons I guess, maybe he planned on yelling at Drogon like he did to his brother. The scene ends after Drogon snatches up Dani's body in one claw and flies away, never to be seen again.

Tyrion awakes, finding his buddy Grey Worm at the door. He's led out to the Dragonpit where the Lords and Ladies of Westeros (🤷) are waiting. I have no idea what kind of time has passed but guessing from Tyrion's hair it's been a few weeks since Dani's death. Sansa demands to know where Jon is but Grey Worm insists they are in control of the city and it's prisoners. Sansa doubles down letting him know King's Landing is surrounded by Northmen. Yara makes some threat about Jon getting killed by the Unsullied but Arya comes right back at her saying she'll slit her throat lol. I think it's right around here everything becomes a bit hokey to me. After some back and forth with Grey Worm about the fate of Jon Snow, Tyrion suggests they choose a king or queen (who will ultimately be in charge of that fate). That Tully dude, Lord of the Riverlands gets up to make a speech (maybe to make a play as king?) but Sansa shoots him down by asking him to just sit, be a good boy, and drink his bottled water. Sam suggests a type of democracy system where everyone gets a say and they all just laugh at him. Just like everyone imagined, Tyrion reveals Jon is the heir to the Throne and they all live happily ever after. Wait no, actually he walks around and talks about how stories hold the world together and Bran should be King. What in the ever-loving fuck? Who has a better story than a man who came back from the dead only to find he was not a bastard at all but the heir to the Iron Throne????!!! Ok I get that he killed Dani so that's a stain on his honor but he did it to save the whole damn world. He didn't want to rule but neither did Bran! Tyrion proposes kingship to Bran in a way that sounds like a marriage proposal from the realm. Then Bran shows more emotion than he has in the past 2 seasons, he smiled a little and says "Why do you think I came all this way?" Huh? Well I had thought it was to help defeat the Night King and the White Walkers but fine I'll go along with that too I guess... I thought for a hot second he'd say "I am Groot". Sansa declares independence for the North after we get a round of "ayes" from all the other Westerosi Lords and Ladies in favor of Bran the Broken as king. I face palm but on my 3rd or 4th rewatch I see that Tyrion's cleverness did shine through one last time. He knew that giving Jon to the Unsullied would mean more war, knew Jon didn't want the throne anyway, knew that the puzzle needed solving and I suppose he did it. Jon would go to the Wall and serve a life sentence in the Night's Watch as a compromise, apparently to keep everyone from getting what they want. We see Tyrion meet briefly with Jon to explain this and he's as baffled as I am there's even a Night's Watch left. What are they watching? Season one?

A DREAM OF SPRING

Another time jump of unknown proportions and Jon is getting on a boat, headed for the Wall. He sees Grey Worm on another ship about to set sail for Naath where I can only assume he'll die from butterfly poison trying to protect Missandei's people. As Jon rounds a corner he sees Bran, Arya and Sansa are there to see him off. Hugs all around, Sansa apologizes to Jon and I can't help but think it's forced, Arya will sail West of Westeros. When Jon kneels in front of Bran saying, "Your Grace" I'm still wondering what his Targ ancestry had to do with anything and why Bran thought it was so important for him to know. The last of the Starks are going to go on their separate paths again, but hey they won the Game.

We next get a cute scene of Brienne writing Jaime's deeds in the White Book, meaning she's the Lord Commander now. This part is uber meme-able, particularly when she makes faces trying to think of good deeds to write. After a few creative truths she closes the book without writing anything about how he saved the people of King's Landing from being burned alive with wildfire. This scene also shows us Bran the Broken has taken a raven for his sigil, it's now prominent on Brienne's Kingsguard armor.

We go next back to Tyrion, the Keep mended enough to have a small council meeting in the old spot he's meticulously rearranging the chairs. Sam, now Grandmaester, brings in a book called a Song of Ice and Fire, very Hobbit of him, setting it in front of Tyrion. The rest of the small council files in, Bronn as Lord of Highgarden and Master of Coin, Davos as Master of Ships, and Brienne the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Bran is wheeled in just for a minute so we can hear they're missing a few officers and see Sir Podrick is in charge of pushing his chair around now, making an ambiguous comment about finding Drogon just before leaving the running of the kingdom to the council (please give me a sequel of just that!). The scene ends with Tyrion starting his famous jackass/brothel joke but we never get the punchline.

NORTH OF THE WALL

Jon arrives at the Wall, which has been repaired with wooden gates. Then the most well-done cutting of scenes together happens as we bounce between Arya getting ready for her journey west, Jon's arrival and subsequent leaving of the Wall, and Sansa's coronation as Queen of the North. We see Jon moving through the wildlings and finally, FINALLY, he pets Ghost. Arya's on a ship with a huge Stark wolf on the sails. Sansa is at Winterfell newly crowned. It all ends kind of how it started, with Jon on his horse walking north into the woods, wildlings on foot following him into the future. The scene evokes a sense of adventure unknown and reminds me of the first scenes from the pilot where we first saw the wights and Walkers in action but instead of death it's life moving through these woods now.

UPS AND DOWNS

So my main reason for breaking this all down was because I've been asked over and over what I thought of this episode. Many of you know I'm passionate about this show and even now that's it's over I'm sure I'll rewatch it many, many times again, season by season. In fact, this will probably be the first blog entry I have in "Watching Thrones Backwards; maybe it makes more sense this way?"

That being said I feel like this ending was really perfect for what they set out to do. A show based on a book series is always difficult, and Thrones lost access to the written word once the show moved past the books. I've read every single book and felt that more character development could've been done here in Seasons 7 and 8, both of which would've been better with more episodes. It felt rushed without those extra moments this story deserved but instead we got what we got. And what we got in the last episode was amazing for this series, beautifully produced, imagery leaps and bounds ahead of anything else on television, well-acted, even if not always well-written.

The biggest criticism I have was that the dive into Dani's madness was too abrupt, and such a huge deviation from her character. But her last words will haunt me for all of time. "We will break the wheel together." And they did. Jon's act was a sacrifice for both of them and gave rise to the new system of electing leaders.

Time was also my enemy in this episode, I know that it opens pretty soon after the last one because there's still fires burning but as we go through it I felt less and less certain where we were on the timeline. At the Dragonpit scene Robin Aryn was much taller, does that mean years have gone by or mere weeks? Years of Unsullied occupancy in King's Landing doesn't make sense to me but ok whatever. And at the end stuff was kind of fixed like in the Red Keep and at the wall so that must've been years certainly! But Sansa was just getting crowned so did they really wait all that time to do it? I guess I'll need to wait for GRRM to help me clear that up, hopefully in my lifetime.

My other problem was that everything was getting tied up with pretty little bows, basically going down the list and checking off all the weird bets people were making online. I could've easily told you Arya would head west of Westeros, Sam would name that book a Song of Ice and Fire, and that Tyrion would never finish his joke on screen. I say "was" though because I'd rather have all these things tied up neatly than a lot of wtf moments. We had enough of those watching this series, and this being the last episode it truly was "bittersweet" so seeing storylines get sewn shut was much nicer after I had time to really think about it all. I'm over a dozen times through this episode now and it's held up amazingly well to rewatch.

Even with all the negative criticism I absolutely loved this episode. Each scene in this final episode looked incredible, Jaime and Cersei dead in each other's arms, the dragon wings behind Dani at the Keep, Drogon melting the Throne, even Jon walking off into the woods at the end. Cinematically it was successful, thematically maybe a little less so. But it made sense in a way the Dexter or Lost finales never will. Dany succeeded in the end with breaking the wheel - Shakespearean tragedy at its finest, Tyrion is for all intents and purposes ruling as Hand, Arya stopped killing everyone, Sansa's a queen in her own right, Bran is probably warging into Drogon somewhere off screen flying about and Jon pet Ghost. Team Stark FTW I give it a solid 9 out of 10!

*Picture credits to HBO Game of Thrones*

[whenthemarshmallowmettheslayer]

I've got questions.

A/N: Originally posted on ao3 under the pen name youngjusticewriter. This fix has been crossposted on fanfiction (.) net. Part seven of the Elrics Through the Looking Glass series that's an Ishvalan au. This fic takes place in Brotherhood but Rose isn't white washed. Warning: Edward cusses.

Song for this fic: Burn it down by The Daughter.

Thanks goes to Wiki quote. I wouldn't have been able to write this easily without it because I currently don't have Netflix. :(

///

Something ugly burns in Edward as he stands there under the sun, his automail limbs cooking the skin of the ports are attached to, that's heat isn't letting up. In fact it's getting worse. (The whole idea of laying in the fountain he'd seen earlier for a few minutes is a lot more tempting.)

Perhaps it's the heat or the loudness of the crowd that cheers at the "miracles" given to them by the chosen prophet of Leto that makes his temper just itch. Maybe it's just the stupidity of them, Edward wondered as Rose jabbered about and Alphonse hummed accordingly; sometimes Edward can't help but wonder if Al would be like he was if he remembered what Edward did.

Years have past and Edward can still remember the poor imitation of a human that had too much teeth. It had told Edward it was called the world, the universe, God. Edward's mouth twisted into a thin smile as he recalled those things. Recalled how it had said it was referred to such titles; it had never told Edward what it was only what it was called.

"Would you like to see the chapel?" Rose offers sweetly, her hands clung together in excitement.

Alphonse answers for Ed as Edward pictures something in his mind:

Dark, sweaty palms pressed together in pray, pink bangs against her hands as Rose tilts her head forward in reverence; dark, gloved hands pressed brutally together, crafted metal and his own flesh sting as the sound of a clap finishes as the phase of deconstruction begins.

Edward doesn't talk till he's seated but there is noise even after they depart from the roaring crowd. There's the clank of armor and footsteps (one set, his, that are uneven) that are the only noise in the empty room.

The goddess' empty, gold eyes have watched them since they've stepped foot on the white marble. Now the mother of the sun seems to be looking down at him as Edward lounges on the front pew. He fishes out a notebook knowing full well he's going to need it once he opens his mouth. Edward can feel soft brown leather of his notebook even with gloves on.

"If we believe in divine grace, and through her all things are possible… If you believe, I'm sure Leto would bless you and make you grow taller!"

Edward's hand clenched the unopened notebook, "What's that suppose to mean!?" His angered, raised voice was the only noise in the large chapel.

Aren't people who believed in religion suppose to be nice as well as idealistic idiots?

"Easy, brother! She's just trying to help!" Al cried out and Edward rolled his eyes; helping was not insulting people over something they couldn't control. Edward was not going to be forever a pint sized midget. He'd grow taller and without praying to something that didn't give a damn. Just those two wait and see.

"What about bringing the dead back to life? Do you believe that's possible too?" Edward asked, head tilted lazily as he start to flip through pages of his notebook to look for-

"Yes," Rose confessed, emotion thick in her voice.

Edward didn't actually need the list but people took you more seriously when you're reading off something than recalling it to mind if you're younger than them. People also thought Ishvalans wouldn't do alchemy and weren't smart; people were often idiots in Edward's blunt opinion.

"Water: thirty-five Liters, carbon: twenty kilograms, ammonia: four Liters, lime: one point five kilograms, phosphorus: eight hundred grams, salt: two hundred and fifty grams, saltpeter: one hundred grams, and various other trace elements," Edward left off as he noticed the dumb founded look on Rose.

"Huh?!" Rose cried out in question.

Edward smiled thinly, something viscous but not ugly (never ugly, not when it came to her) was the look in his feral eyes.

"Rose," gently, Ed thought, like she was Al or Winry when they were doing stupid shit, "that was a list that represented the complete chemical makeup of a human body for the average adult. It had been calculated to the last microgram, but still there has never been one reported case of successfully creating a human life."

Some people put their faith in gods to be able to live their life; some, like him, lived their life to achieve a goal. There had once been a time when Ed use to pray with mom. He had even prayed after mom had died but had stopped a long time ago.

It wasn't the constant frustration of loose ends (till now, Edward thought, Cornello's ring on his mind). No, he had stop praying even before that. It wasn't even the bastard's sharp jabs that were constant; always there as though Edward would ever let himself forget. What an idiot; how'd that man ever become a Colonel? Besides obviously burning children and women to death that corpses he climbed on to get to the top of the military.

No it hadn't been that either.

"So you're telling me something modern science can't do, you can do with prayer?"

Rose trembled in frustration, her fists clenched in determination. "Lift thy voice to our goddess. And the prayers of the faithful shall be answered!"

Talk to her like Al or Winry, Ed thought again. Take another path if they won't listen because blowing up on them for being stupid always got Ed a bar of soap in his mouth.

"Do you know who Ishvala is?" Edward asked, voice lazy and uncaring in sound even though he was anything but.

"Brother," Al started but Edward waved a hand dismissively in his direction.

"She's the patron goddess of Ishvalans. They prayed to her for deliverance, strength, and safety but you know what? Their rotting corpses still ended up dug up by some animal because the soldiers that murdered woman and children didn't care to put rocks ontop of the unmarked mass graves they threw the corpses in. Where was Ishvala then?"

Edward stretched his arms as far as part as they could be from clapping, from praying. "Here we are - the world is still going on. You can be as sure as shit that the universe is too. What about Leto and Ishvala? What about God, huh? I'm not being sarcastic - I want to know."

There was an ugly silence in the room because Rose didn't have answer to that. Nobody ever did.

[dontcallmecarrie]

I just binge read TWiFFON, and its sidefic and almost everything that's here about this universe and sadgkjhakjg you're amazing and this is amazing and I love you and this is one of the best fics (out of MCU fics especially) I've ever read. IM1 is one of my favorite movies ever, I love Tony very much and it hurts to see what they're doing to him in MCU (and what they're doing with all the characters, really), and I love your portrayal of him so much, because that's real Tony. (1/4)

Competent, genius Tony, owner of the huge company, the man, who, without the suit, is still the person who’s built this suit. From scraps. In a cave. In Afghanistan. While being tortured. Revolutionizing science on the way. I’m looking at you, Mr. I-Saw-The-Footage(And-Made-My-Judgment-Before-Actually-Meeting-You-And-Decided-You-Suck). Yeah, you can see how I just -love- Steve in this moment in “Avengers”. (2/4)

I always wondered what footage he saw, btw. From before-Afghanistan? From the IM2 Senate hearing? From the disastrous IM2 b-day party? Even if the scepter amplified their feelings, those feelings had to be there in the first place. And AoU and CW just make me go Hulk, so most of the time I pretend they didn’t happen and don’t exist unless we’re talking about -consequences-. It’s been years and I’m still bitter and salty as the Dead Sea. (¾)

Um. Anyways, I love you and your awesome fic, thank you so much for your writing

Glad you’re liking it so far, and thanks! 

Also: same. [the rest is under the cut because surprise meta’s apparently a thing, as are major spoilers, and I get very rambly, RIP mobile users otherwise.]

I got into the MCU when it first kicked off, and my favorite movie’s a toss-up between IM1 and The Avengers [though, due to recent events, I’m really leaning towards the former nowadays]. I love all the characters, and if I had a heart [because no, I don’t, nope, nothing’s ever made me tear up nope heart of stone right here], it’d be hurting because of the turn the MCU’s taken lately, and the level of character assassination I’ve seen is….the best comparison I can think of include the way Naruto ended [specifically, Sakura], or…well, you get the picture.

Just…the turn canon took, after Phase 1, left a bitter taste in my mouth. Tony’s my favorite character, and seeing how the world’s done its level best to break him when his origin story is literally him forging his armor from the guns that would’ve killed him otherwise is something that I have very strong feelings about. Add to that my spite after seeing the turn the fandom took after Civil War, and I couldn’t not write the fic where he actually [albeit accidentally] took over the world, by taking him back to his roots. 

[aka TWiFFON’s basically me venting passive-aggressively about the issues I have with the MCU]

As for my take on Steve? 

Even if it doesn’t look it, I kinda liked his character, early on. The way his character was mangled by the writers is another thing entirely, however, and after Phase 1 my enthusiasm didn’t wane so much as it tanked, especially after Age of Ultron. [ditto as to Civil War.]

But early on? I actually liked his character. My headcanon/take on his approach during the first Avengers movie was him being adrift in a world that’s moved on without him, so of course he’s clinging to what he remembers. 

That ended up being something that SHIELD/HYDRA took advantage of, though, and while Fury tried to help, the HYDRA guys did their level best to sabotage him, which succeeded in ways that don’t show up until later on. For instance, while Fury’s crew was the one to break the news of ‘so you slept 70 years, welcome to the future’, it was a HYDRA contingent that were the ones to ‘ease’ him into it, and so his briefings on history and whatnot were basically sabotaged. 

As in, they made sure to focus on the shitty parts of the past century, and glossed over the progress, and did their best to be subtle about it so that when Fury came around, he thought it was ‘okay Steve’s still settling in and hurting’ rather than ‘Steve’s hurting and everywhere he looks only makes it worse’. I mean, it wouldn’t even have been hard; breaking the news would’ve been dicey enough as is, but I can guarantee that HYDRA would’ve pulled no punches in painting everything to be as shitty as they could. 

I mean, even if they were trying to help, it would’ve been hard enough: because good luck updating the guy who literally did a suicide run to prevent his home country from being bombed about the Manhattan Project. 

That alone would’ve been messy enough, but also going through Korea and Vietnam and the list just goes on, while also trying to go ‘we’re the good guys’, and I’m pretty sure Steve’s faith in humanity would’ve taken a hit somewhere in there. And that’s if it was SHIELD who was doing it; if it was HYDRA instead? Just…yikes.

And Tony has a lot of fodder that could be used against him. 

He’s a powerhouse, a loose cannon, and is very visibly anti-establishment when it comes to some things, so when Steve’s trying to cling to a vestige of the past, it’s so, very easy for a HYDRA technician to pull some clips of Tony’s messing around and gloss over ‘yeah he’s also a genius and built a suit somewhere along the way’ while doing their level best to make sure that Steve does not like Tony, because if those two got along it would not end well for HYDRA so best nip that in the bud. [I’ve got a fic idea that plays with that premise, actually, but…rambling again, oops.]

Doesn’t help that people’s values have changed, either; nowadays, we’re a lot more cynical as to what’s going down in Congress, for instance, or the military-industrial complex, so just right there’s some culture clash. Iirc, pre-Nixon, people viewed what happened in DC differently than they do now, and I don’t think Clinton helped any, either. And that’s just one example.

tl;dr: I headcanon that HYDRA sabotaged Steve’s possible relationship with Tony, among other things. 

Now, when it comes to the world domination thing…

You can probably tell I’m having a lot of fun with it. It’s part of what helps keep the tone of TWiFFON fun for me to write, and I’m choosing to go the cracky route instead of the grimdark serious one because this fic’s self-indulgence at its finest, and my life is stressful enough as is. 

Because, I mean, for me it’s either laugh or cry, and I can’t afford to cry, when it comes to the tire fire that’s going on. I can laugh or cry, so I’d rather go for deadpan ‘so apparently this shit’s more plausible than some of what I’m seeing in the news’ rather than get even more gray hair stressing out over stuff I have no control over. [Playing with power dynamics in a fictional universe where there’s magic and aliens is very good stress relief, is what I’m saying.] Plus, y’know, it gives me an outlet for whenever I see yet another ‘Tony Stark was the villain!’ post. 

You probably know that originally, TWiFFON was supposed to be way darker [and shorter]. However, thanks to…life, I decided to go for broke and went ‘screw it, this is stress relief so might as well go for broke’, and since I love the Accidental World Domination trope…[getting rambly again, oops] 

Thus, why it’s going to take a literal Destroyer of Worlds to break it to Tony that yes, he took over the world. Oops. 

However, since apparently I can’t help but be pedantic about power dynamics and politics and whatnot: it’s probably more low-key than some of my readers are expecting. Here, it’s not going to really show until we reach the Final Battle arc, but I’m trying my best to avoid imperialistic tones where that part’s concerned. 

Like, yes, the fic’s going to devolve to crack by then, but the world domination part’s going to end up being due to basically [heads up for major fic spoilers]:

The world: so 

The world: you have Skynet in your pocket. A horde of them, even.

Tony: guys, you are so grounded why’d you pull that stunt I told you—

JARVIS: *is unrepentant*

FRIDAY: *is also unrepentant*

JOCASTA: *is shamelessly using her full capabilities to help clean up the battlefield*

Tony: JARVIS, you were supposed to the the role model, not the bad influenc—

Tony: wait what do you mean you want me to take them offline

Tony: okay you know what? Fight me

on top of everything else. But the above being the main motivation for Tony’s not stepping down after the Final Battle, and I intend to go into more detail when the matter comes up. [Hopefully I do it right.]

But for the most part?

It’s not like he can put it on his shelf to collect dust or anything, no way does he want to rule the world! Tony’s got more than enough power as is, and he’s happy enough being the Head of R&D. Hell, he’s got more than enough as his plate as is, why the fuck would he want to add to his workload?! Strange, stop laughin—Rhodey, why are you giving Hope money? Thor, you too—what do you mean ‘you lost a bet’? JARVIS, you are so grounded!

aka his life is s u f f e r i n g because he didn’t sign up for any of this, thank you very much, how is this his life, where did he go wrong in his life choices?

Strange, you can stop laughing any time now. Any time. 

…screw it, might as well roll with it. Anyone mind if they call themselves the Federation if any other aliens come around? Or would that violate some copyright law? 

meanwhile, elsewhere: 

everyone at Stark Industries is scratching their heads and wondering where the miscommunication happened before shrugging and carrying along because business as usual now includes world domination, oops

Pepper’s in Maui finally getting her vacation. 

JARVIS doesn’t really mind, as it simply means he has less variables to control for to help keep Tony safe and happy, so he’s completely and utterly shameless about it all. Even if he’s so, very grounded for pulling the stunts he did during the Final Battle arc. 

Fury is in an unspecified location, laughing at Tony while also feeling very proud of him because this is the opposite of a problem and free entertainment at its finest, yes, this was worth it. Not what he’d expected, but most definitely worth the headache.

[just putting it out there to hopefully give an idea of what I’m aiming for, at the end of the fic.] Hopefully it gets across right. Just…world domination, but with a kinda relaxed take on things.

Kinda sorry for the spoilers, but that moment’s one of the ones I’ve been really looking forward to and it’s been the better part of a year and this fic just keeps growing.

[glare-gryphon]

Yay! Because I've been wondering for a while - what if, after viewing the security recording, Obi-Wan had stuck to his guns and refused to fight Anakin? Maybe Yoda wasn't there to push it? And Obi-Wan runs, possibly after dropping by Padme's to warn her - and afterwards, Vaderkin focuses on hunting down Obi-Wan and Obi thinks it's to kill him, but no its because he wants Obi to marry him - he wants his Master back, to raise his kids since Padme died, and obi-Wan is HIS after all...

First of all, I have to throw a shoutout to @fireflyfish. Her fic After the End of the World is almost this exact prompt, minus the marriage part and + Fem!Obi. It’s a great fic, and you should definitely read it if you aren’t yet.

Without further ado…

Ring

Rating: T

Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Vader

Additional Tags: Post-Mustafar AU, Canon-Typical Violence, Vaderkin

~2500 Words

The cold of the spaceport is miserable, biting at his skin and sinking down into his bones. The few civilian clothes he’s managed to obtain in his years of wandering are better suited for warmer climates than the wet chill of this place. It always seems to be raining, here; when it isn’t, a heavy mist settles over the port in its place.

Another nameless spaceport on another nameless world, unimportant but for the fact that the Empire has been slow to reach it. No notable exports of desirable resources, there was no pressing need for Imperial presence. Ben has inhabited it for the past few months, making rent for a dingy apartment off under-the-table mechanical work. He is neither the best, nor the worst. Average and forgettable in the way of a man who does not want to be noticed.

It’s agonizingly dull work. Sometimes he imagines himself a bounty hunter, or a pirate, or a leader at the head of the growing Rebellion he sees discussed on the holo from time to time. Something more exciting than his life as it is now: an endless parade of broken parts and frayed wiring. Alas, this is not the life meant for him, now. Obi-Wan Kenobi cannot draw attention to himself if he wishes to live long enough to see the end of the Empire’s tyranny.

This is why he must move again, his belongings stowed in a small pack he crafted from the tattered remnants of his Jedi robe. Even after trading his tunics for a set of civilian clothes, he’d continued to wear the robe out of some lingering sentiment for the life he’d left behind. It was close enough to a standard traveling cloak that no one noticed the difference, and he’d kept it until the seams wore beyond repair. It’s been given a new life beyond its intended purpose, now. Just like its owner.

“Passenger Shuttle 239 now boarding in bay seven,” a robotic voice announces over the intercom system.

Ben rises from the waiting bench, swinging the pack over his shoulder and pulling out his identification documents for inspection. He’d traded the last of his credits for these papers, listing his name as Ben Lars. The forger had promised they’d pass the scrutiny of lazy dockworkers, but there are no lazy dockworkers here.

Instead there is an Imperial Officer in a sharp-cut olive uniform, flanked by two stormtroopers in their signature white armor. They stand out amongst the planet’s continual misty-grey atmosphere, drawing the eyes of passersby and reminding them of the Imperial presence that’s descended upon their unimportant little world. Ben had hoped to get out of here before they took full control of the ports; it seems he is just a few hours too late

Gritting his teeth, he steps into line. He doesn’t have another option now but to run the gauntlet and hope for the best. He can’t remain on this planet much longer. Heightened security around the ports has cost him his job, temporary housing for troops has cost him his room, and more Imperial eyes means more risk of getting caught.

The Gran ahead of him is waved past into the bay, and it is Ben’s turn to hand over his papers. His hands do not shake as he drops them into the officer’s expectant palm, but it is a close thing.

“Ben Lars,” the officer announces to no one in particular, his eyes flickering briefly between Ben and the attached photo before slipping his ID chip into a scanner. For a tense moment, nothing happens, and it feels as though Ben’s heart as frozen in his chest. As though his lungs cannot draw enough oxygen.

Then the scanner beeps, a pleasant chime, and the light along its surface glows green. The officer pulls the chip out, proceeding to then shove the chip and his papers into Ben’s chest. “Continue.”

Ben clutches the bundle to his chest, momentarily dazed by the realization that everything had worked. It’s only when one of the ‘troopers harshly shoves him, combined with a command to, “Move along,” do his legs remember how to move. They carry him on autopilot up the boarding ramp of the transport and into his seat. Only when he’s settled does he dare release a relieved sigh. He’s past the checkpoint; he’s on his way to a new planet. What could possibly go wrong now?

He isn’t sure when he dozed off, but Ben is woken when the transport shutters violently around him. He scrubs at bleary eyes, righting himself in his seat as other passengers to the same. They seem to have stopped moving, but they have not reached their destination. Outside the viewports is only the vast expanse of space.

“What’s going on?” He asks, turning to the passenger next to him, and receives only a disinterested shrug in return.

“Probably mechanical problems. These transports are always breaking down,” the Rodian grumbles.

Ben is just about to push himself to his feet, about to go and offer his help with whatever is holding up their trip, when the shriek of metal cuts through the ship. An emergency exit panel on the roof is ripped open, exposing them not to the vacuum of space, but some kind of boarding hatch. He already knows what’s about to happen before four pirate drop through the hole into the transport.

The insignias worn on their clothes are not any of those he is familiar with, but there are countless pirate crews roaming the hyperspace lanes of the Outer Rim. Those that he does know are constantly changing: alliances being made and broken, captains overthrown and crews killed in crossfire. Even Ben cannot keep up—especially now that he is without the Order’s resources.

The apparent leader, a Zygerian male, draws a large blaster from its holster at his hip and fires one shot at the Imperials who had scanned their documents at the gates, traveling with them and apparently attempting to play hero. The bolt cuts clean through one 'trooper’s armor, splattering gore across his compatriots and the cabin wall. Several passengers scream; the other Imps are cowed into inaction.

“Here’s how this is going to work,” the Pirate Captain announces as his three lackeys spread out through the transport. “You’re all going to give us your things, and if we like what you’ve got, we might just let you live. Anybody else tries anything funny, well…” He trails off them, tipping his head pointedly in the direction of the 'trooper’s corpse.

If Ben were anyone else, he might have been content with handing over his meager belongings and hoping for the best. He might have played the role of frightened passenger and hoped against hope that the pirates let them be at the end of this. Unfortunately for Ben, he is not anyone else. He is Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, this is a transport full of defenseless civilians, and the familiar weight of his lightsaber’s hilt is suddenly heavy in his sleeve.

He has always valued the lives of others more than his own.

“Don’t be stupid,” the Rodian beside him says in an urgent whisper when Ben makes to rise to his feet. “You’re going to get us all killed!”

“No one else is going to die here,” Ben replies, pushing past him and stepping out into the aisle.

His movement draws the attention of the Captain, who turns to inspect him with a disdainful smirk. “What do we have here?” The Zygerian asks. “Do you have a problem, friend?”

Ben meets his eyes with a smirk of his own, sharp and dangerous in a way he hasn’t been since the Clone Wars. The thrill of combat settles into his skin like an old friend; stars, he’s missed this. “I’m going to give you until the count of ten, by which time I expect you and your men to be off this vessel and on your way,” he announces.

“Are you?” The Captain scoffs. “And if we aren’t? What do you think you’re going to do about it?”

He gestures with the blaster, a truly ungainly thing, in a way that is probably meant to be threatening. The effect, however, is lost on Ben. The weapon is too big and clunky for the close quarter of the cabin. Powerful, yes, but a misplaced shot could easily rip through the ship’s hull, killing the pirates as well as the passengers upon exposure to space’s vacuum. He needs a clear shot—a slow moving target—in order to fire.

Ben will give him neither of these things.

Between one heartbeat and the next, he draws his 'saber from his sleeve, igniting the hilt and relishing in the recognition that flashes in the Captain’s eyes. The fear. And while Ben slightly out of practice, his situation not allowing the time nor privacy to practice his forms to the full extent, he still has the upper hand over these pirates.

It is nothing to cut them down, shaken as they are by the appearance of a Jedi. Perhaps not the grand combat he’d hoped for, but better still than the monotony that has been his life for the last three years.  He stands over their bodies, barely breathing hard, and doesn’t even consider the repercussions of exposing himself until a blinding pain erupts in the back of his skull. He staggers, braces himself on a seat back, and gets a blurry glimpse of a terrified Imperial Offer before his legs give out and his vision goes black. For a long time, he knows no more.

The second time Ben wakes, it is to the sounds of conversation. He’s been moved, he realizes before he’s even pried his eyes open. There is cold metal beneath his cheek and his hands are now cuffed behind him. His head spins and aches from the earlier blow.

The dimensions of whatever room he’s in are small, a glance around revealing stacked boxes and a powered-down cleaning droid. Some kind of supply closet, then.

Bits and pieces of the conversation float through the door to his makeshift cell, heard but not fully understood. Ben is still too disoriented for that.

“—captured a Jedi aboard this passenger transport, while on route to—”

“—description you sent. Are you sure—”

“Yes, sir. Human male, red hair, blue eyes—”

Everything swims back into focus with the pronouncement of, “Bring him to me,” from an eerily familiar voice. Obi-Wan has not heard it since that last day, years ago.

It used to carry with it the associations of nights beneath the warmth a shared blanket, the chaos of war set aside for a few brief hours of comfort and rest; of days filled with sweat and strain, laughter ringing through the training halls as they try to pin each other to the mats; of feelings unacknowledged and words unspoken, lingering touches and furtive glances.

Now it only brings the bitter reminder of destruction and death.

The Officer from earlier, along with two new troopers, appear when they slide open the door to his closet. He vaguely recognizes the style of their helm, the blue paint: Anakin’s 501st. They are not gentle as they haul him to his feet, dragging him along when his legs refuse to cooperate. He is no longer the trusted General Kenobi to them; instead, another despised member of traitorous Jedi Order. Ben stares at the floor as they pull him down the transport’s center aisle, still too disoriented to put up a proper struggle. From what he can see from this angle, the rest if the passengers must have already departed.

They stop in front of a familiar black boots, and a gloved finger hooks under his chin to pull his unresisting head up.

Standing before him is Darth Vader, though this is no surprise. Ben can’t even work up the energy for a proper scowl and his former pupil scrutinizes him, the look on his face something between hunger and awe. “Hello, Obi-Wan,” he says breathlessly.

“'lo,” Ben slurs back, tongue clumsy. He definitely has a concussion.

Vader’s eyes narrow at the uncharacteristic greeting, using his free hand to comb through Ben’s hair in a gesture that’s familiar from their days at war. The hair at the back of his head is wet and matted; Vader’s fingers pull away coated with blood. “What happened?” The Sith demands, rounding on the Officer.

“W-we had to secure him somehow!” The man sputters, obviously startled by the Sith’s reaction. “I hit him with–”

He does not finish that sentence. With a jerk of Vader’s hand and swell of the Dark that turns Ben’s stomach, the Officer’s head twists, breaking with a sharp crack. His body tumbles lifelessly to the floor, and Ben frowns at it.

“Well, that was uncalled for,” he sighs, almost petulantly, and Vader’s attention returns to him. “Don’t see why it matters that he hit me, when you’re just going to kill me anyways.”

“I’m not going to kill you, Obi-Wan,” Vader says, stepping into his space. Ben strains weakly against the hold on him, tries to pull away from the hands that cup gently his face. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

This, Ben knows. It is the reason he had stayed in hiding: from the Imperials, the Rebels, and the remnants of the Jedi alike. With Vader’s dogged pursuit looming over him, he would have been a danger to everyone around him. But if Vader truly doesn’t wish to kill him, then—

“Why?”

The Sith’s smile is pitying. Ben hates it. “You know why, Obi-Wan,” he says, and Ben shakes his head in denial.

“No, I don’t.”

Vader is so close to him now, his breath ghosting across Ben’s face, nose brushing against his. If he weren’t being held up by the clones, he imagines he legs would be weak. This moment, this intimacy, is everything he once wanted. He’s disgusted to find that a part of him still wants it.

“Don’t lie to yourself. I know what you feel for me; I feel it, too. I need you as much as you need me.” He reaches into a pocket of his utility belt, producing from it something that looks suspiciously like—

A ring. It’s a simple thing: a wide, gold band, likely hand-crafted by Vader himself. Ben stares at it as though it is a poisonous viper. He’d had fantasies about a ring since he found out the truth of Anakin’s marriage, but they never went anything like this.

“You are going to be mine, Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Vader breathes into his ear, clones holding him still while he slides the band onto Ben’s finger. Then the Sith is pressing his lips hungrily to Ben’s own to seal a promise the elder never made.

He suddenly can’t help but mourn those monotonous days at port.

[prussianvenom]

Embraced by the Iris

Genji feels unease, he searches out his master in hopes to be comforted, to get his mind off things, to relax

Zenyatta certainly gives him this

It has been a good while since the younger Shimada has come to me.

A good while it's been since I've gotten to enjoy the other's presence.

Of course Genji still has a way to go before he reaches true inner peace and that does require some time to himself. So it is not unusual for me to be bereft of the other, even if it causes some longing in me. Though that is not unusual for me either.

My life has lightened up considerably since the other came into my stead. At first it was frustrating trying to deal with the other, but now that he had calmed down some he was an absolute joy to have around. The ninja is as playful as he is skilled and often will engage me in childish games like hiding my orbs or doing something foolish in an attempt to get me on my feet.

His youthful nature was something I desperately needed when I found him. It was not too long after I had lost my brother that the other started to lighten up around me. I believe he has given me as much peace as I have him.

We have had healed together.

In each other we have found tranquility.

Though I wonder if he realizes this.

I care for him deeply. With the resurgence of his brother I hope I can grant him that last bit of peace he craves, he needs. Unfortunately, now that I’ve met Hanzo I can see why it might be a difficult journey for the both of them. Hanzo talks about wanting redemption but seems to be a very difficult and stubborn person to deal with. It doesn't help that he's at ends with Genji's current being. I want him to see past that, that his brother still remains, even if his form is different.

“Master?”

Ah, speak of the devil. The man enters my room, almost shyly despite his usual confident behavior others.

“What is it my student? Are you feeling alright?”

“I do not think so master. I have that feeling again. That's something off, wrong...misplaced...missing.”

Oh, how unfortunate. Dysphoria. Angela had explained it to me when I told her I was going to be caring for Genji.  I cannot say I understand, being mechanical all my life. That being said, I can emphasize why the transition from flesh and bone to mesh and wire can affect someone's psychological health as such.

“Aaa, perhaps your mind and soul tire. Would you perhaps like to meditate with me? Or would you like to talk about it in depth? I will try to consult you the best I can.”

“I think...I think I would like to discuss it with you master.”

“Of course. What specifically feels off? What feels misplaced?”

“I've….Ive always been at odds with accepting my new body. I thought, or perhaps hoped, that the other members would understand my plight on some level seeing as a majority of them are fixed with mechanical limbs, but…...They don't. I don't know why I thought they would/ Missing a limb and missing one's entire being are very different. To feel a phantom pain of one's arm is nothing compared to feeling the phantom pain of your chest, your legs, your stomach y-”

“Genji.” I cut him off, I do not wish to see him stir himself up needlessly.

“I...I want someone, I want to to talk to someone who…”

“Understands?” I offer.

“Yes.”

“Do you think your teammates do not sympathize?”

“Sympathy and understanding are two very different things.”

“I think you misunderstand sympathy.” I say playfully and the other relaxes some, even chuckles quietly, though still tightly for my liking. “We all live different lives, and we don't always experience events as others would. Some of your teammates might be able to understand you more than others and others might not understand at all. That does not derive from their sympathy to you and your condition either. Imagine it this way my student, picture any of them going through the same thing you did. Do you think they would react the same?”

Genji silently nods and waits.

“What I'm saying Genji, is that, you may never meet someone who truly understands your plight because no one has gone through what you have, and even if they did there's a good chance they would experience it differently than you did.”

The other takes a moment to take in my words before he sits down within arms reach and removes the metal plating covering his face. He is handsome and scarred, inside and out, and thank the Iris that I am lucky enough to see him exposed and vulnerable.

“Thank you master.” He smiles at me before turning his gaze away. “There is something else I wish to discuss, to help ease me, if you will.”

“It would be my pleasure my student.”

“Even surrounded by my friends, people I've known for years and would consider my family, I still feel uneasy, like I don't belong, lonely.”

“Lonely?”

“Yes. It feels contrived, but there are still things I desire, human things, that I desire in my heart. Desires that I feel will go unfulfilled.”

“You are still human Genji,” He smiles “ Could it be you are speaking of romantic desires?”

“Yes, I suppose,” his face is slightly pink, how cute. “I never had any serious relationships when I was younger. I didn't think about love, about being with someone closely until it was too late. Now a man in his thirties, I would like to find someone.”

“What is the problem then? You are quite the catch.” I'm a little disappointed to see that the scowl that began to form on his face only further etched it's way onto his features.

“I'm this. Nobody wants this.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I imagine those who are interested in robotic beings are only interested in full on omnics, and I don't know many others that want a machine of a man.” He jokes, he smiles slightly, tight, trying to and failing in hiding the pain he feels in those words.

“You feel undesirable.”

“Yes.”

“Do you trust me Genji?:

“With my life master.” He does not question the change of subject. His outright devotion to me has me reeling sometimes.

“If you'd like, I can give you a special massage. It might not wipe away your feelings of inadequacy, but perhaps for a moment I can ease the pain. I want you to relax, to feel at ease, perhaps if we put the body at ease than the mind will follow.”

Genji looks at me as if he wants to question my motives. I do not blame him. My motives feel unclear to myself at the moment. I do want to help him. I do want him to be calm and relaxed, and I do want to get rid of his feelings of self-loathing, but I fear that my true intention might veer regardless of how pure hearted it started out as.

He nods, accepting my offer. I pat the ground in front of me and he moves to sit there with his back facing me. I doubt any other person but an engineer could admire this sight like I do. Even if mechanical, you can see the power in his form.

I reach out and carefully push against his spine. As I bring my other hand to press against his shoulder blade I hear a content sigh leave marred lips. The material is strange. Armor and flexible metal mesh combined in a beautiful humanoid form. I can feel the artificial strands of muscles relax under my fingers as I continue across his back and along the sides of his neck. My curiosity gets the best of me as I push a finger underneath the armor plating of his shoulder blades, my fingertips dancing along the wires that lay there. Genji flinches and his breath hitches but otherwise he says nothing. My other hand pushes under the opposite shoulder blade. The mechanisms are warm and the wires appear to be receptive if Genji's small restrained reactions are anything to go by.

I can't help but wonder what I'm doing to him. If I was causing him pain I'm sure he'd tell me, same goes for if I was causing him discomfort. Yet he says nothing about my exploration. I push deeper until I'm able to massage the wires steadily with my hands. Mindlessly, or perhaps not, I let a little spark of static flow out from my fingers. Genji jolts, the noise leaving his throat foreign. He stays in place. His breathing is deeper, erratic. I cannot tell if I'm easing him or unintentionally riling him up more. Seeing him like this has stirred something inside me as well. Consciously or not so, again, I'm not so sure, I blink into another state of mind, arms forming a ring behind me. Only when one of the hands touch Genji's sides does he move away. Only then do I become aware of the hands, manifested in my desire to touch more. His face is red and he looks shocked when he sees the multitude of arms, some of which are already fading back into nonexistence.

“Is something wrong my student? Have I misstepped our boundaries?” I certainly hope not. I would be horrendously bereaved if destroyed any chance of seeing my student so open again.

“N-not exactly.” His face gets redder and he looks off to the side again. I regard him for a moment, studying him carefully. He refuses to make eye contact with me and he seems embarrassed.

Oh…

Ohhhh…

Oh my.

This certainly wasn't what I intended when we started.

“Are you aroused Genji?”

“Master!”

“Am I wrong?” Genji laughs brokenly and hides his face in his hands.

“You are horribly blunt.”

“Have you known me to beat around the bush?”

“No I suppose not. You are as brazen as ever.”

“You are avoiding my question Genji.” He goes quiet, he removes his hands to fidget at his sides.

“It is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Yes, I am.”

“I was not aware your body was outfitted to do such things.” Genji smiles and awkwardly scratches his neck.

“Angela wanted to make me as human as possible.”

“Did they succeed?”

“Master!”

“Was that inappropriate? I apologize for my curios-”

“No! It's fine.” His face is as red as my sash at this point.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying teasing the other. He's in a better mood now, so regardless, I'm thankful.

“I do not mean to embarrass you Genji.” I lie.

“ Of course, I, I understand master.” there's a moment where we just behold each other quietly before either of us speak.

“Master, if I may?”

“Yes Genji?”

“While we’re on this subject. Can...can omnics engage in sexual activity? Or is that another thing that makes me unlike you?” I chuckle deeply.

“There are a great many things that make us unlike each other. That is not one of them. Omnics can, if they so desire, engage in sexual contact. If they are not already, they can be outfitted with  genitalia of their choosing.”

“Are you?” Hm? How unexpected.

“Outfitted for such activities I mean.” I had not expected this. What does he hope to do with such knowledge? Is he interested in me? Though that could be wishful thinking on my part and he is just as curious of my form as I am of his.

“Yes, I am.”

“Oh,” He gives me a heated look.”Have you felt arousal?”

“Yes,” I pause, “ I feel it now.” His eyes widen and he stiffens.

Perhaps that was the wrong answer. I know my bluntness can be embarrassing for the other. We share another tightly wound silence before I offer him a seat before me again.

“Would you like to continue our massage? Or have I made things awkward?”

Genji doesn't answer, he considers something before sitting in front of me again. The arms knowingly manifest themselves this time and I get back to work once more. My actual hands traced up the ridges of his spine, the golden ones pushed under various plates to grope at sensitive wiring underneath. Genji sighs breathily and leans back into my embrace. With him closer I can feel more of him.

“I-it's hot.”

“The hands?”

“Yes.”

“Is it bad?”

“Oh god no.”

Genji moans and I feel the urge to see something else parting those lips. It's a shame I do not have lips because I greatly desire to press them to his. One of the hands reaches up to gently push against the cyborg's lips. They're soft, plush, warm. He gasps at foreign contact. I let out a wave of electricity through my limbs, shocking him, jolting him in my arms. The nonphysical hands push deeper into the wiry mechanisms of his body. His voice gets louder and I get more reckless with the Iris. For a moment I touch beyond physical and Genji lurches forward and out of my touch. Genji turns around quickly and stares at me with wide questioning eyes. For someone as old as he, he looks younger than I technically am. Innocent even.

“W-what was that?”

“My apologies, with the Iris I touched what can be considered your soul.”

Genji crawls back into my embrace, facing me now.

“It felt...I'm not sure...I..”

“I understand Genji, being embraced the Iris is, indescribable.”

“Master..” He inches closer, I can feel his breath against my face.

“I think such titles are inappropriate at the moment Genji.” Genji smiles slyly and looks his age for once.

“Zenyatta.”

I feel an electrical trill, something akin to a shiver, run up my spine. It isn't the first time he's said my name, but this is the first time I've heard it said so….lewdly.

“Zenyatta, can I kiss you?” I laugh.

“I do not see how, but feel free to do as you wish.”

He smiles and presses his lips against the golden plating of what would be called my face. I can feel the heat as he pushes closer until his chest is pressed to mine. I fell a bit ridiculous on his part. To kiss unmoving metal has to be strange? Wouldn't it?

I put the hands forth again, now massaging and caressing the inside of his chest and torso. He breaks his kiss to pant and moan wetly against my face.

“Genji.” I try to get his attention. I run one of the hands up his thigh. “Genji would you like to experience it first hand?” He looks confused, eyes dazed and hazy.

“Experience what?” “Omnic love making.” His eyes take on a dangerous glint in the low light and he wraps his arms around my neck.

“I would love nothing more Zenyatta.” The hands flicker brightly in conjunction with my excitement and Genji chuckles. “And it appears you do too.”

The hands are removed from his chest, at least a majority of them are, and replaced on the man's thighs and posterior. With my real hands I grope the metal plating caressing the conjunction of his groin. Genji gasps and grinds into the palm of my hand.

“Genji, have you used these parts before?” He shakes his head pathetically.

“I was busy finding peace. I did not think to-”

“You didn't even think of trying it out? As a human man, especially one like yourself, I thought you would have at least given it a try.”

“A-Are...Are you making fun of me?” He chides playfully.

“Of course not my student. I just thought, surely, in the lonesome of the temple you would have relieved yourself of your frustrations.”

A fluorescent hand crawls down his back into the seam of his backside. With the material hand I find the switch on the groin plating to release it. Genji squeals as his genitals are exposed for the first time. He looks down to inspect himself. I give him a moment to take this unknown part of himself in. He moves his hand off my shoulder to travel in between his thighs. His eyes widen when he finds that he is equipped with both genitals. I give him another moment to take that in. It's probably shocking as a man. So I say nothing and caress him gently with the hands of the Iris.

“I….I-i have a vagina?”

“It is not uncommon to be outfitted with both.”

“Angela-”

“Probably did not want to assume your preference.” He whimpers quietly as he pushes a finger pass the wet lips of his synthetic vagina.

“I-it's so sensitive.”

My patience is being tested.

I want to touch him, to replace his hand with my own. I want to give him pleasure beyond belief.

“Do you need a moment?” His eyes snap back to me as if he had forgotten I was there.

“No...I want to see you too.” His hands grab mindlessly at the sash around my waist.

“Impatience is unbecoming.”

“Don't lecture me on patience,” Genji smirks. “Especially when you are so close to losing it. Not to mention you're the one who initiated it.” He can read me so well. Pity, I thought I was doing a fine job trying to hide my excitement.

I lean back and let the sparrow do as he pleases with my clothes. He sits back for a moment to inspect me the same.

“You have both also.”

“Yes I fig-AHhh!” He cuts my sentence short by plunging 2 whole fingers inside me.

“You're so wet and warm~. So hard master~.” My hips lift subconsciously. I grab his wrist weakly in an attempt to stop the sudden onslaught on my body.

“Genji, my sparrow, this is supposed to be about you. If you, ah, if you please, I would like to c-continue my massage.” Genji pouts and retracts his fingers and he leans back.

“Ok then, how should I be? Or rather, how do you want me?~” Genji winks.

“For your comfort I would suggest you lay down.”

I'm absolutely mesmerized as his lithe body stretches and lays itself before me. Once he's situated I smooth my hands down the expanse of his torso and lay them on his hips The hands manifested take place on his thighs, soothing and caressing, searching for every sensitive node hidden in the mechanical intricacies of his body. Two hands press closer in between his thighs as I inch another closer to his cock.

“Z-zen please.”

“Please what my sparrow? You have to voice your thoughts clearly for your desires to be heard.”

Genji groans and tosses his head back in frustration.

“Touch me, please.”

“I am touching you Genji.”

“Master.” Genji glares at me, though it hardly has any heat behind it.

“Yes my sparrow?”

Genji grabs my silver wrists and placed my hands on his cock, hissing in relief as he does so. I feel giddy at this man, 14 years my elder, impatiently struggle to get off. I wrap one hand loosely around his cock and move two of my other hands to pull his pussy wide open with my thumbs. He moans high in his throat and bucks against me. A material hand and a golden hand press his hips down against the wooden floor. With the last 3 hands  I caress every imaginable inch I can of the cybernetic body. Genji's crying, moaning, sweetly and openly, struggling so sweetly against the hands holding him. Carefully, gently, teasingly I push the tips of my thumbs into the entrance of his pussy. He whines and tries to thrash about more.

“How does it feel my sparrow? To have both?”

“I,” He laughs breathlessly. “I'll have to t-thank Angela later.”

“Good?”

“I-it's so good m-master.” I accidentally push a thumb deeper than intended. Genji gasps and smiles brightly up at me.

“Saying master is inappropriate huh?”

“Chirpy little sparrow aren't you?” Genji laughs, a laugh which bites off into a groan as I pull apart the wet muscular walls of his pussy.

“I-it's not e-enough master.”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“I want you inside m-me, I-i want you to fuck me.” Genji tosses and whines.

“How blunt of you my sparrow.”

“Not o-one to beat a-around the bush.”

“Are you sure? You don't want to be stretched first?”

“D-don't imagine a-artificial flesh can tear that easily and besides,” Genji moves to push a couple fingers inside with my thumbs. “Look how wet I am.~”

I retract my hands. Does this man know the power he holds over me? Years building iridescent patience is crumbling quickly at his hands, crumbling at the hands of a simple broken man.

“Genji, you are far too flippant with your body.”

My words betray my actions as my fingers push deeper inside his pussy along with his own.

“Just imagine how Angela would react if I had to bring you in because of your excitability. Imagine how she would look at us. How upset she would be if I destroyed such a beautiful creation of hers. Do you want that?” Genji throws his head back against the floor.

“Master pl-please.” Genji whines and pulls my wrist, gagging to have my fingers deeper.

“Does it feel that good my student?”

Even in his haze he still nods his affirmation and mutters praise to me in his native tongue. There are not many times where I wish I had a more humanoid shape, but this is certainly one of those rare moments where I desperately crave.

I want to kiss him, to trace the crevice of his mouth with a tongue of my own. I want to mark him. I am not granted many possessions, but I want him to be one of them, I want to own him. I want him to be mine and mine alone. Only this creature of metal and flesh can incite such dark and powerful feelings inside of me.

All hands join where my fingers are inserted. Genji's eyes widen and he is struck mute when he sees 8 golden hands approach his dripping opening.

“Ze-Zenyatta?” His voice is trembling with excitement bordering fear. Maybe this is not the best course of action but even my own mind is hazy and I cannot find it in myself to care.

“I would not fret sparrow, after all it is as you said,” fingers from all hands, from all sides, press slowly against his cunt.” I don't imagine artificial flesh can tear that easily.”

Genji's jaw falls slack as 8 fingers very abruptly enter his wet, wet pussy. Its secreting a green luminescent fluid I assume is his body's natural lubricant, and i find myself weirdly entranced by it. Entranced by the way it leaks out and down the seam of his ass and puddles onto the floor. Entrance by the stream crawling down my fingers to my wrist all the way down to my elbow.

I believe I'll have to extend my gratitude to Angela as well.

Genji choked on his tongue as his hips twitched sporadically, unsure whether or not to rock into the fingers or flinch away.

“How does it feel my student?” Genji lifts his head to stare at me with bright gleaming eyes. I can see tears brimming at the edges.

“T-too much~.” the cyborg chokes out.

“I thought you wanted more sparrow.” I tease a ninth finger around the spread edge. Genji tenses and sobs out a broken sound.

“F-f-fuck p-please Zenyatta.” A tear finally cascades down the scarred cheek of my precious bedmate and I feel shamelessly proud.

“My sweet, sweet 緑のスズメ.” Genji cries out and throws himself back against the floor. “You have to use your words or I cannot give you what you want.” Genji pauses and looks at me, truly looks at me, as if he were looking into me.”

“म तिमीलाई चाहन्छु”

The energy that surges through my body fizzles the luminescent hands and travels through Genji's body. We both gasp and groan at the sensation.

I had no idea.

I feel a warmth not attributed to arousal bloom within in the wires powering me. I am awash with endearment as the harsh Nepali is repeated through my mind.

“Of course, I apologize for my teasing sparrow. I had briefly forgotten that this is to relax you.”

I allow the hands to retreat from his stretched entrance to hold him. They pull him closer, cares his thighs slowly, gently. I let my own hardness rest against his entrance before I slowly press the head of it forward. Genji sighs and wraps his legs around my waist loosely. I take a moment before pushing in completely. The heat is something I don't think I could ever have imagined, the only thing comparable would be the Iris itself.

“How is it Genji?” The nin shoots a half-cocked smirk up at me and shifts hips closer to mine, wiggles his ass against me.

“You, you were built well.” I chuckle and start a slow pace.

I treat my movements like a gentle wave, and receive pleasure as like. It feels like an ocean of molten heat running through my body and lights up my circuits.

The embrace of the Iris heightens every sense and covers us both with a warm light. More hands begin to manifest and cover the cyborg in tantalizing and fleeting hot touches. Genji braces his hands on the floor and tries to set his own pace, faster his body begs. I am all too happy to appease. Hands lift his waist, angle him, pull him forward for a faster more desirable pace. Genji bites his lip and claws at the floor.

Metallic slaps join his voice in the broken rhythmic song our actions are creating. I lose control of pace and very quickly my own awareness. Things began to blur at the edges with blinding light. Genji appears in the same state through the haze. His hands curl around two of the many hands covering him. He's sobbing pleasure and I can feel deep inside him that he is close.

“Genji are y-”

“H-hai! A-a little more.~”

I curl over to press my face against his. it's the closest sentiment I can get to a kiss. Genji latches onto my neck and pulls my face closer, pressing sloppy wet kisses against it as he jerks violently in my grasp, panting hotly against my face as his insides clamp almost painfully around my length as he stills and rolls through his orgasm.

My vision burns and blacks out as I follow quickly after. When it comes back to I'm greeted with the sight of Genji, now free of the golden array of hands, panting and looking up me dazedly. He is, he is perfect and I've never been so happy in my life. This moment is precious, it is precious and everything I could ever desire in this world.

“愛する人よ、いかがお過ごしですか” The green hair tussles as he laughs. Most likely at my subpar Japanese. His hands trace the slight scratches left in the metal of my face.

“म शानदार छु, धन्यवाद”’

“Your Nepali has improved drastically. When have you been practicing?” The other giggles childishly and kisses me gently.

“Whenever I could find the time, I may have put off some meditation to do so.”

“Mm? For my sake? Genji you s-”

“I shouldn't have? It paid off didn't it?” He grins impurely. I laugh and pull out carefully, not wanting to touch anywhere too over sensitive. He sighs happily and pulls me to lay next to him.

“Do omnics get tired too?”

“Yes, I am anything but though.”

“Ah, a reinvigorating massage for you, a tiring one for me.”

“Genji.”

“Yes my master?”

“I know my feelings are not so easily understood but-”

“I understand your feelings Zenyatta. I know that you wouldn't have done something like this unless you harbored well,” He turns onto his side, the setting sun behind him, like a halo. “The same feelings I did. I wouldn't have asked such things if I didn't think this would be the outcome.”

“So am I to believe this is your way of confessing?” Genji laughs lowly.

“This comes to me a lot easier than words do.”

“I hope that doesn't stay the case, I wish you to be able to talk to me freely.”

“ I already do.”

“A lot of that is my interpretation of what you're trying to say.”

“And you interpret me so well.” I snort and run a hand through his hair.

“I hoped I helped?”

“Oh definitely, I'll have to repay you for such a lovely massage.”

“Oh? Do you have something in mind?”

“Wouldn't you like to know.” I laugh.

I shouldn't encourage him. Shouldn't encourage this behavior.

Though….

I suppose it couldn't do much harm….

We all deserve to be selfish sometimes.