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qvid-pro-qvo · 4 years

Note

Hi, can you use #37 from 100 ways to say I love you, and use #2,3,35, and 56 from 75 random dialogue prompts with Hotch? If you can't do all of them, that's okay. Thank you! :)

aaron hotchner x gender neutral reader.

word count: 1386

rating: mature, for conversations with raised voices and realizations of what it could be like to live without someone (canon-typical mentions of violence, guns, and thankfulness for bulletproof vests. hurt/very little comfort).

Your hands are shaking, and you push through the haze of your mind to reach for your phone. You press ‘one’ on speed dial, and it rings. Once. Twice. Your hands are still shaking, so you put the phone on speaker and start pacing in your room.

“Hotchner.”

You can’t help your jump when he answers. Maybe he hears the hitch in your throat, but he doesn’t press. Doesn’t say anything else until you catch your breath.

“When’s our flight?” That’s what you finally ask him, after minutes on end with nothing more than your breath filling the space.

“Our flight?”

“Our flight home. Back to Virginia.”

You can’t hear his breathing, but you have a feeling he’s rubbing his forehead with his fingers. Maybe even heaving a deep sigh. You’re not stupid, you know what this looks like. You know what it sounds like. It sounds like a nightmare come to life.

But that was yesterday. This is today. This is the morning. More accurately, 4:30 AM.

“Hotch.”

“10:30.”

“Make it earlier.”

He sighs, and this time you can hear it. But you push on. “Make it earlier. You need to see a doctor, and we need to get home.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

Your frustration bleeds through your teeth. “Hotch –“

“I can’t –“

“Aaron, I swear to fucking God I’ll drive you there myself. I’m getting in a fucking car and I’m driving there, and there’s nothing you’ll be able to say about it because you’ll be tied up and in the damn backseat.”

That gets him. Gets him moving, you can tell by the rustle over the phone. To his credit, he doesn’t hang up. When you hear the knock on the door, and open it, you hear him behind you and in front of you.

No wonder he answered. Hell, he’s still in his fucking suit, the one he changed into after… everything. His tie is loose around his neck, and you glare at it like you glare at him.

“I’m not going to the doctor.”

“Says you.” You’re pissed, when you look at him, suddenly, because all you see are the bullets caught in his vest. He’s an idiot, he’s irredeemably stupid, in that moment, and you want to slap him. “We need to head home. Fly home before you get yourself almost killed. Again.”

He doesn’t say anything, but you let him push into your room. When the door closes behind him, he takes his jacket off, tosses it on the bed you’re using in the hotel.

“You want to talk about this?” he grounds out. “You really want to talk about this?”

“Yes. I do. Because something tells me that when you pull stupid shit like that, out there, you’re giving all the rest of us a middle finger, Aaron. You ever think about that?”

His sleeves are being rolled up, and you know he’s containing every bit of anger he has. “Well?”

“I don’t… dammit, I don’t risk my life without thinking about the consequences first,” he bites. It’s taking everything he has to keep his sentences short, to the point. You know it. He knows it. But you’re past that.

“Bullshit. There are moments you scare the hell outta me, and all I get to do is sit back and watch.” You step closer, poke a finger at his chest. “You got shot today, Aaron! You got shot at! And all you had to say after was ‘good work, team’?” You throw your hands up in the air, turn around to balance yourself against the wall.

He watches you turn, takes a step towards you. “I made a calculated decision. I did what the team needed me to do. I was acting as the Unit Chief and if you can’t handle that –“

“If I can’t handle that?! God, who the hell do you think I am? I’m not a first-year agent struggling to make it. I’m just – can’t I be worried about you without getting brushed off?”

There’s silence. It’s heavy. Thick. After a moment, you move to sit on the bed, next to his jacket, and he sits next to you, pushing the blazer up towards the pillows. He sits next to you, hands on his knees, and the two of you don’t look at each other, not for a long while.

“I’m sorry, but. I can’t guarantee that I won’t act without my own best interest in mine. Not if it means… not if it means making sure that the rest of that team is okay.” When he looks up, you can feel his gaze on your temple. “Not if it means that you’ll be okay. And… I understand, that if you need time away, or… can’t be on the team…”

You can’t help your chuckle. Hysterical, at that. “And what am I supposed to do if I lose you? Huh? The only person I’ve ever cared about like this? I don’t need your preservation, Aaron, let’s get that straight.”

Leave? Leave the team. Even now, even with how furious you are at him, it doesn’t even cross your mind. You’re with him. For now and forever. You take a couple of deep breaths. You haven’t said it out loud, yet, but it comes close to leaving your mouth before you take a deep breath again.

“Leave the damn team. God. Where is that coming from? I can’t – fuck, I can’t willingly or unwillingly bear to leave your side, Aaron, don’t you know that? And every time you throw caution to the wind, for a case, for a family, it hurts, but. You know I’m not leaving.”

He doesn’t speak. Just stares at you. You suppose you have tears in your eyes, but you’re not thinking about them, just letting them fall. “No, Aaron. I’m not leaving. You’ve got too much of a grip for that.”

It’s his turn to laugh. Raspy. Raw. “And you think it’s not the same for me? I couldn’t live without you.”

Your head shoots up, and you find your eyes meeting his endless ones. Unmatched depth, in those brown eyes, and something unreadable within. Something that’s slowly becoming clear, the longer you’re around him, the more you realize how much you –

Not now. Not now. Not when you’re still so mad, but even that is leaking from you as the night wears on, turns into early morning.

You’re mad. You are. But there’s so much more that you feel, and looking at him brings all of it to the forefront.

“God, can I kiss you?” you ask him. It’s out of nowhere and at the same time you know it’s what you have to say. Nothing else matters, and he sighs, offering you a little smile to pull the rest of the tension out of the room. It leaves nothing but exhaustion. He reaches out, hand moving to cup your cheek, then your neck. His hand’s so warm it feels like it’s scalding.

“Tomorrow.”

You raise a brow. It feels like something loosens in your chest. When he looks at you, touches you. “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, when we land. We’re going to go home, go to bed. We’re… going to sleep. And when you wake up, you’ll call me.” His eyes don’t leave yours, and you find yourself leaning closer, even as he talks. It’s just to be close to him. To enjoy the feeling of what it means to be the only person in his world. Hell, he’s said as much. “You’ll call me, and I’ll be there. And I’ll kiss you, then.”

You laugh. Out loud. It’s the first time you’ve laughed in what feels like forever, after being on edge, after watching those shots hit him. “You seem sure.”

“I’m a profiler.”

“So am I.”

“Aren’t you sure? After everything?”

Yeah. You are. He pulls you close, grips you tight, and hugs you. You can’t think, and you don’t before wrapping your arms around him, before burying your face into his shoulder, his neck.

“Please… please don’t scare me like that ever again,” you whisper to him. “Don’t do that, don’t risk your life like it’s nothing.”

He stiffens, but you keep holding him, and if anything, tighten your grip. “It’s not nothing, Aaron. Please. You’re everything.”

He nods. It’s gentle, but you feel it. “Okay. For you.”

#prompt fill #aaron hotchner x reader #hotch x reader #aaron hotchner #gender neutral reader #my fic #hurt/comfort #canon-typical gun violence

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itsbuckysworld · 6 years

Text

Together - Bucky Barnes x Reader

Request: @typicalgeekgoddess asked :A imagine with Bucky Barnes based off the song “Us Against the World” by Westlife?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader. (Enhanced!Reader : Very accurate sixth sense) Guest Appearance: The Avengers.

Warning: UH I’m new and I’m dumb so maybe all the Avengers/Marvel Lore isn’t like.. ya know... canon, but bare with me? Also, Language. ?

A/N: This was the first request I got and the song was so cute, i had never listened to it before! It was fun to write based on a song, I don’t think I’ve ever done it before. Thank you for leaving a request!! Smooches! xoxo, - L

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

FEEDBACK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Y/N your name | Y/L/N your last name |

You and I, we've been at it so long I still got the strongest fire You and I, we still know how to talk Know how to walk that wire

You and Bucky joined The Avengers around the same time. The first day he was introduced to everyone by Steve, you were being introduced by Fury. Sure, he had his eye on you for a while, because when wasn’t Nick Fury seven hundred steps ahead of the world’s plans, but he didn’t bring you into the mix until then, and you never thought you’d know why.

Except now, almost a year after it made perfect sense to everyone.

Despite Bucky being “The Winter Soldier” and his whole history being a sour topic in between the heroes at the compound, you had hit it off fairly well. Tony was quick to make you feel at home and how sneaky, spry and quirky you were immediately earned you the nickname ‘slick’ from the man. You couldn’t believe it, the Iron Man had given you a nickname, a not so wonderful one, but one nonetheless. Maybe it was the fact that you were both fresh meat, so to speak, but Bucky didn’t mind having you around. He either stuck to Steve or to you, and you both had similar expertise, so obviously Fury had a plan after all.

Bucky was a trained assassin, meaning that his combat skills were through the roof, possibly the best in the tower, and were only matched by your own and maybe Romanoff’s, which Steve realized during the first week of training the newbies, both men’s bright blue eyes colored every shade of impressed when you skillfully dove right under Bucky’s frame, and took his trusty knife from him. “Woah” Steve murmured when you stopped just centimeters away from the metal armed man’s neck. “You’re dead, tin-can” You flipped the knife between your fingers as you stepped back, handing it over to Bucky. “Not bad, slick” He gave you a smile. Steve didn’t know if he could handle any more surprises in the day. Bucky smiling? Truly a miracle.

And that was pretty much how your history had started. Bucky felt more comfortable around you knowing that most of the things that were new to him were also new to you, and he didn’t feel like an outcast, and there was something about the way you were so bubbly and smile-y that he enjoyed, even when you two looked like complete opposites, and he’s almost sure that your super sixth sense, that he found fascinating despite you not considering that anything like a superpower, was so good you could hear his thoughts because you always knew what to say.

It was exactly that, that made him like you so much, to the point where he couldn’t help liking you as more than just another teammate.

It took him a while to say anything, always flirty but nervous, but Steve kept mocking him and pushing him to talk to you about it “You have nothing to lose, you guys get along so well” “Yeah, but what if it makes it awkward, in missions and stuff?” “I don’t see how you guys finally talking about how you clearly feel about each other wouldn’t help your dynamic” Steve says, shaking his head and looking at Bucky with those piercing blue eyes that give him a surge of confidence along with a little fear.

And Bucky found out sooner rather than later that Steve was right. There was no way you two together could do any harm. In fact he’s sure Fury planned it all, even him liking you this much. So when he finally says something, you’re giving him the biggest smile as your cheeks flush red. “I like you too, Bucky” and you don’t even get to say much before Tony steps in, calling you over to the meeting room to brief you on the next mission. Bucky feels at ease as he sits by you, your hand in his giving him butterflies and kissing you on the lips whenever there was silence. “Sorry are we writing a shitty rom-com or are we infiltrating this damn base?” Tony said looking around, happy that he was getting a lot of material to mock you and Bucky for the rest of forever. “Language” you joked, pulling away from you and causing the room to laugh.

When we're together I feel so invincible

You were paired with him in missions all the time, your skills put together always adding up to great assets, especially when it was crucial to stay undercover.

Bucky barrel-rolled form cover to cover on the roof of the facility you were infiltrating one windy night. His knife safely tucked away in his utility belt along with guns and ammo. “Shhh!” you said barely above a whispered “I’m not making a sound!” he replied back looking at you in disbelief. He was a trained assassin, he knew how to blend into the night. “No, someone’s coming” you mouthed, running to take cover right next to him, and before he could refute that he heard nothing, there it was, the indisputable sound of footsteps. With a quick nod you both prepared to take out the enemy stealthily, almost like a silent dance.

You took down the two men that approached from a door to the roof, in tandem. You and Bucky had been doing this for long enough to know little signals and sounds that sprung you into action. “Piece of cake, Y/L/N” Barnes mumbles with a grin and you scoff. “You only knew they were coming cause I’m here, Barnes” you smirked “I don’t want to know what you would have done without me” “But I am with you, don’t have to worry about that, do I?” he gave you a small wink and you chuckled “Nah, we’re in this together” “Mission now, flirting later” You heard Tony say through your ear, immediately making both you and Bucky roll your eyes and knocking you back into work mode. On your way there you’d been super quiet, sitting next to each other and talking loved-up nonsense, fingers intertwined and silly lovesick smiles on both your faces. You tried to keep it down when the comms were turned on but it was hard for Bucky to keep himself from kissing your temple and your cheeks, and just to annoy Clint and Tony, he pressed a very wet kiss on your lips right before you had to jump into action.

With another quick movement you had walked into the base while your partner stayed and guarded behind you. Surely more guards would show up at some point, and it was best to be ready.

“I’m in, Stark” you whisper, the comms surely picking it up. Bucky catches the silhouette of Stark’s suit over him, going over the building to the other side to take care of his part in the mission as you picked a lock and stumbled upon a room which walls consisted upon towers and towers of high tech. It was time to collect some data.

The download was almost full when you felt it. They knew. They knew you were there. Tony’s voice came in through your ear piece with distress. “Uh, slick, tin-can...” he didn’t need to say more. “We have company, Barnes” “I have the one up front” that was Tony, the sound of engines taking off rang through your ears as you could imagine him taking flight and fending off enemies by the other side of the building. “Fuck, I see them” the soldier announced and then you heard the shots. It took you a second to jump over desks and cables, rushing to help Bucky “Stay with the data! I’ve got this” he yelled. You doubted for a moment, your body midway between the computer that needed you to check up on all the codes and encryption popping up randomly – it was a very strong firewall – and the door that lead out to where Bucky was currently punching his way through guards armored till their last breath. “Bucky” “Stay, Y/N” you heard more shots and grunting.

The computer beeped and you took that as your sign to rush out and help him, quickly snatching the USB away and placing small EMP mines that would clear out the data in the room along with normal detonators to leave no trace of the facility behind, a clear message that the avengers had won.

Us against the world You and me against them all

You run, quickly jumping into the air and landing a kick on a guy that was about to stab Bucky in the shoulder. “Hey, I had him” the dark haired man says, running his metal fingers through the falling strands. “Sure thing” you winked, getting into a crouched pose, ready to attack on whoever came next, and much like a choreography, with smiles on your faces, you took down bad guys with swift moves and expert knife-handling, sliding under them between their legs and combining throws and punches with Bucky and his always handy arm.

It didn’t take long to clear out enough of them to let Tony know you had the data and it was time to leave, and on queue, there was Clint with the Quinjet ready to pick you up. “Uber’s here, Barnes” you joked twisting a guys neck and hearing the disgusting yet satisfactory crack and pop of bones. “Call me Uber one more time, kid, I’ll leave you in the middle of the desert” “Aww, uncle Barton don’t be mean” you say through the comms and Bucky bursts out laughing.

The laughter is cut short when the enemies start rushing in, making it impossible for you two to escape the roof for the time being, and bringing in the heavy artillery. There’s gun’s of bigger weight and even grenades being lunched on every surface of the building, knocking you and Bucky into a panicked frenzy.

Aided by Barton on the jet with all of it’s high tech guns, and Tony who comes flying around to put in his two cents. “I see we’re throwing parties without inviting me over here” is the first thing he says when he lets out a blast from his hand, clearing a chunk of the men away from yours and Bucky’s struggling frames.

Bodies are flying left and right as Bucky uses his metal arm to chuck them away. “Barnes!” you call out when you see a clear path that will allow you to leave this fruitless fight behind. If your calculations were correct the detonators would set off any second now, and you needed to get off the building ASAP. “We gotta go!” “I got this!” “No! This place is gonna blow we need to go!” and with that he’s nodding at you, snatching a riffle from a guards hand and using it to cover you. “Go!”

I don't ever see the day that I won't catch you when you fall

Your feet guide you at an incredibly speed towards the Quinjet that Clint is turning around, the back of it dropped open ready for you as Tony covers from above. It’s when you’re at the edge that you stop and call for Bucky. You needed to get out of there now, and had to stop wasting bullets on these idiots. His enhanced body kicks in and he’s rushing to you faster than humanly possible. He jumps into the jet along with you, smiling when you seem to be in the safety of the metal bird, a relief. ”We did it, huh” he murmurs, and you’re reminded of why you enjoy missions with Barnes. He’s a team player despite what anyone may think, and he always insists his wins are shared with you. You win together or you don’t win at all. “That was-” you can’t finish the sentence when a grenade lands at your feet, both you and Bucky stepping up to kick it away before it blows, and with a quick misstep you’re sliding back down from the jet, about to face an incredibly dangerous drop. “Y/N!”

The scene goes almost in slow motion for him, you slipping away from his grasp and through the open backdoor of the jet, the beginnings of an explosion you’d set up yourself a harsh irony that mocks both of you. There’s something feral and almost animalistic to his instincts as he grabs a stray rope that’s still tied to the inside of the Quinjet from last time when Steve, Sam and Natasha had to secure a big load inside it, and he’s fast to wrap it around his metal arm for more security, his body diving right after yours, and in mid air as red and orange flames burst behind you in a big boom, giving you a glow, one he hates because it screams how close he was to losing you, his flesh hand reaches out and grabs you just in time, before you could slip past his fingers once more. “I got you!” His breathing is erratic, along with his heartbeat that is out of control. No mission made his heart rush as fast as the scene in front of him. His face is covered by his hair, drooping down thanks to the gravity and his eyes are glazed over with pure fear, one he hasn’t known since the 40′s.

Then you hold me close And you make it better When I'm with you I can feel so unbreakable

You’re having trouble calming your breaths as well, the whole scene had gone a lot differently in your mind, and the moment you saw him jump after you, you worried and feared for both your lives, but now you’re swaying in the wind behind the Quinjet as Clint screams that you’re both insane and “Barnes you better hold on to her!” as he swerves around trees and tries to put distance between the flames and the plane. You can’t help but laugh at the situation, eliciting a chuckle from your partner as well. “For fuck’s sake, Buck” “Hey. We’re in this together, aren’t we?” he gives you a smile despite still having to focus on keeping a death grip on you and the rope as Tony swoops down from even higher above to help you two back inside the cabin.

When you’re in the safety of the jet you hand Tony the usb and lay down on the floor of the cabin, wanting to take a much needed break. That was insane. “Can’t believe not even your freaky sixth sense saved us from this” The Winter Soldier says as he lays down beside you, his body heat giving you warmth with how close he presses his body to yours. You’re comfortable with it, wanting the ease that it filled you with. “Shut up Barnes. I had it under control” “Sure you did. Not sure what you’d do without me here” “Guess I’ll never have to find out huh? you say before turning over and laying your head on his chest. You’re thankful for Bucky and the strong connection that has built up between you two. His cheeks are a little red but he lets himself hold your hand tight. “Nope. We’re in this together” he whispers to your ear before closing his eyes.

You can hear Tony scoff in the distance and direct himself to Clint. “Can’t the finish a mission without flirting all the time?” “Young love, Stark. Young love” “He’s a hundred years old, Barton” “But my hearing’s pretty good!” Bucky yells causing you to burst out laughing.

A/N: frankly the song is wonderful and I’ve just realized that I suck at writing based on a song. It’s my first time doing so, so maybe that’s why this isn’t as good as I pictured it in my mind. There’s not a lot of romance and I know that’s what the song’s all about, but I think that it also worked for their dynamic this way. I would love to write more on these two and their actual romance and maybe give more backstory on the first few months of them meeting how that was, so maybe this a little sandbox you guys can ask drabbles for? Aaaah I don’t know.

Requests are open! Have a good day lovelies! HERES MY ASK ||| Studious xoxo L.

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kingofthewilderwest · 6 years

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I don't know if someone asked this before, I hope no... so I would like to ask you, if they are Vikings of Berk, what kind of dragons the Voltron team would ride?

Friend, if I got asked this question ten million times, I would still be stoked beyond belief every time it entered my inbox! Combining my love for How to Train Your Dragon with my soul for Voltron? Things cannot get any better than this! In truth I’ve only talked about this topic very, very briefly in the past, at a point before I had delved deeply into the lore of Voltron. The VLD/HTTYD crossover I have planned to write - but admittedly shall probably never get to - goes the other way, with Hiccup and company as Paladins. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk in depth about what types of dragons the Voltron team would ride, were they Vikings in the Barbaric Archipelago.

Admittedly much of this assigning is done by pairing the Voltron characters with HTTYD character counterparts. It’s extremely easy to make comparisons, for instance, between Shiro and Hiccup, when they’re both the defined leaders of the group, canonically ride something Black, have a purple-based weapon, have missing limbs, have to learn to trust the individual they ride, and so on and so forth. So my choices for VLD characters riding dragons is heavily influenced by that comparison reference, but I still do think that assigning dragons this way comes to wonderful matches.

Hunk Garrett: Gronckle

Hunk and a Gronckle is a match made in Valhalla. These two could not be better suited for one another.

Hunk is an individual with an abrasively bold fighting style, preferring to smash with strength and overpower others by ramming them. He’s got that sense of someone aligned with the earth element, given as he is a very grounded person with a power-based approach in skirmishes. The Gronckle in turn is a Boulder Class dragon with a solid body and enormous bludgeon-like tail. This creature has the same solidity that our boy Garrett has.

Even if Hunk never has to fight a battle on a dragon, the Gronckle’s groundedness is something that would inevitably attract Hunk. Thinking in terms of flight, the Gronckle might have more nuanced steering control than a non-pilot-oriented-mind like Hunk’s would need, but Hunk would love the fact Gronckles are slow and steady fliers. He’d prefer this far over fast and flashy. On a Gronckle, Hunk would feel safe and secure.

Not only does the Gronckle match in terms of being a “solid” dragon, but its sweet-tempered personality combines well with Hunk’s own character. Hunk can be fierce and bold when he wants to, but when he’s feeling peaceful, which is most of the time, he is a friendly, good-natured sweetheart, just like a Gronckle. Both Hunk and Gronckles are upbeat and kindhearted companions with a loving nature.

Even the fact Gronckles can make Gronckle iron would attract Hunk, our engineer, who would probably have something genius and nerdy to say about this alloy. It might not be too far-fetched to suggest that Viking Hunk would work as a blacksmith or shipwright. In that case a Gronckle’s ability to regurgitate molten metals would be infinitely valuable in Hunk’s trade.

Keith Kogane: Monstrous Nightmare

I feel like Keith and a Monstrous Nightmare is another great match.

Monstrous Nightmares are strong-willed, temperamental dragons. Once considered the ultimate dragon to take down and kill, now Monstrous Nightmares represent some of the hardest local dragons to successfully train. It takes someone with a fierce personality like Keith’s to garner the dragon’s respect and successfully build a bond between Nightmare and rider.

These are the same skills, in fact, that Allura says are needed to be Paladin of the fire elemental Red Lion, “temperamental and the most difficult to master.” The Monstrous Nightmare may be more physically powerful than other dragons, but like the Red Lion, they can also be “more unstable.” Keith would need to rely on instincts and skill to ride a Nightmare, just as he needs to to pilot Red.

It’s true that the Monstrous Nightmare doesn’t have the same sort of speed and agility that Keith would probably want in a flying partner. This might mean that starting to fly a Nightmare would be akin to Keith’s first experiences in Black, struggling to control and maneuver through the skies. Nevertheless I feel that Keith would acclimate, and there’s something to be said that Keith riding a dragon that can literally turn on fire is… well… a fitting image for our fiery young man.

The personalities of Monstrous Nightmare and the Red Paladin are good matches, too. Keith would prefer a strong-willed, stubborn dragon over a squishy cuddler. He’d understand the dragon’s temperament, given as it’s much like his own.

Pidge and Matt Holt: Hideous Zippleback

If we’re looking at matching characters from VLD to potential HTTYD counterparts, it’d make the most sense to place Pidge and Chip in the role the Thorston twins have. Up until VLD, after all, Pidge and his brother were twins. Even now, Katie and Matt bear a striking resemblance, and they interact in such a close-bonded sibling way, that it’s not too odd to plop them in Ruff and Tuff’s position. We’ve even got the green theme running in common with them!

Pidge on her own I could imagine flying a swift, agile dragon, perhaps a Nadder. Still, there is something to be said that Pidge would love to fly a dragon with her brother. We see Matt copilot Green to help with Voltron cloaking technology in S4; here in a Viking AU I am sure the two would love copiloting a Zippleback to time the gas and spark. They could cloak themselves in a sea of green smoke if they wanted to hide from others’ view. They could high-five and chortle about chemical reactions if they needed the other dragon head to spark a huge, gaseous fire.

Not to mention… there’s something powerful in the image of Pidge, losing Matt, and riding on a two-headed dragon meant to carry two people. Pidge, solo rider of a Zippleback, searching the seas, visiting island after island, in search of her missing sibling.

Zipplebacks’ temperaments would work well with the Holts, too. Zipplebacks have a strong, protective element to show their care to Katie and Matt, while at the same time not being in-your-face or obtrusive - giving the Holts some of the introverted space they (especially Pidge) will need. Zipplebacks also are fairly tolerant dragons that allow any sort of ridiculous shenanigans to happen around them. Again, the Holts will need that. I’m sure they’ll be experimenting plenty with their advanced knowledge of Viking technology around the Zippleback. Last, Zipplebacks know how to have fun with their riders! Katie, Matt, and their two-headed dragon will make some quality moments together.

Lance McClain: Deadly Nadder

Lance is the person who wants a Monstrous Nightmare but ends up bonding with a Nadder. At first he believes he wants something with a lot of epic turning-itself-on-fire in a dragon - it’ll impress the ladies and make him look amazing - but Lance ends up fitting very well with the spine-shooting dragons. Deadly Nadders have some very fascinating defensive tactics Lance will love; not only is their fire extremely hot and powerful, but their spine shots allow for accurate long-range projectile fire. Our sharpshooter would quickly become the master of the single spine shot, though he’s got the brilliant tactics to know when a situation needs a broad swirl of spines, too.

Deadly Nadders can be curious, perky dragons, meaning Lance’s companion will be happy to follow along into any sort of tangle he wants to experience. The congenial personality of a Nadder will get along well with Lance’s own temperament. Lance is someone who might preen himself up as someone illustrious and great, but he is also someone who is loyal, dedicated, helpful, and supportive. Just like a Nadder!

The Nadder isn’t a Tidal Class Dragon, but that doesn’t mean its fit is worse for Lance. While the water-based Thunderdrum might have a sonic-based attack that could bear some parallels to Blue Lion, dragons like these don’t seem to fit Lance because of their obstreperous temperament. Now, Lance can be stubborn and hot-headed, that’s very true, but the relationship he has with Blue is of a more affectionate and supportive nature, and I think that’s what Lance would like in a dragon, too. This makes the Nadder a better bet. And besides, the Nadder might not have sonar, but its tracking abilities mean it can follow the trail of anything for days! That works great for Lance!

Allura: Deadly Nadder

Deadly Nadders fit with Allura in the same way that Deadly Nadders fit with Astrid. Allura can be warm and supportive; she can also be fierce. The Deadly Nadder has a good deal of all this in its temperament, and Allura would be able to relate to the dragon in all its facets. I don’t want to go through all the Deadly Nadder’s strengths and temperament qualities again, given as I just talked about Lance, but suffice it to say that Allura and Nadders are great for one another.

Really, Allura would be a master Deadly Nadder flier. She’s the one who could pull out the potential of the Nadder everywhere, from the dragon’s maneuverability to the dragon’s spine shot sweep. Like Astrid, initially Allura might be someone who is not comfortable on a dragon and might not seem ready to ride a dragon (trying a little too hard to control the dragon rather than let it make its own mind), but once she comes to understand the Nadder and its loyalty and its strengths and its mind, she becomes one of the best dragon riders in the Archipelago.

Takashi Shirogane: Night Fury

I’ve already mentioned how Shiro and Hiccup have a decent number of parallels. And if we want to make a complete counterpart Riders of Berk / VLD team, it only makes sense to toss Shiro on a Night Fury. Apart from character comparisons, though, the Night Fury isn’t a bad match.

Befriending a Night Fury could initially be a worrying thing for Shiro. Hiccup lost his mother to dragons; maybe Shiro’s team with the Holts had a terrible incident with dragons, too - Commander Holt and Matt getting whisked off by a Stormcutter when they’re on a far-seas voyage, or something along those lines. But Shiro has always been an individual impressively non-biased when it comes to approaching others. Despite experiencing Galra captivity for a year, Shiro is willing to solidify an alliance with the Blade of Marmora. In the same way, I could see a young Viking Shiro being willing, despite past bad experiences with dragons, to bond with one… to bond with a dragon that has always been considered “the unholy offspring of lightning and death.”

In this way, Champion would become Dragon Trainer; he’d survive the encounter with a dragon no one else is said to have survived from… and not only that, but Shiro would befriend it. It would probably take some time, it would definitely take a learning curve of trust, but Shiro is a determined individual who doesn’t give up on others. He would do what he could to solidify trust, loyalty, and friendship. And because Shiro wouldn’t give up on befriending a Night Fury, Berk could see its first Night Fury rider here.

In a way, Shiro befriending a Night Fury could help assuage some of the emotional and psychological struggles he’s carried with him since the mission he lost (or thought he lost) the Holts.

We don’t know everything about Night Fury temperaments because we’ve only had one example, but there are a few things safe to say. They’re intelligent dragons. They’re a bit reclusive sometimes. They seem to pick up on others’ emotions and thoughts well. I think those elements would align fine with Shiro and a potential dragon buddy; he’d enjoy a companion who might be shy and reclusive at times, especially at first, but who also is loyal like none other and willing to be there with him through anything.

(Shoot, I didn’t mean to accidentally describe Keith when I was talking about Night Fury temperaments… but maybe this just solidifies my point more?)

He and the dragon would understand each other - when Shiro feels confident, when Shiro wants some time alone, when Shiro’s struggling, when Shiro’s having an amazing day.

Coran: Hotburple

NEVER. FORGET. THE. GORGEOUS. MAN!!!!!!

I imagine seeing Coran riding a dragon that’s not quite as common on Berk as other species. And while Coran might like to imagine himself as a dashing, daring, bold, brave fashionista Viking pirate, I can also easily imagine him on an endearing dragon like this. Coran would love his Hotburple. A lot. He knows his Hotburples!!! You’d probably hear him complain when the Hotburple isn’t cooperating, but we know that Coran truly does love his big lumpy lug of a dragon.

#long post #httyd #How to Train Your Dragon #vld #Voltron #Voltron: Legendary Defender #Voltron Legendary Defender #Paladins #httyd au #au #analysis #my analysis #ask #ask me #awesome anonymous friend #anonymous #dragon #dragons

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arcadeidea · 4 years

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Spacewar! [1962]

Spacewar is still the first video game. Not technically: the developers of Spacewar were already aware of a playable Tic Tac Toe implementation on the very computer they were working on, which by that point was already a more-than-decade-long tradition for computers, not to mention Tennis For Two [1958]. (For greater detail on this cascade of history, watch Ahoy's fantastic and dry documentary The First Video Game.) These prior works are only trivia, though, and false starts all of them. They're what you find if you look at the past not on its own terms but on ours, applying a rigorous schema of definition aspiring to the condition of a science, searching for something specific they couldn't have known they had. Tennis For Two is the only game of that protozoic era to be relevant or even known of to anyone in the field for the next several decades, and even then all that was required of it was the mere fact of its existence (its status as a trivia item) for the sake of a something so banal as a lawsuit. They are worthy of honorary mention, but a medium is not a prescription, it is a chain of tradition. Not only is Spacewar wholly original and something only achievable with a digital computer and not an attempt at transferring a real-life game, but more importantly and ironically, it did not exist in a vacuum.

Spacewar is not something you apply a definition to, Spacewar IS the definition. Although nothing so strident and bold and definitive was intended as it would be with later games, when it was taken as a prototypical guide by those who followed, that is what it functionally became. Not to be too precious and romantic and mythologize it ("First there was nothing, then there was Spacewar!"), not to be too essentialist about it ("Spacewar contains the seeds for all what followed"), not to use it to answer What Doth Games and fall right back into the checklisting trap — but we can read the game itself as a manifesto, a collection of precepts and assumptions, and one of the creators (JM Graetz) was even considerate enough to give us an itemized list of exactly what the MIT Tech Model Railroad Group hoped to achieve in making Spacewar:

1) It should demonstrate, that is, it should show off as many of the computer's resources as possible, and tax those resources to the limit; 2) Within a consistent framework, it should be interesting, which means every run should be different; 3) It should involve the onlooker in a pleasurable and active way — in short, it should be a game.

The expressed reason video games exist as a distinct artistic medium, as anything more than a shadowplay of traditional games and sports, is to show off the power of our computers. I use that word — power — and not the more prosaic and accurate "computer resources" that Graetz used for a reason. It's 1962, and it can not be put out from anyone's mind, viewer, player, or creator, that computers would be instrumental in a real Space War of the foreseeable future. Or even a terrestrial war, which was the sole practical purpose and reason for the existence and funding of computers up to this point in history (if we take pure mathematics for its own sake as "impractical.") It's a show of force, it could even be a threat if it were leveraged in a Cold War propagandistic context against those with weaker or nonexistent computers and not with the giddy, childish innocence that it was created and received with. Better to call the spirit "utopian frivolity," though. Self-proclaimed hackers brought not only Spacewar to the system, but the music of Bach and by extension his rosy vision of the divine and human. Perhaps these programmers may have had their imaginations circumscribed and imprinted with the hitherto military legacy of computing, not to mention American culture... but these eggheads messing around saw the potential of computers reaching far beyond that, towards a hi-tech Arcadia. There's much to admire there, but it carries the unmistakable stench of classical tragedy, and Spacewar serves as a testament of the damnation from within: not just that it is a window into an imagined future of nothing but war, but that its explicit priority is the poisonous ambition to simply use more and more resources, again endemic to American culture as much as it is to future game development culture.

Things like "crunch" weren't around yet, of course. Spacewar is sometimes casually attributed to Steve Russell as the lead or main developer, as in the current lede of its Wikipedia article. The original concept was borne of three-man bull sessions with Russell, but then the very first step towards practical implementation was taken by a fourth man. Russell then created a barebones prototype, including the ships and their ability to turn and thrust and shoot (and it is not mentioned, but presumably, to die.) In response to playtesting, he added background stars. After that point, it became stone soup. Other people in the Tech Model Railroad Club would have a bright idea — bespoke controllers, accurate background stars, freshly optimized ship-turning code, death animations, hyperspace warp, and the big one, the central gravity-well star — and then just implement it themselves. The end result is a game that's simple, but surprisingly polished and full-featured, especially compared to our image of early games as clunky, primitive, blocky things. It reminds one of the hagiographic myth of early-90s Id, a very small team of friends having as much fun making the game as they are playing it, all leaving their personal touch on the work. Steve Russell was not the auteur with a hand on the tiller and an eye on his vision, but one crucial member of the team. It's all very kumbaya, non-hierarchical, no pressure, if we take testimony about its development on face value and don't chuck it out as rose-tinted nostalgia.

This stands in contrast to the game, which is a fantasy of violent domination in competition, with a definite winner. We could unpack the implications of that more, and what it all means that the very first video game was of war, but, well, we'll have plenty of chances to in the future to say the least. Two opponents, precisely balanced and equal in a space ballet, identical in every way except for visually (the distinctive silhouettes of the needle and the wedge are a minor triumph in character design.) Hey, maybe there's some Tic Tac Toe influence there! Spacewar's idea of gaming is inherently multiplayer, and that makes sense. Solo games like pinball or Solitaire card games exist, but the large majority of games at this point that inform what we understand a game to be are all communal activities. The game even came with inviting options to modify the game's parameters to suit the player's preferences.

[I must confess now: other than maybe a couple minutes at a computer museum with a partner, and a few minutes in the middle of writing this awkwardly sharing a keyboard on a browser emulator with my dad, I don't think I've properly played this. I'm just a tourist. Is this an analysis of Spacewar or of JM Graetz's The Origin Of Spacewar? This is more of a programming note than anything about the game, but part of why I'm starting this project is because I've always been on the outside looking in when it comes to gaming. I've always loved reading about games more than playing them, and this writing and canon-exploring endeavor is a hope that I can fill in the gaps and to force me to form my own thoughts. And what's the point if I can't well play the game for myself? Unless I change my mind, I'll be largely avoiding multiplayer games whenever I possibly can, because not only can securing a Player 2 in these early non-online games be an awkward or high barrier to clear for me, and not only are many of them ephemeral, and/or hard to fix in place and get a read on, such as here where the intention is that every run is different because of the guile and fumbles of your human opponent even though the game blatantly remains static, but their basic legibility depends even more than usual on practiced skill that I just haven't personally built up.]

The game is inherently hostile to your continued existence, and both players are only empowered to make it even moreso. Movement is constant, although very slow so as to facilitate strategic marksmanship over spray-and-pray. It's not an anxious atmosphere though, the edge of threat and action is what keeps the player engaged, throws them into interaction and thought. The central star is the key that makes this dramatic and dangerous gameplay: it makes it impossible to stay still, and it serves as the passive threat of death, one that can't be defeated, only negotiated. The only other gameplay element to speak of is your human opponent, but the star serves as the personification of the game itself. It shares something in common with the roulette wheel, not in the randomization which is more in play with the Hyperspace Warp Hail Mary, not even in the gravitational pull, but in the way it stands as an emblem that ultimately, you're playing the game on the terms of the game-maker and at the mercy of physics. Maybe it's only a small philosophical leap from playing against the computer's game and a player to designing a game played against only the computer.

Spacewar exists already at the fruitful intersection of abstraction, simulation, and fiction that games will never escape. You don't get to brake, but instead have to apply reverse thrust, in a nod to simulating what space flight would really be like. But you can pivot freely without applying any thrust at all as though on a Lazy Susan, so that your nose is always pointing in the opposite direction of the thrust for quick visual clarity. Your bullets don't obey gravity like your ship does. These have their respective knowingly-silly technobabble explanations, papering over the gap between simulation and abstraction with fiction. War is its name and theme, but it's really more of a duel, boiling war down to a single dogfight. Space is its name and theme, but it's not empty and it's not infinite, it's a closed area smaller than a sheet of paper that wraps around at the edges and corners, which if I'm visualizing correctly, would resolve to a teardrop shape (which is then projected onto a rectangle, which is then projected onto a circle.) In each case, we are presented with a small slice of what we understand through the minimal text (the title) to represent an almost incomprehensibly bigger idea.

We easily understand its shorthand mostly through intertextuality. We only understand what we're looking at, and why we can regard war with frivolity, because of the pulpy science-fiction wrapper. The inspiration for the concept is explicitly cited as low-culture "genre fiction" for nerds like the seemingly endless procession of science-fiction B-movies through the movie theaters. Specifically singled out is the cheesy space opera book series The Skylark Of Space. The yearning for the combination, a Skylark Of Space special effect B-Movie, was exactly what produced the creative energy in the bull sessions to dream up the totally-unprecedented gameplay concept of Spacewar. That's right: the first original video game was genre trash born of frustrated aspirations of filmmaking. Doesn't get much more fitting an inauguration.

Spacewar spread like a folk song, not a commercial proposition. The determination was made that there was simply no consumer base, so the source was handed out to anyone who asked. Somehow or another, a fellow hacker would catch a look at Spacewar, then return to their own machine to recode it from scratch if it wasn't a PDP-1, and people would keep adding onto it themselves. That's a remarkable method of propagation that has its successors such as the Type-In game but it relies heavily on a baseline of common computer literacy that necessarily dies out as computers get both more widespread and infinitely less demanding on the user to learn how to program just to use it. I can't help but feel a twinge as Spacewar is cloned into Galaxy Game [1971], one of the first if not the first coin-op arcade video game. Money makes it ugly: Is it stealing when it was freely and casually distributed before?

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