#they wasted no time ramping things up to 100 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-firebird69 · 1 year

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In The sopranos there's a scene where Tony and Chris wantasani chased down a character at the insurance building we were saying it was dave when it's really Trump. And he's the one who sent the letter and what a waste of space that values he's just sitting here making our son's life miserable and her son's letting him know it and Trump gets hit and does it a year like some sort of airheaded idiot doesn't have any clue that he gets shot killed and knife and run over by cars for what he's doing. The guy is a complete moron we have not given him anything only taking companies and tons of money weaponry tons of troops robots for every single infraction that guy pays through the nose so you tell us what to do with the guy is such a fruit cake not like we're going to stop with ramping it up and yeah other people too are taking this stuff I'm surprised that he's still here very surprised that he's King as well but really it's the title and he's a fool and we don't care because BJ's going to kill him cuz he wants the title and he's a fool. That's the way it goes and BJ has waited a long long time. We're going to hit him pretty good and this thing with the insurance companies coming up up there in New Jersey and he is going to forget he's going to regret what he's been doing hey it's a broken phone and the guys are moron it doesn't care he does around telling people too during the movie. Matter of fact he's the guy who run running through the woods with a yellow jacket on so when they caught up to him they said you shouldn't have got your leg hurt and he's starting to arguing so it's just a little thing and he shot the s*** out of him he came back after about a day and a half said I'm going to go get the boy now so he's shot him again whenever he said it. Now it's an awful game that they're in in a lot of stuff to do and everybody hates him from what he's doing right here in Pg. We have people as far away as Wisconsin and they're putting warrants on him and they're sending them here all over the world people put warrants in that guy. And on Cherry cheeseman and they're doing it to shut them off. And the two idiots get more riled and do stupider things and people are sitting in a lot more than just a few people down cuz they're almost pretty much evacuated, and then say there's his work and it really is and people will stand you have to be people and doing nothing that's what he did during his presidency

We have 10 people who are seeking him on warrants this morning here and put together and they're from Florida and they're valid and they're trying to get them out of the apartment or wherever they can get him. Five of those words now there's five more warrants on Cherry cheeseman and three warrants on Dan. And they're going after them and the local police and the sheriff are.

This morning they fired 100 sherrif out of the 200 actually fired they were surprised. Out of those 100 fired about 20 were arrested in the facility 20 more were arrested right outside the facility the remaining 60 we're seeing hovering around the neighborhood and eventually we're arrested these people are f*** they're true homos like cheeseman and Trump and think things happen because you're annoying someone they're they're ridiculous okay you can see it in Jurassic Park and why they get killed you see that's going to sit there and do that to a dinosaur and people call us dinosaurs that really he's kind of a Dino but not full-blown we're just going to stop you forever and you're asking for it it's a great movie to get an idea it's standing there making stupid noises and the monster spits poison all over him in a raincoat on and could have used it this is breathing it in. The other guy goes in his s****** and it's a teeny one and it's nothing to it it's right in the way that says no he was in there like an a****** you know they had a problem it's true too he's an idiot right by being in there yelling too yelling and these monsters here if you step on the floor and makes a noise. It's a few other scenes that are worth mentioning but your boobs okay. And this one where really famous guy dies it's not exactly BG it's one of his is famous for a couple movies including Independence Day one and two and he gets lifted right out of the vehicle and the one driving wasn't pushing the vehicle as fast as it can go and his name is David in the movie and it's a sign of someone's to go after small groups and it's not Trump. Okay it was a trumpster just up as Dave who is not one of Bee gees people and he died looking around craining his neck insisting he was invincible that I said keeping his eyes opened. In a few others too doesn't see it there in the aviary practically everyone's died and you have to stay away from the ones that can fly by and pick you up the other ones you can fight off because they're smaller so go to the open area and they're all screaming and yelling and the bird flies by and picks one up flies up again picks one up it goes up like that you see it kills them in piles them up. And instead of the open area finally they run to the door I mean it's ridiculous it's a heartache. They were talking about it and we are too but these people are assholes and they're not very good in a fight or anything against someone like Tommy f there's nothing the hell out there so put your forwards now that he moves out he's got to move out there there illegally

I got to tell you you two have to move out cuz we're telling you to move out if you don't you're going to go through hell every few minutes

That means Trump and Terry cheesman you don't even belong there and you're disgustingly evil and stupid we'll see to your own realm and your own plan and your own kind

Thor Freya

Going to beat you senseless cuz you're stupid we're the ones you should know about I told you not to come to Britain and you find your way in they're trying to fight your way in again I don't want you in the neighborhood either and you're not big I'm going to beat you up so you can't get here Trump and trumpsters

Bja

Oh okay so we understand now where it's coming from yeah and it says it's coming from his too and it's coming from the max and it's coming from other gifted races I don't spending a lot of energy staying in a crappy little apartment blouses low level losses is like us and he says we can fluff it off and say all sorts of stuff but it's all those people and my people who can kill the thought and hit you all the time and he says that last part is true so wondering how much longer I can hold out here it became king but we lost a lot of people doing it and he said he's going to lose a lot more the game is not you will go over get the king ship from Brayden rub it in Max face and everything gets better. He said the last sentence and I agree but we went ahead and do it and then he says he's going to go after you until you're dead that's why it's stupid so I'm starting to understand something I can't see that and I don't understand it but I do see that it's his crown and that makes sense.

Trump

He went ahead and took my crown and placed there as king and you can't figure out what's wrong and it was explained to him like 50 times yesterday and today and once out loud you haven't sent it to him in writing but the guy is dumber than hell it's not your kingship it's mine it's not your place it's mine you don't have any place there you just sit there and try and ruin it there it is. I don't think you need to understand it but you don't which is miraculously odd it's like you're just going to fall for this trick will you fight Brian and die and that's it you don't you don't care about your life you don't care about others you don't understand you'll be dead for this title he doesn't understand it either you're fighting over this stupid Islands what time is pretty big but doesn't hold that much stuff. I want you to out of my life forever and you can fight each other over there over the crown but you're not going to either wear it

Mac daddy

What are you saying is I won't wear it to will the power and I won't have the power and I'm not going to run the empire and not going to wear the crown ever again and I so agree with him because Brian is in the way and nobody wants to help me secure it so I'm starting up a fight over there

Trump

You don't really care what you do no it's supposed to do that

Mac

Yeah go fight Brian that's fun and we deemed you useless years ago and our son said we have to behave like you're not going to do anything but possibly help them acts a little help the maximum that's why I turned out to be. In the city there doing nothing all day laying there eating stuff picking on each other bothering her son you don't have any hobbies you're not watching TV you're not calling your people to make anything happen you're not doing anything and Britain is pretty far away so you're going to take your people out of here cuz what you doing so you can get food for the day and all this other dumb s***. And trying to kidnap him and I'm going to bring charges today well tomorrow you'll be charged with it heavily attempted homicide too I'm going to do it where it happens and they sometimes no they put warrants on you and they come and get you and out that way is John Gallagher and his people who run California too that's one place and one thing you will create Mexico too he says and we like that because it's Baja California and a lot of the police were American tell you not to do it and their witnesses and we're going to bring charges there wherever you try to do it I'm going to bring them especially you as landragan. Massachusetts you're trying to kidnap Jen and he many times. And vital and goddess wife have a huge list and they are going to use that list and start getting those suits ready I'm going to sue you as Trump too, for defamation slander attempted homicide of my character tons people want to see us in court even though we're there all the time anyways. And he is too as Trump he's going to be sued by our son what you're doing is president to him.. yeah directly and Katya equis is going to sue you as Trump for what you're doing to her, to get elected and a lot of the mental health stuff you're doing to our son was for you to get elected your going to go down the river.

Thor

I say the same thing but really these two sit there and seem to get away with all the sorts of stupid things with us we hit them all day long and they never listen so they're ramp it up and start hitting them a lot harder till they're out

Freya

They're damn nuisance and we're going to stop them

Olympus we are issuing orders for them to be pulled in by anyone no, by us

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anthonysstupiddailyblog · 2 years

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Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (87): Wed 8th Jun 2022

Before work I re-watched the Twilight Zone episode The Rip Van Winkle Caper. In this episode a group of thieves steal a load of gold from Fort Knox then cryogenically freeze themselves for 100 hundred year so that when they unthaw no-one will know who they are and they can sell the gold and be rich. The group ends up walking in the dessert and eventually killing one another for water until there is only one left. This one remaining thief is found by a married couple and offers them his gold to save him but dies before they can get him medical attention. The couple then reveal that in their present gold is useless because they found a way to make it. This episode has one of the most creative plots of the entire series and although I think the twist is a bit underwhelming for reasons I'll get into later, the two central performances by Simon Oakland and Oscar Beregi Jr are the saving grace of this episode. The plot of a group of close friends gradually killing each other to ensure their own survival was done before in the season one episode "I Shot an Arrow Into the Air” which wasn’t a terrible episode but was a bit under-thought out in my opinion, this episode does the story much better and is a much more interesting story. Oscar Beregi, Jr. was born to play a bad guy. He has such a sinister voice and a menacing look that you can't imagine him playing anything but utter monsters. I especially love his slow delivery of his lines. He doesn't scream and shout he takes his time delivering his monologues like a serial killer taking his sweet time to torture his victims rather than kill them with one blow. The echoing of his voice around the glass casket and the cave is especially creepy. I also love the second half of the film where they go to great effort to get over just how tired the two characters are. Their clothes are soaking wet and they even dry out Belegi Jr's lips to sell how hot it is which is great attention to detail. The first time I saw the twist ending I thought it was really clever. The idea that all of these men’s efforts and their descent into madness and murder was, in the end, all for nothing is a really good ironic twist of fate. However the more I think about it, the potential impact the twist could have had if they'd altered it a bit feels wasted. Farewell dies before he learns that the Gold is useless. Surely it would be a better twist if Farwell survived and then as he was recovering in hospital discovered that the gold was useless meaning he'd committed murder for no reason. Sadly the nitpicks don't stop there. The part where De Cruz runs "over" Brooks with the car is kind of lame. Were there no stunt men who could have jumped over the car instead of just having the car drive past the actor and then have the actor crumble to the ground? Also after De Cruz kills Brooks he lets the car drive off a cliff? Why? They need that to get to the town. There's no logical reason to do this other than Serling needed the characters to walk through the desert and he had to get rid of the car they used to get to the cave. If that was the case why not have had them drive for a little bit then have the car break down? Also after the characters awaken De Cruz opens the cave by pulling on something off screen and the rock covering the entrance moves like a sliding door? What kind of door system have they set up in a cave in the middle of the desert to achieve this affect? What is this The Flintstones? Later in the episode Farwell has to reach all the way into his pouch before he realizes his canister isn't there. Surely he would be able to tell just by looking? Then towards the end of the episode Farwell drops one of his two gold bars and he keeps walking without picking it up. I get that it's to sell how tired he is but then he continues walking so how much harder would it be to pick up the gold? While not a nitpick per-se one thing I think the episode could have done a little bit better to ramp up the tension is to have Farwell discover that De Cruz actually stole his canister when he wasn't looking in order to give him more motive for killing him. The main problem I have from this episode though is the fact that Farwell is a scientist who has invented a way to cryogenically preserve human beings for over a century and yet the way he tries to earn cash is to rob a train and then freeze himself to allude the law? Surely the invention of ths machine itself would ensure that he would become a gagillionaire, right? The ability to freeze a human being and then awaken him in the future? I’m pretty sure that would fetch a large sum of cash, there’s no need to resort to train robberies when you could earn a fortune legally. But yeah other than all those nitpicks this is a flawless episode.

At work I got an email saying that my first day with Amazon was tomorrow at 8:00am. This sent me into a panic because I had been told that my first day was on Friday at 9AM so why had it changed now. This made me a nervous wreck for the rest of the day because I didn't want to be shafting the call centre in order to start work with Amazon a day early as this might hurt references for future jobs should I need them. On my lunch break I drove home and called up the Amazon new recruits line and the girl I spoke to seemed convinced that it’s definitely Friday and this email saying it was tomorrow was simply a mistake. I’d like to say I’m reassured but hmm...Don’t forget she is a person who isn’t me and therefore an idiot after all so I'm not sure I can trust her. I'm really hoping I don’t get a call from Amazon just after 8 tomorrow asking where the fuck I am and since I haven't shown up for my first day they're revoking their offer.

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writingdotcoffee · 2 years

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#234: A Writer in Motion Tends to Stay in Motion

I wrote about momentum a few times in the past, but it's so important that I'll write about it again. Physical momentum is pretty easy to understand. If you've ever been on a bike or done some running, you will know the difference that momentum makes to the effort that you need to extend to keep going.

Pedalling on a bike is much easier when you're in motion. Try running for 20 minutes, stopping for 2 minutes and running for 20 more minutes. It feels terrible. It's much easier to keep going all the way through.

Identical mechanics apply to knowledge work or anything that you do primarily with your brain. It's much easier to keep going than it is to start over. However, the benefits of momentum in the intellectual realm are a lot less clear.

Building Momentum

When starting a writing routine, many writers massively overestimate their capabilities. Often, this leads to people quitting after a few days or weeks.

The first rule of building momentum is to start slow — way below your personal best. Sprint the first mile of a ten-mile run, and the next nine miles will hurt. Most likely, you'll throw up at mile three and quit.

The same thing will happen if you go for a ten-mile run on the first day of training. If you never trained regularly, you won't last for very long.

Many writers set out to write something like a thousand words a day. Sure, Stephen King has no trouble writing 2,000 words per day. He's been at it for 50 years. Even just 500 words per day may be too much when you're just starting out.

It may seem silly: 500 words — that's nothing. Trust me, writing 500 words and writing 500 words every day for 100 days in a row are two very different things.

Why not aim to write 100 words per day for a few weeks? If it turns out to be too easy, you can always increase it.

Writing Session Momentum

Momentum can also help you with your writing sessions every day. Many writers keep postponing their writing to later and later in the day. At some point, they don't have enough time left to do it.

Starting to write is a lot more difficult when you want to do it abruptly. It's much easier to build momentum before you're supposed to start writing. It makes getting started a lot easier.

Many writers use all sorts of routines and rituals to prime themselves for writing. Some make a hot beverage. Others go to the coffee shop, play some music and start writing.

These don't have to be particularly elaborate.

Completing these "easy" tasks before starting to write builds momentum. They act as an on-ramp. By the time you get to the writing bit, you're going too fast to stop, so you might as well do it.

Over time, the series of steps becomes habitual. Your brain will know what's coming and get ready for writing.

Writing is a cognitively demanding activity. Easing yourself into it will get you much more consistent results.

Momentum Is Valuable

Every time you "lose momentum," you waste some energy. This is inevitable from time to time. The losses grow significantly the more often it happens.

It's like catching a series of red lights when driving. A five-minute journey can easily take 10 or 15 minutes. And you'll burn more fuel as well.

Most importantly, momentum helps the human body to adapt. Train every day, and pretty soon, a ten-mile run won't be a problem. If you do four runs, then stop for two weeks, go again and stop again, you will get frustrated and quit.

Build momentum. It works.

About the Author

Hi, I’m Radek 👋. I’m a writer, software engineer and the founder of Writing Analytics — an editor and writing tracker designed to help you beat writer’s block and create a sustainable writing routine.

I publish a post like this every week. Want to know when the next one comes out? Sign up for my email list below to get it right in your inbox.

(I won’t spam you or pass your email to a third party. You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Past Editions

#233: What’s the Deadline?, February 2022

#232: How to (not) Waste Your Time, February 2022

#231: Is It Really That Bad?, January 2022

#230: Working Backwards, January 2022

#229: Luck for Writers, January 2022

#writing #writers #write #writing tips #writing advice #amwriting #writing life #writeblr #writing update #personal update #me

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class1akids · 3 years

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BNHA 321 Thoughts

I knew the moment I saw the title that it would be a great chapter. We have had a couple of “From - To chapters”:

Ch 53: "From Todoroki to Ida"

Ch 84: "From Ida to Midoriya"

Ch 94: "From Teacher to Disciple"

and they were always great. Two of them also had very strong Iida focus. So yeah, it’s one of those great twists that makes absolutely perfect sense in every way that this moment belonged finally to the Class Pres...

Ok, so the car was Jeanist Mobile instead of Hercules and we got Endeavor to arrive to collect the Dictator?

Feels a bit wasteful, but then it could be a set up for a villain attack?

What is even more sus is Kirishima babysitting the UA traitor duo (Kiri shaving Dictator out of the ice is a nice recall to the UA Festival snowman combo). Also, I love that he announces the Bakugo-Todoroki-Yaoyorozou combo’s capture. Holy shit, if those three would ever truly team up, it would be a scary, scary trio.

Still the chapter lingers on Kirishima long enough to tell us that it’s not like Hori forgot that he’s an important student and indeed a long-time Deku-buddy, but that he needs Kirishima here as cover. My crack-pot theory brain says that Kirishima will be implicated somehow in the UA traitor plot - maybe they’ll try to frame him.

Also loved Endeavor taking a single look at Shouto’s ice tower and decided that the best is if the pros stay out of it. The important thing is winning Deku’s heart and not simply restraining him against his will.

Next up Todoroki, who is delivering an uncharacteristically long and very emotional monologue to his captive audience and I love that he’s not praising Deku or recalling their undying friendship, but instead makes some really valid points about a need for a plan B, that UA could be a target anyway (thanks Shouto for saying this) and a plea for a team-up.

Deku is not hearing Shouto, only AFO’s words of “you are next” (even the lines on Deku’s clothes say that) which just shows how deep AFO got into Deku’s psyche.

So Deku replies to Shouto and OUCH - Deku saying it out loud just hits different. It’s such a low point for him who dreamt of being a hero while quirkless, who only ever saw potential in everyone... We all knew he thought it somewhere deep down but it’s out in the open now and it’s as blunt as it gets. Also, Deku in this panel looks a lot like feral Tomura...

Lol. I love how pissed Shouto looks (even though he used to say blunt shit like that in his Earlyroki phase - Deku is swinging towards all the worst behaviours of his besties).

Anyways, we get Tsuyu first launching Mineta at Deku in a recall of the USJ team-up and wow, big twist here as Mineta says some really valid things. Things, I kind of expected Bakugou to say.

Maybe it’s too early to say, but Mineta feels like he’s grown up a lot in the war.

Deku pushes him away but gets to keep Mineta’s new supermove (which looks a bit pervy). I think it’s time to really retire Gran’s cape.

As Deku gets ready to do his Faux 100% move, it’s Ochako’s time to monologue, and it’s not clear what the plan is here (maybe another hug like in the JTA?), in any case, Ochako’s intervention feels a bit weird, and Deku dodges the hug too.

But then we get to the glorious bits - because all this distraction was for the class to create its super-combo to challenge OFA Faux 100%.

I love the move they come up with. It’s full of symbolism and recalls and also looks fun. In true Kamino parallel it’s built on a Shouto ramp (well, more like a NASA launching pad like he’s preparing for a moon landing), with some Momo addition, and we see Mina applying acidman, Todoroki and Bakugou back to back as they launch off like a rocket with Shouto’s Flashfire Heatwave and suddenly I’m all nostalgic for the Sport Festival. Haha, instead of a rematch, we get them adding their speed together and it looks like Shouto is launching Bakugou towards Deku (and here my theory about Bakugou keeping up with Fa Jin looks like it checks out). Uraraka adds her little Zero Gravity touch to the Acid Man blob and Todoroki actions-speak-louder-than-words Shouto adds his little petty, defiant remark in response to Deku and I’m living for it.

Hi, petty Shouto, missed you.

And here comes the final twist. As Bakugou adds his own boost to the initial take-off (and I swear both Shouto and Bakugou broke the sound barrier here) - and man, Bakugou gets his second new named move in this fight (he has more named moves than Sixquirks Deku and I am forever amazed at his ability to stretch his quirk and reinvent himself constantly) built on his new, post-285 explosions, and the sparkles look like the OFA ones, and there is 19 of them:

But it’s not for him - it’s to send their Class President (wow, he calls him like that in his mind and Bakugou - Iida is a brotp I never knew I needed, but I love it) - who was built to withstand this speed to Deku. Like Deku threw Kirishima at Bakugou in Kamino, Bakugou throws Iida at Deku. More Kamino parallels. But also more. Iida is really the perfect choice here.

(And he makes sure that we know that their TALK is coming, DvK3 is not forgotten, but this is not about BKDK only - it’s about Class A - and all this time they worked together to get their Class Pres and Deku’s dear friend deliver the message that just like Deku kept meddling in their business, they will meddle in his, because that’s what makes a true hero. Deku taught them that and he doesn’t get to decide for them. We see Nii-chan nodding along, that indeed he was thinking of pals like this who could bolster Deku - not holding him back but showing him that they can keep up.)

Because make no mistake, the Todoroki-Bakugou-Mina-Uraraka-Iida combo not only kept up with, but outpaced Faux 100% OFA. They may not be individually as strong as Deku, but when they put their talents and creativity together, they are a force to be reckoned with. They are challenging the old ways, because they don’t want Deku to be their All Might to carry all the burden alone.

And the handhold is just poetry, Iida calling Deku a lost child indirectly is so touching and they are crying, and Deku finally breaks down and looks like himself and I’m crying with them because HK did one of those masterful things he does so well and tied a very neat bow with this chapter.

This is the good stuff.

I have no idea what comes next. The UA traitor stuff is heating up. All Might is MIA. But this match is not over. Ochako still has things to say. And so does Bakugou. Whether it happens now or maybe first we’ll get a villain fight or a shower hopefully - but it’s going to come.

Still, this is such a high point and I’m going to savor this chapter for now.

#bnha 321 #bnha manga spoilers #class1a reads bnha #bnha meta #iida tenya #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #todoroki shouto

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yelena-bellova · 3 years

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Safe Haven: tfatws!Bucky Barnes x fem!reader - Chapter Two

chapter one -Chapter Two: According To Plan - chapter three

Series Masterlist

Plot: Y/n and Sam leave for Munich, gaining the surprise addition of Bucky Barnes to their team.

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x fem!reader, Sam Wilson x platonic!reader

Warnings: spoilers for ep.2, language, violence, squint for fluff in between all the chaos, Y/n and Bucky ain’t feeling each other yet, protective big brother Sam, nobody likes Walker

Word Count: 7.5k (ya’ll, we had to split episode 2 into two chapters because I use too many words lol)

A/N: OKAY, thank you to everybody for supporting the first chapter. I didn’t really think anything would come of it but I was clearly wrong. Hopefully you enjoy this one just as much, each episode will probably be divided into two chapters if the rest of the season continues on like it is.

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The government hadn’t just failed Sam, they were rubbing his face in the fact that they thought their knockoff Captain America was a better candidate than him.

I followed my brother down the halls of the New Orleans air force base, trying to ignore the paraphernalia that hung on the walls. John Walker was everywhere you looked; the internet, televisions, posters were plastered all over the city announcing his new appointment. Each time I had to read the words ‘Cap Is Back’ I became a little sick to my stomach. Sam stopped in front of me once we’d reached the hanger to stare at one of the posters. Though he tried to keep his face neutral, the sadness bled through in his eyes.

“Seems like a good guy. You met him?” a man who I assumed was Sam’s military contact asked.

“No,” Sam answered before changing the topic, “Thanks for doing this on such short notice.” “Yeah, no sweat. I’m just finishing up the checklist, you two’ll be all good to go once you land in Munich,” he looked to me and reached a hand for me to shake, “Joaquin Torres.” “Y/n Y/l/n. Thanks for not making any noise about me coming along for the ride.”

“Hey, I trust an Avenger’s judgement on who to bring to a fight,” he smiled, stopping at the top of the steps to allow me to go before himself.

I elbowed Sam as we descended the stairs side by side, “Hear that? You’ve got good judge- why’re you making that face?” Before he could answer, a foreign voice announced its presence. “Shouldn’t have given up the shield.”

My eyes fell to the floor below us and climbed the looming figure waiting at the end of the staircase. I didn’t need to have any history lessons on who he was or why he’d come to talk to Sam about such a subject. James Bucky Barnes, the second 100+ year old man to walk the earth without a single wrinkle. The tragic tale of HYDRA’s bloodthirsty history. The man Sam had fought to protect and been sent to prison for.

“Good to see you too, Buck,” Sam passively greeted the man, swerving around his body to continue on our path to the jet. The hint wasn’t taken.

“This is wrong.”

“Hey, hey, look, I’m working, alright? So all this outrage is gonna have to wait.” Bucky fell into step on the other side of Sam, pointing towards yet another poster of John Walker, “You didn’t know that was gonna happen?”

“No, of course I didn’t know that was gonna happen,” Sam’s tone became more emotional, “You think it didn’t break my heart to see them march him out there and call him the new Captain America?” “This isn’t what Steve wanted,” Bucky pushed. Sam was growing tired of the questioning, “What do you want me to do? Call America and tell ‘em I changed my mind? Huh? Yeah, right. It’s a great reunion, buddy, be well.” “You had no right to give up that shield, Sam.” I could no longer stay silent and let him try and make a good man feel guilty. “Okay, you’re out of line with that one, Barnes.” Bucky finally took a second to register my being there before looking back to Sam, “Who the hell is this?” “She’s none of your concern, but let me tell you what you’re not gonna do,” Sam stood in front of Bucky, “You’re not gonna come here in your overextended life and tell me about my rights. It’s over, Bucky. Besides, I have bigger things to deal with now.” Emotions I couldn’t fully understand took over Bucky’s face, “What could be bigger than this?”

Sam fished his phone out of his back pocket and held it up to the Super Soldier, “This guy. His connections with rebel organizations all over Eastern and Central Europe and he’s strong. Too strong.” “And?” Bucky asked, unimpressed.

“Well, he’s been connected to this online group called the Flag Smashers. Now, Redwing traced them to a building somewhere outside of Munich so that’s where I’m going,” Sam turned to me to signal we were walking again.

“Well, I don’t trust Redwing,” Bucky continued his pursuit, “Hold on a minute.” “You don’t have to trust Redwing,” Sam said firmly as we paused again, “But I’mma go see if he’s right. ‘Cause I have a feeling they might be a part of the Big Three.”

Bucky’s eyebrows lowered in confusion, “What ‘Big Three?’”

“The Big Three.”

“What Big Three?” “Androids, aliens and wizards,” I answered before Sam could. “That’s not a thing,” Bucky shook his head. “That’s definitely a thing,” Sam nodded. “No, it’s not.” “It really is,” I set my bag down on the ground and crossed my arms, there was no indication we’d be leaving any time soon.

“Every time we fight, we fight one of the three,” Sam insisted.

“So who are you fighting now, Gandalf?”

Sam inhaled to continue arguing before snapping his head back in surprise, “How do you know about Gandalf?” “I read The Hobbit,” Bucky answered confidently, “In 1937 when it first came out.”

“So you see my point?” “No, I don’t. There are no wizards.” I pointed to Bucky and tilted my head towards Sam, “Now there, I agree with him.” Sam looked offended that I didn’t automatically back him up, “You both are wrong…Doctor Strange.” “Is a sorcerer,” Bucky finished.

“Aah!” Sam laughed and poked Bucky’s firm chest, “A sorcerer is a wizard without a hat. Think about it, right? I’m right. I just came up with that, it’s crazy.” Bucky’s face read that he was thousand shades of done with Sam’s childish argument, even if he’d fought just as immaturely. I was beginning to see why Sam didn’t recount his brief time spent with the ex-Winter Soldier that fondly but I’d also forgotten how easy it was to push Sam’s buttons sometimes. There was some unwitting dynamic between them that I didn’t want to be in the middle of. “So glad we’re wasting valuable time on arguing over whether or not Harry Potter’s real,” I spoke up, tapping my foot out of impatience.

Sam was the first to snap back to reality, “That’s not the point. These guys aren’t magical, alright? They use brute force just like you, the incredibly annoying guy in front of me with the staring problem,” he reached down to grab my bag and hand it to me, “Let’s move.” “I’m coming with you,” Bucky called, the sound of his combat boots hitting the hanger floor behind us. “No, you’re not,” Sam answered harshly. “Oh my gosh,” I groaned before dropping my duffle bag again on the tarmac and spinning around to face the two men, “I don’t know how you two could have possibly saved the day as much as people say you have if you’re always like this! You,” I pointed to Sam, “Stop trying to do this on your own. You,” I moved my finger towards Bucky, “No more talking about the shield. If anybody needs me,” I wiggled my fingers and let the blue energy lift my bag into the air, “I’ll be waiting in the jet.” ——

Bucky and Sam stood speechless as they watched Y/n march across the tarmac, her bag magically floating behind her. “Who is she?” “My sister, Y/n,” Sam answered, “I didn’t know she could do that till today. She twisted my arm until I agreed to let her come.” Bucky’s eyes hadn’t left Y/n since she took control and ended Sam and his bickering. There weren’t many people who met him for the first time and didn’t give him a second glance. If she was Sam’s sister then she sure as hell knew about his past. Yet here she was daring to order him around and advocate for him to join Sam and her on their mission. It also went without saying that she was gorgeous. But she had proven that she didn’t understand the seriousness in which the situation with the new Captain America needed to be treated with, and that irked him. Still, his feet automatically wanted to carry him to the jet once she’d headed up the ramp and he’d lost his view of her. “Can’t decide whether I like her or not.”

——

Not having a suit to wear, I had changed on the jet from my sweater, capris and sneakers to a black shirt, jeans, booties and my favorite blue leather jacket that matched the blue that flowed from my fingertips.

When I stepped out of the jet’s bathroom, I expected to find Sam and Bucky fighting again. The whole flight so far has been filled with the same tension that had begun in the hanger and we’d been sitting in uncomfortable silence ever since. I was sure that the second I left, they’d be going at it again like children when a parent disappeared. Instead, they were quietly sitting on opposite sides of the jet with their eyes trained on one another.

“Can you guys quiet down for a second?” I sarcastically remarked as I walked across the room, “I can’t hear myself think.”

I deposited my bag in the corner of the jet near where Torres was climbing down the ladder, “One minute to drop off, Sam.”

I expected to turn around and see both Sam and Bucky up and preparing themselves, but the two men were still embroiled in a stare down. Sam and I had always cheesed each other off in a typical sibling fashion, but Bucky and his relationship seemingly consisted of nothing but that.

Sam finally rose from his seat and Bucky quickly did the same, I brushed past him to stand on the other side of Sam. “So what’s the plan?” Sam ignored the question and handed me a small black device, “This is your comm, don’t lose it.” I nodded and placed the small ear piece in my ear, the faint hums of the jet coming through it.

With no direction from Sam, Bucky sat back down unhappily. “Great. So no plan?”

“Thirty seconds,” Torres shouted over the wind coming in from the open hatch.

“Enjoy your ride, Buck,” Sam remarked from beside me. “No, you can’t call me that.” “Why not? That’s what Steve called you.” “Steve knew me longer and Steve,” Bucky tilted his head to Sam, “Had a plan.”

I shook my head to shake off the ridiculousness of arguing nicknames at the moment. “I’m sorry, are we really playing the name game when we’re literally about to jump out of a plane? I get this is my first mission and all but- Bucky’s eyebrows shot up his forehead as he looked to Sam, “This is her first mission? What the hell were you thinking, bringing her?” “She,” I took a step towards Bucky, “Is more than capable of handling herself. First mission or 100th, I know what I’m doing, Barnes.”

“Fifteen seconds to drop!” Torres’ announcement ended any further arguing between me and Bucky.

“Listen to the woman,” Sam smirked as he put on his goggles, probably thinking back to a few hours ago when I’d body slammed him into the roof, “And I have a plan.”

“Really?” Bucky spread his arms out as we watched Sam walk away from us, “What is it?” Sam had already told me that he’d drop in first and I was to follow once he’d cleared the area. Bucky had not been privy to hearing that discussion and Sam had made no effort to fill him in. Without giving Bucky a second look, but winking at me, he dove headfirst out of the hatch and activated his wings, flying gracefully downwards towards the forest. I had never gotten to see him fly and felt a sense of pride as I looked out to see him glide above the trees.

“Where’s the chute?” Bucky called out.

“We’re at 200 feet, it’s too low for a chute,” Torres stated.

Bucky stalked towards the door, “I don’t need it anyway.”

“Neither will I,” I said, taking a step forward to see just how high we really were. I was confidant in my ability to keep up with Sam and wanted to prove my capability, but I was human. It went against every natural instinct to step out into the air and catch myself. Bucky moved to stand next to me, the two of us turning to face each other. This was the first time we’d actually made more than fleeting eye contact and I was finally able to get a good look at him. His features were sharp, his cheekbones and jaw were extremely prominent. Something more than scruff and less than a beard covered the bottom half of his face. His eyes were cerulean blue, just nearly matching the shade of my energy. Complete with a short, scruffy haircut, I wasn’t sure if handsome was a strong enough word for just how good looking James Barnes was.

“Ladies first,” Bucky nodded towards our exit, never breaking eye contact, “Sure you know what you’re doing?” I smiled smugly, matching the amount of sass radiating from his words, “Do you?”

Not wanting to give him the opportunity to think up a come back, I turned away from him and threw myself out of the plane. An unavoidable scream flew from my lips as I free fell, somehow managing in the chaos to threw my arms out at my sides and expel my energy to control my descent. Once I got a hold on maneuvering the winds, the act actually became almost enjoyable. I found myself laughing as I weaved between the trees, until my laughter was accompanied by a fast approaching scream above me. A shower of branches began to rain down around me forcing me to swerve to the side just in time for Bucky’s figure to come crashing through. He landed harshly on his back, limbs spread out and a pained groan escaping his lips.

I floated directly above him, “I stand corrected, you definitely know what you’re doing.” “I have all of that on camera. You know that, right?” Sam’s voice came through our comms. Redwing flew up from behind us and zoomed in on Bucky’s face.

“Get out of my face, Sam, or I’ll break it,” Bucky uttered, exhaustion filling his voice.

“Okay, head north. Come on.” I snickered at the exchange and lowered myself to the ground close enough to Bucky to extend him a hand. He accepted it and I helped pull him to an upright sitting position, trying to hide the fact that I struggled with his weight. “Thanks.” “Well, my mom taught me to always help my elders,” I said with a smirk, earning myself a scowl in response. “You’re as bad as Sam, aren’t you?” he moaned as he rose to his full height.

“Okay, okay,” I ceased my soft laughter, “I’m sorry. Seriously, are you okay? I know you’re a super soldier but still-” “I’m fine,” Bucky confirmed quickly, brushing the dirt from his jacket and turning north, “Let’s go.”

The two of us fell into a silence that wasn’t necessarily uneasy but certainly not relaxed. We weren’t enemies, we weren’t coworkers and we definitely weren’t friends. We’d spoken all of about five sentences to each other since meeting and none of them had been particularly chummy. “Sam only mentioned one sister,” Bucky broke the non-verbal spell.

“Sarah,” I stated, “We’re not technically related but they’re family. Sam told me he reached out to you and never got anything back. I think he was wondering how you were doing.” “Yeah, well…” he mumbled, stepping over a particularly large boulder and avoiding my gaze.

I decided not to push the subject, not only were we nearing the warehouse, Sam could hear us through the comms and Redwing. But I made a note of the lightning quick wave of emotion that crossed Bucky’s eyes. Sam was definitely a trigger for him, but I had a feeling this was something much more complicated. Something I didn’t have time to get too curious over.

We made it out of the forest and Redwing led us to the back entrance to the warehouse. The graffiti and wrecked roofing made me want to believe that nobody had been there in ages, but Sam’s intel contradicted the setting. My brother, the esteemed military man, was also contradicting his age as he maneuvered Redwing just above us to provoke Bucky into taking a swing at him. “Oh-ho-ho, don’t hurt him,” he teased as Redwing quickly avoided the assault.

Sam stood in the next room staring down at the screen on his wrist, scanning the building through Redwing’s camera. He took a quick look at me to assess that I hadn’t been injured in the fall before turning back.

“You’re doing the staring thing again,” he commented without looking up. That one I’d give him, Bucky’s smoldering stare game was intimidating especially when he wasn’t saying anything. “They’re in there,” Sam tilted his head towards the nearest open doorway and stretching his arm out so Bucky and I could see what Redwing was seeing. There was a truck with two people loading in containers of something.

“Where’s the guy?” Bucky asked.

“I don’t know. I think they’re smuggling weapons though.” “Well, I think you could be right,” Bucky’s voice lowered. “Hmm,” Sam nodded.

“But there’s only one way to find out,” Bucky turned towards the doorway, “I see a clear path, I say we take it.”

As soon as his boot hit the ground in its first step, Sam reached for his arm. “We’re not assassins.” “Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, observe from a distance rather than attack straight away?” I offered.

Bucky’s eyes flicked to me when I spoke and promptly back to Sam, throwing away my suggestion. He probably thought me naive. “I’ll see you inside or not.”

He pulled his arm out of Sam’s grip and went ahead, leaving Sam chuckling to himself. “Hey, come on, man. I’m just messing with you, come back,” he called softly. “‘I’m just messing with you,’ the Avengers’ official slogan,” I dryly jested, “Here I was thinking we were doing serious work. Is Redwing still surveying?” “Yeah,” Sam was still smiling to himself as he turned to watch Bucky stalk down the hallway, “Look at you. All stealthy. A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther.”

“It’s actually White Wolf,” Bucky responded in our ears.

“Huh?”

When we lost visual on Bucky, Sam snapped his fingers and nodded towards the hallway. We made our way through the various openings until we’d caught up, Sam held up a finger to his lips as we caught sight of Bucky and our steps became even softer.

“All right, I’m inside. Therefore way ahead of you,” Bucky bragged, turning back to where he thought we waited, “It’s not great but very doable.” His peripherals must have caught the red and white of Sam’s suit, he turned to see the two of us at his side. “Hello. How are you?” “Good. What did we miss? Nothing,” Sam replied.

“All right, let’s go,” Bucky moved to step forward again.

“No, wait,” Sam protested.

Bucky held up his prosthetic vibranium arm I had heard so much about. “I got a vibranium arm, I can take them.” “And I can fly, she can make things float, who gives a shit? Wait. I want to see where they’re going.” Bucky pointed towards the truck that was still being loaded, “There’s two people.”

“You only see two?” Sam started. “That’s what I saw,” Bucky confirmed.

“Let me see what Redwing sees.” “All right…” “Let’s see what Redwing sees…”

I held two fingers to my temple and rubbed, “My gosh, it’s like working with children.”

Sam fiddled with a few controls on the screen and activated the x-ray feature on his beloved drone, “Oh, look at that. How many people you see now? One, two…Oh, here it comes again.” Bucky sighed, unhappy to admit he was wrong, “Four. Five.” “Yeah, five.” “So they’re strong, whatever,” Bucky brushed off not only the math but our group’s capabilities. “Let’s go.”

“Barnes, wait,” I hissed as Sam reached out and took hold of his arm, his elbow hitting the metal shelves we were hiding behind and rattling something.

“Shit!” Sam whispered, he pulled me to his side to block me while Bucky ducked down. The group turned to investigate the noise but disregarded it at the lack of visible culprits. The trucks started and their doors were closed, each person getting into their designated vehicle. Sam started tapping on Redwing’s controller again, “There’s an eighth person. I think they have a hostage.”

With one look from Bucky, the three of us snapped into action. I raised myself into the air ahead of Sam who took off slightly behind me, looking down to see Bucky running impossibly fast. “Y/n, with me,” Sam called through the comms, I listened and hung back until he’d caught up. Bucky continued on his way until he’d climbed onto the back of the truck. I followed Sam’s lead as we flew to the side of the road.

“Shouldn’t we be helping him?” I asked as the two of us landed.

“They’re stealing medicine, vaccines,” Bucky’s voice filled my comm.

“He’s got it, we’re staying here and waiting for him to come back with the hostage. Then you and I are gonna keep following the trucks and see where they’re heading,” he explained, “I’m trying to keep you out of as much of the fight as I can.” “That’s the whole reason I came, Sam,” I argued, gesturing towards the road, “To help, to fight.”

“Bucky, talk to me,” Sam favored to ignore my desire to do dirty work, “What’s goin’ on?”

“Found the hostage,” he reported, followed only seconds later by a loud exclaim of “Shit!”

Adrenaline set every nerve alight in my body, something had gone wrong. Without asking for Sam’s permission I took off running down the road. I used my energy to lift towards the sky and flew the same way the truck’s had gone. Distantly, I heard Sam yell my name but made no effort to stop. “Barnes, talk to me,” I yelled over the winds I was flying against. As I spotted the trucks I saw the small silhouettes of figures standing atop one of them. Once I got closer, I could see that the one being aggressively pinned by two of them was Bucky. I landed on the vehicle’s roof just in time to see someone leap into the air, grab Redwing and break him with their knee. Between my want to help Bucky and my second hand protectiveness over Sam’s gear, I was pissed. The masked figure looked up at me, two brown eyes peeking out of eyeholes and marched forward, making me their next target. I created a ball of blue energy and aimed it at her, knocking her down but only for a second. She leapt towards me and landed a punch across my cheek, I went down with a groan and cradling my cheek. Now I was really pissed…

I opened an eye to see the shadow of Sam’s Falcon suit above me, he touched down on the truck and landed a kick to my assaulter’s abdomen. He quickly helped me to my feet as our enemy rose again and took a fight stance.

“Good of you to join the fight, Sam,” Bucky yelled before kicking one of his captors in the leg.

The person who had given me the shiner threw Sam aside to the second truck like he was weightless. She was far too small to be that strong, it was inhuman. I decided to hold back a little less and raised my hands toward her, extending waves of the blue energy and raising her up into the air. She struggled to try and escape my hold, grunting and groaning as she flopped around in the air. I was about to throw her into the trees when I was tackled from behind. We skidded towards the front of the truck till the boot of one of the thugs holding Bucky down hit me in the shoulder. Another masked figure, this one I suspected to be a man, had his arms wrapped tightly around my abdomen. He flipped me over and raised his head to slam into mine. Luckily he hadn’t thought to pin my arms down and his mistake allowed me to throw them in front of my face and create a force field that even the thickest of skulls couldn’t penetrate. I looked briefly to see Sam being pinned down as well on the second truck but couldn’t free myself to go help him.

And then, in a conflicting twist of events, a red white and blue shield came flying through the air.

As I struggled to keep the force field up and my arms locked, I made out an equally patriotic suited man throw the shield at the one who had punched me earlier. A second figure swung in from a helicopter and kicked her off the truck, leaving her clinging to the edge of the roof. The shield flew in the direction of the people holding Bucky down and hit one square in the back before bouncing back to its wielder. The guy holding me down was struck next and rolled right off of me, I sent a significantly bigger blast towards his chest that sent him flying off the back of the truck. Bucky reached down and helped me stand up, he pulled me out of the way when the shield came flying by our faces to hit his other attackers.

“You gotta be kidding me,” I panted.

John Walker stopped briefly to introduce himself to Sam, like he hadn’t been living rent free in our minds since that damned tv broadcast before sending the shield flying past Bucky and I again. As it bounced off our enemies and back towards Walker, Bucky’s metal hand snapped up to grab it only for Walker to retake it. The time for anger or sadness wasn’t now, though the forlorn expression on Bucky’s face said otherwise. I broke from him and launched myself across the gap between trucks to land near where Sam was being attacked. Bucky followed suit and we began taking out each person one by one till Sam stood and turned too fast, hitting and sending Bucky plus one of the masked thugs over the side of the truck. Sam and I turned to face our last attacker who was stalking toward us, Sam glanced over his shoulder quickly before looking back ahead. “When I say ‘now,’ you shoot up,” he ordered, “Now!” I blasted upwards and over the overhead road sign he’d known would hit our attacker. I was too high to drop down suddenly but watched as Sam touched back down on the truck to be punched off the truck, activating his wings and catching himself in the wind. I flew downwards and lined up with the side of the truck, searching frantically for Bucky while trying to dodge the cars to my left. Bucky was clinging for dear life to the underside of the truck. His attacker stomped his metal arm with his boot till Bucky lost his grip with it and it dragged along the road creating a flurry of sparks.

“Sam, what do we do?” I yelled into my comm. “Now when I say ‘drop,’ you drop.” “Are you insane?!” I screeched, looking down at the asphalt and trying to calculate how fast I may be going. “DROP!”

Putting the most trust I ever had in Sam, I stopped the energy flow and was tackled mid-air by him. I twisted in his arms to wrap my legs around one of his and my arms around his back. Without warning, he flew us under the nearest truck before letting go of me with one arm and tackling Bucky. I readjusted my grip to have one arm around both of them. We dropped out of the air and crash-landed, rolling like a grunting and groaning wheel through a field of yellow flowers. Eventually we ceased our tumbling with Bucky on top of Sam and me to the side still clinging to both of them.

“Could have used that shield,” Bucky ground out tauntingly in Sam’s face.

“Get off of me,” Sam strained, shoving Bucky off with another loud grunt. I rolled to his other side and coughed loudly, having had the wind knocked out of me during the crash. The three of us lay on our backs trying to regain our breath, Sam and I more than Bucky but I chalked that up to the fact that he was just as strong as the people we’d just gotten our asses handed to us by. “Those were all Super Soldiers, Sam,” he stated in awe.

“I know,” Sam confirmed, “You’re welcome, by the way.” He pushed himself up painfully on an elbow to lean over me, “Are you okay?”

I was finally starting to feel like I could get some semblance of a normal breath in. I’d have wished it was running around with AJ and Cass that would have showed me I was out of shape and not losing a fight to Super Soldiers. “‘Big Three’ my ass, Wilson,” I wheezed, making no effort to sit up yet.

“I said ‘might be’,” Sam weakly fought, “‘Might be.’ Clearly I was wrong.”

“Will wonders never cease?” Bucky winced as he sat up, “We need to get to the airport and reformulate.” “Oh, do we now? Do we need to reformulate?” Sam mocked from the ground, “I hadn’t thought of that yet, Bucky, what an incredible-“ I groaned loudly and forced my torso up, “Dear God above, if you two don’t stop acting like twelve year olds, I’ll catch a Delta flight home.” “Good, that’s where I wanted you,” Sam reprimanded as he rose to join me, “I told you if you took some stupid risk, you were going back home and what did you do? You took off on your own towards those trucks!” “I was trying to help him,” I threw my hand out towards Bucky, “One way or another I would have gotten hurt, Sam, whether I’d have waited for you or not. And now that I’ve actually seen what we’re dealing with? No way am I going home.” I rolled onto my knees and got to my feet, my muscles aching with each movement I made to stand in front of the two men. “When you two decide to start acting like adults, I’ll meet you back at the jet.”

Holding in each groan that wanted to escape my mouth, I started my trek back towards the road, not making it very far until I heard two pairs of footsteps behind me.

We walked that way for most of the way, Sam and Bucky muttering something every once in a while to each other and me ahead of them trying to wrap my head around the situation. I had gotten myself tangled in the world of super soldiers, ones who weren’t using their advanced capabilities to save the world from one of the actual Big Three. Not only that but we’d had the displeasure of being rescued by the person the three of us had wanted to see least in the world. I had started the day out having coffee with Sarah on our back porch and by eastern standard time zone’s definition was ending it in Germany mid-afternoon with a killer bruise developing on my cheek. Whatever I had expected to come from joining Sam, it sure as hell wasn’t this.

A car honk summoned me out of my thoughts, an open roofed vehicle came up beside me and I was quick to identify the passengers. John Walker and the helicopter soldier.

“So that didn’t go as planned, huh?” Walker attempted to make friendly conversation, specifically with Sam and Bucky but I could sense I was also welcome to answer. I didn’t cease my movements and neither did Sam and Bucky which only caused Walker to instruct the driver to get ahead of us again. “Look, at least we know what we’re up against now, huh? And we’re pretty sure it’s one of the Big Three, so…” “Aliens, androids, or wizards?” the unnamed soldier double checked with Walker, who responded that he was still almost certain.

“There’s no such thing as wizards,” Bucky grumbled from behind me, sounding like the old man he biologically was.

“Then it’s aliens, or androids,” Walker shrugged. “Or Super Soldiers,” Sam corrected.

“Shit, Super Soldiers, for real?” Walker’s sidekick asked before turning in his seat to face, “Do you believe that?” “I believe that you two don’t know how to take a hint,” I frustratedly smiled at him, “But yes, I do.”

“Wow. All right, well, then we gotta work together,” Walker said. Bucky scoffed, “That’s not happening.”

“I think we stand a much better chance if we all just-“ Bucky finally lost his patience and said the thing we all were thinking, “Just ‘cause you carry that shield, it doesn’t mean you’re Captain America.”

Walker was quick to defend himself, “Look, I’ve done the work, okay?”

Bucky was equally as quick to prove him wrong, “You ever jump on top of a grenade?” “Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times,” Walker explained, “It’s a thing I do with my helmet. It’s a reinforced helmet. It’s a long story, but, look…It’s 20 miles to the airport, you guys need a ride.” A sudden cramp tore through my shin causing me to sharply inhale and grab the leg. Through the pain I managed to exhale and begin limping back along the path, “We’re good, thanks.”

“At least let us take her, she’s injured,” I heard Walker attempt to convince Sam and Bucky, knowing that I was probably a means to an end to get them in the car.

I didn’t get very far before I felt Sam’s arm wrap around my waist, “C’mon…” As much as I wanted to fight him on it, I knew I wouldn’t make it more than a few steps before I was bent over again in pain. The adrenaline had worn off and my whole body was starting to ache deeply in a way that made even breathing hurt where it shouldn’t. I dropped my head in frustration and nodded, putting my arm around Sam’s shoulder to let him brace me. He helped me limp back to the car where Bucky gently handled my other side, the two of them lifted me into the vehicle where Walker and his friend tried to help me sit down. I shrugged off their unwelcome hands and used the roof’s poles to lower myself into a seat. Sam jumped in and sat on one side of me, gently lifting the leg that was really bothering me onto his lap to try and massaging my shin. Bucky climbed in on my other side and gave me a once over, trying to assess if I was in any further pain that I wasn’t letting on to.

“Okay,” Walker began as the car rocked to life again, “So we’ve got eight Super Soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?” “They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during The Blip,” Sam explained, “Maybe they’re just trying to help.” “They had a funny way of showing it,” Bucky commented.

“That serum doesn’t exactly have a great track record,” Walker quickly looked to Bucky, “No offense.” I tried not to judge people too harshly upon first meeting them, but I had no problem deciding right away that Walker was an asshole.

“We need to figure out where they’re going,” Sam spoke up before an argument could break out, “How’d you track ‘em here? The Flag Smashers?”

“Uh, no, we didn’t track them. We tracked you, uh, through Redwing,” Walker’s friend answered, dipping his head down to avoid Sam’s stony gaze.

“You hacked my tech?” “Sorry,” Walker laughed, “It’s not exactly hacking. It’s government property,” he gestured to himself, “Kind of the government.” My lips parted and I tilted my head, ”Are you kidding me?”

“I’m sorry,” Walker extended his hand out to me, “John Walker, Captain America. And you are?” I glanced between his hand and him, “Not impressed.” He awkwardly retracted it and turned away from me to Bucky, “Does he always just stare like that?” “You get used to it,” Sam replied, suddenly he had no problem with Bucky’s habit.

“Okay, look,” Walker cleared his throat, “You know things have gotten kind of, uh…” “Chaotic,” his friend finished for him.

“Yeah. The GRC, they’re doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post Blip.” “Reactivating citizenship, social security, healthcare. Basically just managing resources for the refugees who were displaced by the return.”

“The Global Repatriation Council does all that, I get that,” Sam said impatiently, “So why exactly are you two here?”

“Well, they provide the resources and we keep things stable,” the soldier answered.

“Yeah, violent revolutionaries aren’t usually good for anyone’s cause,” Walker said. “Usually said by the people with the resources,” Sam looked up from the work he was doing on my leg to look dead at Walker.

“We got a lot of resources,” he stated confidantly, “If you guys, if you joined up with us, we could-“ “No,” Bucky and I said in unison, now having agreed on two things. Walker was a phony and wizards weren’t real.

“I got mad respect for both of ya’ll,” Walker’s friend complimented, “You too, ma’am. But you were kinda getting your asses kicked till we showed up.” Bucky finally dragged his stare off of Walker, “Who are you?” “Lemar Hoskins.” “Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins,” Sam commented.

“I’m Battlestar,” Lemar reintroduced himself, “John’s partner.” “‘Battlestar?’” Bucky echoed the ridiculous nickname, snapping his head suddenly toward the driver, “Stop the car!”

The driver obeyed and quickly halted in the middle of the road, giving Bucky the opportunity to jump out of the car. He raised his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for me to join him but I wasn’t about to leave Sam’s side. I held a hand up to him to which he responded by closing the back door and starting down the path that veered off the main road.

“Look, I…I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do,” Walker started, he couldn’t come close to understanding how insulted all three of us were for one uniting reason, “You don’t think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky,” even the call of his name wasn’t enough to make him stop, “And I’m…I’m not trying to be Steve. I’m not trying to replace Steve.” “Could’ve fooled me,” I snorted, removing my leg from Sam’s lap as he’d stopped rubbing it long ago. “I’m just trying to be the best Captain America I can be, that’s it,” Walker focused his eyes on my brother, “It’d be a whole lot easier if I had Cap’s wingmen on my side.” Sam scoffed and looked out of the corner of his eyes at me as if to make sure he hadn’t heard incorrectly. He hadn’t, and I was about two seconds away from putting my powers to good use and beating Walker with his own shield that he could never truly hold ownership of. “It’s always that last line…”

Sam climbed over me and hopped out first before helping to lower me to the ground. A defeated Walker ordered the driver to leave and we watched to make sure they actually left for good. “Torres said he’s nice?” I asked sarcastically as we resumed our familiar posture of Sam helping me walk. “Torres is young, impressionable and follows every order he’s given. Guys like Walker have a problem with anyone who doesn’t take their every word as gospel.”

“Well, your mom made us attend enough church when we were kids for me to know that right there,” I pointed back to the car that was now a dot in the distance, “Is a false prophet.”

I trained my eyes ahead of us, Bucky hadn’t gotten too far and it looked like he had actually slowed his pace for us to catch up easier. While I was angry with the government for appointing Walker and the man himself, I knew that the pain Sam and Bucky were feeling was exponentially heavier to deal with. They’d already lost their friend and Walker was the salt being rubbed in the wound.

When we did eventually make it to the plane an hour later, I was biting back tears at how much pain I was in. Sam took notice of how I was trying to conceal them as we approached the tarmac and carried me the rest of the way.

“I gotta check for any internal bleeding,” he said as he set me down gently on the seats of the jet, “And you’re going home.” “No, I’m not,” I moaned. “Yes, you are,” he scolded as he lifted up my shirt to the bottom of my bra so that he could get a clear view of my abdomen, “Sarah’s gonna pound my ass into the ground as it is for bringing you back bruised.” My eyes could no longer stay opened, further fluttering shut as I didn’t hear Sam state that he saw anything concerning. “Get some sleep,” he ordered, “I’ll take care of anything I find.” Just before I drifted off, I heard a second body kneel down next to Sam. “She okay?” “Yeah, she’ll be fine,” he answered Bucky, “I just should have never brought her.”

————

When I did wake up, the plane was dark except for the minimal lighting towards the cockpit. I attempted to sit up, biting back a groan as I did. There was a blanket draped over my bottom half and my jacket was now folded underneath my head as a makeshift pillow. Sam was sleeping upright near my feet, arms crossed and snoring quietly.

“Glad to see you’re okay,” a quiet voice startled me, I turned to see it was Bucky. “A little out of my depth,” I remarked, rubbing one of my eyes, “But yeah, okay.”

Bucky nodded and looked back down at his folded hands, for some reason the contrast of the gold and black metal meeting the pale flesh fascinated me. He must’ve sensed I was staring because he peered up at me through his lashes. I quickly looked away, “I’m guessing we’re on our way back to New Orleans.” “Baltimore, actually,” he replied.

“What’s in Baltimore?” I whispered, trying not to wake Sam. “Someone that Sam needs to meet.” “Okay,” I slowly swung my legs off the seats to properly face him, “Who’s in Baltimore?” Bucky gave me a tired look, “Just someone, you’ll meet him too.” I bristled slightly at his answer, shooting him a half smile. “You don’t trust people, do you, Barnes?”

I wouldn’t call what his lips did was a smile, but maybe a sarcastic knock off of one. “You ask a lot of questions, you know?”

“Only when people don’t give me any answers,” I fired back in a contradictorily easy tone, “Look, you don’t have to trust me. That’s fine, I’m going home after whatever surprise you have for us anyway so you won’t have to deal with me slowing you guys down anymore.” “Sam was endangering you by bringing a civilian to an Avengers level fight,” he quickly said, “That’s on him, not you. And none of us were exactly at our best today.” A supercut of the three of us each getting slapped around silly on top of the trucks played in my mind. He was definitely right, nobody could have predicted that we’d be thrown for such a loop. Not even the man pretending to be Captain America. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about Walker,” I offered as softly as I could, “I’ve watched him parade that shield around on tv for days and I’ve gotten angrier each time. Not saying it’s the same as what you’re feeling but…I’m just sorry.” Bucky didn’t respond, he actually looked away from me and back down at his hands. “You should get some more sleep, we’re still a ways out.” It was clear I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him, not that I felt any burning desire to try to get him to open up. I’d only tried out of politeness and the slight glimmer of curiosity I held when it came to what lay beneath his hardened surface. “Goodnight, Barnes,” I said, laying back down and rolling over so I didn’t have to look at him any longer.

----

A/N: Let me know what you thought and/or if you’d like to be tagged! There’s still a lot of surprises that are coming...

Safe Haven taglist: @tanyaherondale @wanniiieeee @asoftie4bucky @edencherries @i-reblog-fics-i-like @ttalisa @gcfty @withyoutilltheendofthismess @rinaispunk @weirdowithnobeardo @felicityofbakerstreet @godlypotterwhodiaries @eternalharry @voguesir @mizz-kraziii @okayline @smellmymisunderstoodfluff @wanderin-stories @nicklet94 @intricate-melody @aesthethickks @stumbleonmywords @simplybarnes @21bruhs @lostinwonderland314 @superbookishhufflepuff @themaddies-obx

#bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x fem!reader #sam wilson x reader #sam wilson x platonic!reader #marvel imagine

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yakumtsaki · 3 years

Photo

Welcome, dear readers, to part 1 of the finale to the BackupKingdom2 saga! We’re in our final ambition now, let’s check how Liz’s post-divorce-bloodbath is going..

Oh yes, excellent. Our path to death-achievement-glory has been paved with so many executions that wherever I look I see npcs crying..

..comforting each other..

..and in Agnes' case, coming straight to Liz to.. ask for mercy for the populace I guess?? Bruh. I can't believe we even brought down AGNES, truly this is the saddest kingdom on earth. Amazing job, Liz, you've definitely earned your place in the tyrant hall of fame!

Now a lesser player would be like "oh, maybe we should chill a little on the insane tyrant thing, finish the Pirate/Noble arc cause we've been dragging this war out so the pirates/guildsmen would keep spawning and it should have ended like 20 quests ago" and true, we could just end it, we ran a very effective operation around here, shoutout to MVPs Donius and Bellinda and their 'seductive' legendary traits:

They bedded them and Liz beheaded them, the power of teamwork! So one could say that we should consider raising kingdom morale now because everyone is so depressed but I think, if anything, now is the time to ramp it up and go for some of the other morally questionable achievements! Like Machiavelli said, you should commit all your atrocities at once! What do you think, Liz? Ready to get atrocious?

-OH FUCK YEA, I’M ENRAGED, I DROPPED MY FIDDLE IN THE PIT AND NOW I HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE SERVANT TO GET ME A NEW ONE!! WHY DOES EVERYTHING ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME >:(

Aw I’m sorry Liz, but I’m sure you the upcoming suffering of your subjects will cheer you up!

-Ok motherfuckers, by order of the Crown aka ME -you hear that Rae?? ME, NOT YOU. God I want to execute you so bad, fucking ingrate, do you remember what rags you were wearing when I hired you??

Let’s get this back on track, Liz.

-Right, so by order of the Crown, Magus Olivia and Spymaster Spainot are given COMPLETE LEGAL IMMUNITY to do whatever the fuck they want in the interest of earning achievements, so don’t you people come crying to me cause I don’t give one tiny chinchilla crap about your health and livelihoods. If you need me for something actually important, I'll be at the gates, executing anyone who doesn't like my fiddle playing.

-Oh man, this folksy peasant hat isn’t protecting my ears enough.

-THOUGHT I WOULDN’T HEAR YOUR LITTLE MURMUR, DID YOU -YOUR MAJESTY NO I ONLY MEANT MY EARS WERE COLD -WELL ALL OF YOUR BODY’S ABOUT TO BE COLD NOW! CONSTABLE, THROW THIS PEASANT IN THE PIT

-Death marker? I hardly know 'er!

So the Constable npc has this little Billy Elliot subplot going, I'm pretty sure he has the 'drunkard' fatal flaw because he was always at the tavern so I had Bellinda try to hire him to perform in one of her plays just to see what would happen and it actually worked, and now he moonlights as an actor! It's cute but it also takes forever for him to come arrest people.

-THEY LOVE ME ❤️😁 -CONSTABLE WHATSYOURNAME, COME OVER HERE AND DO YOUR FUCKING JOB OR YOU'RE NEXT FOR THE PIT

-No one knows what it's like to be the bad man, to be the sad man, when someone dies😢

In the background you can see that Bellinda just got a pregnancy bump, it’s her lovechild with Donius, I for real can’t keep these two apart. Anyway, the time has come..

..to unleash Magus Olivia onto the populace.

-You know what, I'd rather not, this book is finally getting good and I'm sick of cursing peasants, it doesn't even drop their mood that much..

Oh no, Olivia my beloved, we're not cursing them, we're going for the 'Well Done' achievement!

-NO WAY.

WAY.

-Won't I be executed??

You have immunity! You can do whatever you want!! And, AND, once you complete it, because I know it's tiring, I'll give you a magic skeletal parrot as a gift!! Edward got all the materials for it while treasure-hunting, you'd think I'd let him keep it but that's not the kind of shop I'm running here.

-This is my face of pure, childlike happiness!

Good lord, it’s terrifying, please don’t look at me like that.

-Alright, time to roll down my sleeves so they look more sinister and do this thing.

You can do it, Olivia!

-Of course I can, save your reassurance for the flops that need it.

-I.. cast.. INFERNO!

...

-What?

I mean really, those are the words, "I cast inferno"? Can't you say something with more evil magical flair?

-Not when I have to cast it 80 fucking times I can't.

-IT BURNS, IT BURNSSSSS

Oh how the tables have turned, usually it's the witch that gets burned, huhu! Did you hear that, Olivia? Did you like my joke??

-Oh, it's beautiful!

Well it wasn't one of my best-

-Not you, you needy moron, the sight of burning flesh! I can't wait to do this 79 more times!

Alright, so everyone in the tavern has been turned into a chicken nugget, time to get some rest and check in with Spainot!

-Amazing news, Rodolfo, I just got royal permission to unlawfully lock up and interrogate whoever I want for the achievements!!!

-Darling, no offense, but aren't you a bit too shit at your job for that? -WHAT????

-FUCK YOU RODOLFO YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS OF MY SUCCESS -I WISH I WAS JEALOUS OF YOUR SUCCESS, THEN YOU'D BE SUCCESSFUL AND I WOULDN'T BE MARRIED TO A BROKE LOSER

-And then he says the only reason he hasn't dumped me is he doesn't wanna be a rando npc while Batshit Liz is on an execution spree, can you believe this bullshit? How can anyone be so hurtful??

-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NO NO PLEASE DON'T HAVE THIS CHINCHILLA MAUL ME I'LL GIVE YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT

-How about you give me some marital advice, are you even listening?! Ugh.

That's right, while Olivia is inferno-ing the peasants, I've sicced Spainot on the nobility, specifically all those foreign diplomats that are always hanging in the reception hall, lagging up the place. We're going for the 100 interrogations achievement and we’ve installed a nice spiky torture chair right in the middle of the hall to save time! Now this is how we keep every stratum of society terrified enough to not realize that the person in charge is.. uh.. well you know:

-DANCE TO MY FIDDLE, PIRATE, DANCE!

-I AM!!!!!

-DANCE MORE ENTHUSIASTICALLY. ALL THE WAY TO THE PIT

After a couple days and several locations I feel we’re pretty close to 80 infernos!

I’d say we’ve burned a good 50-60% of the population at this point, everywhere I look I see singed townies-

-so we take this little barbecue to the palace because we’ve ran out of peasants and it’s time to start burning the foreign dignitaries. And it’s a good thing we do, because Olivia meets Nyrexis the Dragon!!!!

Nyrexis is the human form of the dragon from a hilar quest where there’s a dragon in the kingdom and you can either befriend it or slay it, I had Bellinda befriend it:

So if you complete the befriend route of the quest, the human form of the dragon appears in town and is in love with whoever did the quest, in this case Bellinda. I am of course not about to waste Dragonfu on Bellinda’s basic ass, plus I feel Olivia is kind of a dragon with all the people she’s been burning so they have a lot in common!

We dazzle Dragonfu with a coin trick! True magic at work.

-OMG IT WAS BEHIND MY EAR THE WHOLE TIME -I KNOW!

Good God, all of Olivia’s ‘happy’ expressions are terrifying, just don’t smile ever again, you’re too evil for it, you’re gonna scare the dragon away!

Or not!!!!

AWWWWW 🐲❤️🔮

You know what, fuck it, let’s lock it down, when it’s right it’s right!

-Burn stuff with me forever?? -I WILL!!!!

-We are gathered here today, under threat of fiery death, to join two unholy abominations in holy matrimony. Yes, the irony is not lost on me.

AW CONGRATS GUYS <3333 The wizard tower is so small and family un-friendly and Olivia is so unmaternal but come on, like I’m not gonna have her reproduce with a fucking dragon.

Back to Spainot, we’ve hit a slight bump, mainly that this Snordwich lord is proving fucking impossible to torture.

-Um.. Are you enjoying this??? -Sure am, bad boy, but why don’t we take this somewhere more private already?

Wtf, stop sexually harassing the innocent person who’s torturing you! Does no one around here have any sense of humanity anymore??

-Come on, Spainot, throw some flesh-eating rodents at him! -I’M BUILDING UP TO IT, RAE, GAWD. No one likes a back-seat torturer!

-HA, who’s the loser now, Rodolfo? Rodolfo?? RODOLFO

Ya Spai I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m pretty sure he left while you were interrogating, I haven’t seen him in like 3 days.

-WHAT. So Olivia completes one achievement and gets a dragon wife and a magic skeletal bird and I complete three and get dumped?!

Well what do you want from me, I don’t make the rules!

-YES YOU DO

Can we move on, please? And Olivia had a very rough go of it-

-she got burned in some rando quest and looked positively karma-stricken after, inferno-ing left and right while sporting this look! She deserves a magic bird!

Congrats on your success and 4 kids, Olivia!

-I love this skeleton bird more than I thought it possible to ever love something.

-Gee, thanks mom.

We had leftover bones so here, Spainot, you get a magic bird too.

-A bone parrot is little comfort when you’ve lost the only bone that matters! Why Rodolfo, whyyyyy!!!!!!!!!

Oh I don’t know, probably because you challenged him to duels 3 times a day?

-No, that can’t be it.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but you look like a man who has nothing to live for?

-Yea, I certainly don’t.

So you wouldn’t mind like, jumping into the pit multiple times so you can get the parts we need for the hardest achievement in game aka Legendary Doomsword?

-Rodolfo had one of those too, it was legendary and now that it’s gone I’m doomed!!!

Ok ya ENOUGH metaphors about Rodolfo’s absent penis, although they really are writing themselves. We’ll get him back! If you survive all the pit jumping that is. Join us next time for part 2: Legendary Doomsword!

#tsm

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acourtofsnakes · 3 years

Text

E’tad - Rogue, Chapter 9| The Mandalorian x Force Sensitive! Reader (f)

Summary: You are going about your time in Nevarro, completely unaware of the struggle and frantic journey the Mandalorian is making. Will he get there in time?

Warnings: A bit of violence/swearing, mentions of death/blood, alcohol/drinking

AN: I’m really sorry that this chapter isn’t as gripping as the others. I’ve been super overwhelmed lately and been struggling to get my ideas down into actual words. I’ve been working on this for way longer than the word count reflects and just wanted to get it out. You can still count on a cliffhanger ending though, of course ♥︎

Also, I’m sorry if there’s parts that aren’t canon. I definitely made up a couple of the planets and potentially bits of Nevarro.

Not yet beta read.

Word Count: 4832

As always, credit to whoever owns the gif. I usually find them on Google or Pinterest, so message me if it’s yours ♥︎

Rogue Taglist: @snipskixandbeskar @weirdowithnobeardo @the-bottom-of-the-abyss @jackgrzs @sarahjkl82-blog @boomtownboy @goldielocks2004

Mando’a translation: E'tad - seven

You’d been in Nevarro for a few days now.

Things were going... okay?

No. Things were going well. Really well. You felt safer here, knowing that Cara and Greef were monitoring who was coming and going and making sure they posed no threat to you.

There were a few tense moments, times when government officials came wandering past, but you always stayed hidden out of the way.

No one looked twice at you here – and if they did, it wasn’t for long.

When you first walked through the town, you found Cara and Greef waiting for you just inside the gates.

They were kind, welcoming too. Greef took your bag and welcomed you to the planet, whilst Cara smiled at you and shook your hand. You sensed that she was strong, determined and loyal to her cause and friends. She had a kindness in her eyes though, and it put you at ease.

These were Mando’s friends. He trusted them to take care of you, so that meant you’d be able to trust them too.

They had shown you around, giving you a tour of the places that you might need, like markets and small stores, but also the places to avoid.

When you’d had your tour, they showed you to a quaint building a short walk away from the centre of town.

There were only 4 floors to the building, and about 2 rooms on each floor. Stopping on the third floor, they had showed you where you’d be staying.

Cara had apologised for it being more on the minimal side, but you’d shaken your head quickly. This was more than you’d had in… years.

There was a little kitchenette area to prepare food, a lounge space with a slightly ragged looking armchair and table. To the right of the space was a curtained off sleeping area, containing a thin, but comfy looking cot and then just off of that a washing area. There was a decent-sized metal tub, big enough for you to be able to sit in and just extend your legs comfortably.

It might not have been grand, or spacious but it was a home. A place to come back to at the end of the day and be safe.

The two had left you to get settled, and you couldn’t help that sharp pang in your chest.

The Razor Crest had become a… sort of home to you over the last few weeks. It’s softly lit corridors and spaces, things crammed in everywhere but all mostly organised… the little compartment that had been your – well, the Mandalorian’s, - bed. The cockpit, where you spent most of your days either bantering with Mando or sitting in comfortable silence.

The kitchen area… his hands on your skin..

The weight of him behind you..

You missed him. And if you were honest, it still stung. That all of that had occurred between you and he was just getting rid of you.

No, maybe that wasn’t the right phrase. And nothing had really happened between you. Just an outpouring of tension. Besides, he was so warm, maybe he had been running a fever.

Mando had said that it was the only way to keep you safe.

And you knew that you were also attracting attention onto him and Grogu.

It still didn’t stop it from hurting any less.

~~~~~~~~~

-----7 Days Left-----

The Mandalorian made it back to his ship in record time. He didn’t waste precious minutes explaining to Peli. Just stating he had to go, thank you for the repairs and the last few days.

Seven days. He just seven days to get back, grab you, and flee.

Easy. He could do that easily.

Right?

He gave her a handful of credits, promising to come back soon.

He probably came across as rude, but he just couldn’t afford to wait.

You would have been on Nevarro for a little over a week now. He’d been with Peli for a good few days, and the travelling here had cost him about a day and a bit.

You were probably settled.

Maybe even.. happy?

His instincts were always right, and they were telling him that this guy, Haran, the shadow of Hell, had meant every single word. That if he found you before Mando did, you would never return.

Even if that happened, the Mandalorian would tear apart the galaxy to find you. There wouldn’t be a corner of space that Haran could hide that Mando wouldn’t get to. He would kill anyone who stood in his way, anyone who stopped him from reaching you.

The force of his determination nearly took his breath away as he switched on the ship, the engines roaring to life

Moments later, he was leaving Tatooine.

“I’m coming for you.”

~~~~~~~~~

After that initial first week of settling in, you found that things improved a great deal.

You knew your way around almost 100%, and frequently took walks around the town.

Cara had reassured you that you wouldn’t have to hide here, but on busier days it would be best to keep your hood up.

Just in case.

Despite the threat of someone slipping through their watchful eyes, you relaxed.

You worked with Cara sometimes during the days, going along with her for her Marshal duties and keeping things in order.

Other days, you spent time with Greef. You found him to be sort of… like an uncle in attitude. He was reassuring, and you enjoyed spending time with the both of them.

You’d even begun to help out in the local school. Karga had suggested it one day, mentioning in passing how the teaching droids might benefit with a pair of extra eyes and hands.

After making a few helpful comments, you had somehow established yourself as a teacher of survival. Not in the sense of, ‘this is how to disarm a bounty hunter who is coming at you whilst you’re sleeping., but more in the vein of, “Here’s how to find fresh water and a place to sleep.”

The kids loved it, especially when you staged imaginary scenarios for them and had them running about the place or creeping through ‘the undergrowth’.

It felt good. To be using these skills you’d been forced to learn for something positive, something that the kids enjoyed.

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

-----5 Days Left-----

Of course he had to stop for fuel.

He had forgotten to ask Peli to fill it up before he left. Mainly because they couldn’t get out there when the sandstorm had hit, and then because he had left so quickly.

He wanted to punch himself.

Maybe he would. It might make him feel better.

The Mandalorian stopped at the next closest planet, barely having turned the engines off before he was climbing out of the cockpit and making his way through the ship, Grogu secured in his little bag.

He was halfway down the ramp when he looked over his shoulder, to check that you and Duru were behind him.

Only to stop short, because you were no longer with him. Remember?

He sighed, ignoring the wrench of his heart and he walked through the landing bay.

A quick search revealed a man in a fuel operatives’ uniform.

Relief flooded Mando’s senses, and he hurried over, “Excuse me, would you be able to fill my ship? I’m sorry but I’m really in a hurry.”

The man looked up, wiping his hands on his uniform and he came over to Mando. “The Crest that just landed? Sure, I can fill her up right away, sir.”

Moments later, he had hooked up the necessary pipes and the ship was being pumped full of fuel.

It didn’t stop him from pacing though, checking the time on the large display inside the landing bay.

He was full of frantic energy, and he should probably stop pacing because he was going to make Grogu sick.

The operative looked up, tilting his head a little, “Forgive me, sir, but you look awful jittery. Is something wrong?”

The Mandalorian spun on the spot, looking at the man suspiciously.

Was he working for Haran? Was this a distraction?

Maybe he shouldn’t have come here.

Grogu gurgled at his side, and he didn’t need to bother translating. He was being stupid; the kid was right.

Mando sighed, curling his hands into fists and then uncurling them to try and release some tension. “Have you ever heard of the Shadow of Death?”

The man cursed, dropping the tool he was holding. He looked around quickly, his colourful face going pale with fear, “Sir! I beg you, please do not speak that name. Even mentioning it can summon him here.”

The Mandalorian couldn’t hide the surprise form his voice, “You believe in him then?”

The worker nodded slowly, motioning Mando over. When he was close enough, the man said quietly, “I’ve seen his… work.”

A chill skittered over Mando’s bones, “You’ve seen… someone he’s killed?”

A green sheen had come over the operatives face, “Yes, sir. I’ve seen it firsthand and I still wake up screaming even today.”

The Mandalorian tilted his head, “Many people believe he’s a myth, thought up by the darkest of people to cover their tracks.”

“That creature is not a myth, sir. He came for my sister and her family. She ran, but he was waiting at the safe house for her.” The man’s eyes became hazy with memory. “I don’t know how he knew. She had told no one where she was going. Not even me. They had never uttered the location aloud, not even to each other. They wrote it down. Just in case he was in the walls, listening.” The man swallowed roughly once, twice.

“When we got there, there was nothing left to bury. Just clothes, a few strands of hair and blood coating the walls. It was like something from a nightmare. There were only a few… chunks left of them. They could never identify who was who.” He heaved a little, then turned grave eyes onto the Mandalorian.

“If you know someone he wants, you’d be best of killing them yourselves. It would be a lot kinder.”

~~~~~~~~~

-----2 Days Left-----

The Mandalorian was getting frantic.

And with his frantic haste, came messiness.

He didn’t know it was taking him so damn long to get to Nevarro. He should have been there three days ago. Hell, he should never have left you there.

There had been a nebula on the way out of the planet. It hadn’t come up on his radar until the last moment and he had to swerve to get around it, which cost him a detour he couldn’t afford. He couldn’t risk jumping into hyperspeed until he was clear either.

Though it had taken too long, he eventually cleared it.

He was close, so close. He’d been about to make the jump when two X-wing’s had come out of nowhere and started to chase him down. He’d tried to get them away, tried to shake them off but they’d forced him down into some icy planet.

He’d nearly crashed the ship, nearly lost Grogu because the little womp rat decided to climb out of his seat as Mando tried to land and then the engines had cut out because they got too cold.

And now he was cold. Fucking freezing in fact.

Tracking through the snow and the ice, looking for the two pilots to get rid of them so he could be back on his way to finding you.

With each movement of the sun, he became more and more painfully aware of how slow he was.

He was never this slow. Never this sloppy. He needed to calm down and clear his head, but the words of the fuel operative kept ringing in his head.

“That creature is not a myth, sir. He came for my sister and her family. She ran, but he was waiting at the safe house for her.

When we got there, there was nothing left to bury. Just clothes, a few strands of hair and blood coating the walls.

If you know someone he wants, you’d be best of killing them yourselves. It would be a lot kinder.”

He gritted his teeth as a shudder shook his body, and not from the cold.

You wouldn’t end up like that.

He’d find you. You would be fine.

Noise broke through his thoughts, the sounds of the pilots and he slipped behind a snowpile and sunk down to wait.

~~~~~~~~~

Okay. So maybe the last few days weren’t going as well as they could have been.

You were embarrassed to admit it, but at least two of them were spent drunk, and the third was spent in a state of hungover blurriness.

Pinpointing the exact trigger was hard.

It might have been the horrific nightmares that begun 4 days ago, or it might have been the conversation you had with Cara that day.

You’d been sitting in the cantina, just talking after a day of work and she had begun to ask about your past. Nothing invasive, nothing forcing you to answer but something in you had wanted to spill some of the burden.

She’d asked you where you learned your survival skills, and you thought about lying but… something stopped you. So, you’d told her. At least, as much as you could without revealing the real reason.

You told her about the murder of your parents. How the market had been attacked that day, and you could do nothing to stop them dying.

You told her how you’d run, spending two days hiding in a waste dump, crying and vomiting with fear and the horror of what you’d seen. How you’d dragged yourself out, and started your journey of planet hopping and hitching rides.

Cara had asked what you did to get people coming after you, and you simply told her they thought you’d been responsible for the market attack, and the murders of the friends you’d made because people always seemed to die around you.

You told her how it had forced you to not be able to trust anyone, to only be able to rely on yourself and how you had to learn to survive.

It hadn’t been easy. You had made yourself sick countless times, including one really bad week where you ate some questionable vegetables and spent four days in a hallucinating stupor, convinced you were dying.

She’d laughed at that and returned the favour by telling you about her shock trooper days. The fact they were dumped in on their own to hunt the warlords, being exposed to horrors that only you and few others could understand.

The pair of you had spent the evening sharing stories, dancing around the subject of a certain beskar-clad hunter and his child. You couldn’t go there, couldn’t talk about it.

She probably gathered all the information she needed from your lack of response though, by the look in her eye and the smirk when she mentioned him.

That night might have been the cause of the horrific nightmare where you were convinced you’d just watched the Mandalorian and Grogu be torn to shreds by your own power. You’d woken up screaming, tasting their blood like that night and barely made it to the small bathroom area before vomiting.

That was the last night you’d remembered before getting drunk.

You supposed you were ashamed of yourself.

You were giving in to feelings you’d spent years repressing.

You were wallowing.

You’re hurting. You’re allowed to let go of the pain sometimes, to feel it. You can’t keep going like the ice queen all the time.

How you hated that inner voice of reason.

~~~~~~~~~

-----1 Day left-----

His gloves were soaked with melted snow, sticking to his skin and freezing again instantly, no matter how many times he tried to warm them. It made his movements slow and fumbly as he desperately worked to fix the engine of his ship.

He’d tried to take off as soon as he’d gotten rid of the pilots, but as soon as he’d started the engines, they died with no more than a puff of smoke.

They were frozen.

Snow and ice had gotten into the rotors and they wouldn’t start long enough for him to heat them up.

He was stuck here.

Grogu was freezing.

Mando had left him inside the cockpit with the doors shut, bundled in all the blankets he could find in the ship. The heaters weren’t working, and the backup generator barely provided enough heat to stop the windows from icing over.

He made a frustrated noise as he dropped his tools, stooping down to scoop them out of the snow.

He had to get this working. He had to fix this and get to you.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, you rose, dressed and returned to work.

You apologised for your previous behaviour and threw yourself into your daily tasks with a determination that might have been bordering on insanity.

You were eager to wipe away the shame of the past few days, so you spent the day doing every single job you could find and more. Even going out into the town on your lunch break to help around the markets and local small stores.

It kept the thoughts at bay, the guilt and the shame, and also the relentless longing that plagued you.

~~~~~~~~~~

-----12 hours left-----

The sun had set long ago.

He was working by the small light on his helmet now.

It was barely enough to see in front of his face, but he couldn’t stop. Even though he couldn’t feel his feet, or his hands. Or any of his body, actually.

He couldn’t let you die.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was the end of the day.

You had just finished your work, helping Cara with maintaining things around town, dealing with the odd shady traveller that passed through looking for trouble.

She knew your skills, that you were ruthless, quick and knew your way around a blade well enough to scare someone off.

It was why you had started training with her a few days ago, before the drunken haze.

You’d showed up to her office after a night of screaming dreams, shattered, wound up and tense.

She’d taken one look at you, then taken you out the back to a big empty plot and begun to train with you. And it had worked. Sparring with someone and having to focus had helped you channel that anxious energy.

It was a regular occurrence now, which was why you were engaged in another session with her.

Greef had come to watch this afternoon, and sat on one of the huge, jagged hunks of rock that littered the volcanic planet.

It didn’t put you off, you were too focused as you ducked under Cara’s punch, twirling around her body and delivering a sharp kick to her kidneys that had her coughing. You couldn’t help the chuckle, lightly springing back a few steps as she spun to face you, “Oh come on, you practically invited me to kick you.”

Cara rolled her eyes, advancing toward you, “And you were foolish enough to take it.” She flew into another attack on you, which you matched punch for punch, like you knew the moves she was going to take without her saying.

You wondered if it had something to do with your power, some instinct from it. You still felt its presence more often than not lately, since that night it had helped you save the Mandalorian. You’d tried to push it back, but it was calling to you more and more recently.

Shaking the thoughts free of your head, you focused back on fighting, pouring everything into it and letting go of all that nervous energy.

You practically floated across the ashy ground, moving around her like you were breathing.

It wasn’t quite the choreographed, effortless fighting you and Mando had engaged in, but it was still something.

Dimly, you heard Greef laugh, clapping. “I never quite knew what Mando meant when he told us you fought like you were dancing, but I completely understand now.”

You froze, just managing to lift a hand and block Cara’s swing to your face, “What? He said that?” You looked over your shoulder, eyebrows raised in shock.

Karga nodded quickly, “Oh, yes! When he was telling us about the first time you met, and when you saved his life. He said he’d met more fighters in his life than he could remember, but you stood out most of all. ‘She fights like she’s dancing. Like she’s moving to a song of death only she can hear. It was mesmerising’ That’s what he told us.”

Mesmerising.

He’d really said that about you? Complimented you like that to his friends when you weren’t around?

It made your heart constrict and a sort of warm feeling spread through your veins.

Unfortunately, it also made you distracted.

Which gave Cara the opportunity to slam her knee into your back and knock you to the ground. “Stop getting doe-eyed over the Mandalorian and focus.” She was laughing, standing over you.

Your cheeks flushed slightly but you snarled, flipping on your back and pulling out her ankles. “I don’t get doe-eyed.”

~~~~~~~~~~

-----2 hours left---

The Mandalorian had never been this cold.

He was still outside, and a snowstorm had begun now.

His poor visibility was even worse, and it seemed to take him twice as long to do anything.

It was like the commands he sent from his brain to his hands were slogging through the thick snow.

His armour had long since frozen over, and every time he moved, ice cracked and fell from the crevice’s.

He didn’t know how long he could do this for.

He didn’t know if Grogu was still alive.

He didn’t know if you were still alive.

Haran may have gone back on his words and come after you anyway. You might have been dead for days already.

No.

No, he couldn’t let himself think that.

He had to keep going. He had to…

He had to rest…

He was cold. So very cold that he almost felt warm.

A mournful cry of wind shot through him, sucking the little energy from his body in a sub-zero blast and his knees gave out, dumping him in the snow.

Get up.

He couldn’t.

~~~~~~~~

“Good fighting today. You were a lot more focused. Well, mostly.” Cara leaned against the doorway to your building, crossing her arms and grinning again.

You rolled your eyes, “Thanks so much. The bruise I have on my back will forever remind me of your compliments.”

She laughed, raising an eyebrow, “And the pain in my kidney’s will remind of yours.” She tilted her head, watching you, “Why did it throw you so much?”

You pretended not to know what she was talking about, “Me kicking you in the kidneys?”

Cara gave you a deadpan look, knowing what you were doing, “No. What Greef said about Mando. You looked shocked.”

You swallowed, looking down and pretending to examine your boots and you pulled out an easy shrug, “I just didn’t expect a compliment like that from him. The first time we fought, we were both trying to kill each other, and the second time he saw me, he was half-unconscious. I didn’t think he remembered.”

Whether she saw through your lie or not, she thankfully didn’t press it. “Well… He can shock you sometimes, trust me.” She stood up straight, pushing away from the wall “I’ll see you later for dinner?”

Relief flooded through you and you nodded, able to meet her gaze now, “Sure, dinner sounds great. I’ll come by after a drink.”

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

-----0 Hours Left-----

He was too late.

~~~~~~~~~

You were still thinking about what Greef said as you made your way into the cantina, Duru asleep back in your room.

It had become a popular haunt for you whilst being here. You wondered if you might be starting to have a problem.

But the chatter of the different people and creatures provided an ambiance that kept the wandering thoughts at bay.

When you were alone and still, you had a habit of straying to the Mandalorian and Grogu.

His last words kept echoing in your head, that you might see each other soon.

When, Lori? Soon isn’t close enough.

You sighed to yourself as you slid onto a seat at the bar. You seriously needed to have an intervention with yourself. You didn’t pine like this. You didn’t get soft and sentimental.

You couldn’t afford to, not the way you lived.

But we aren’t on the run anymore. At least not like we used to be…

You ignored that voice in your head, the one that threatened to speak sense. Luckily, the droid that was serving as the bartender came over, placing your usual drink in front of you.

You nodded in thanks, pulling it toward you. Maybe it wasn’t such a good thing that the droid knew your drink without asking.

Then again… it was a droid. It was probably built into its hardware. It didn’t mean that you were an alcoholic. Although, your drunken stupor went against that argument.

You brushed your hand over the bar in front of you, getting rid of the layer of volcanic ash that settled over everything. Every night you found it in your hair, under your clothes and even in your boots. It didn’t bother you much though. Over the years, you’d become used to it, being covered in dirt or grime.

Except when you were on the Crest.

You shook your head slightly at yourself. You weren’t going to go there.

You could do what you wanted to on the Crest. You didn’t have to be covered in dirt or ash or mud. You were clean. Rested. Warm.

Do not go there.

You had company. Friends, even.

You blew out a breath, taking a big gulp of your drink. It didn’t matter now anyway. You were here. You didn’t know how long you were to stay for, but this was your new… home.

But it doesn’t feel like home. It’s not cosy. It doesn’t smell the same. You can’t hear the sounds of the engine, or Grogu or Mando.

Maker, you had to find a way to shut that voice up. Maybe you’d knocked something lose back when you fought the guy with a tail. Things hadn’t been right in your head since then.

Since you saved the Mandalorian’s life?

“Shut up!!” You didn’t realise you’d hissed the words out loud until a nearby trader gave you a funny look.

Brilliant, now you looked drunk or possibly crazy.

You dropped your head into your hands, rubbing your eyes. You needed to get over yourself.

And the Mandalorian.

When you lifted your glass back to your lips, you noticed that your drink was already done.

Whoops. Definitely looking more drunk than crazy now.

You looked up, raising your hand for another drink regardless and when the droid placed it in front of you, you slid over the required credits.

Only for it to push them back, “Your drinks have already been paid for, miss.”

You blinked in confusion at its monotone voice, “By who? I asked Cara and Greef not to touch my tab.” You had wanted to pay for it yourself. They refused to take any money in payment for you room, so you had managed to negotiate any expenses you racked up elsewhere – such as here.

The droid looked at you with its expressionless robotic face, “They were not paid for by Marshal Dune or Greef Karga. Please, take the credits.”

You reached out, slowly dragging them back and putting them back inside the inside pocket of your cloak, “Who paid for it then?” You couldn’t help the insistent tone to your voice, even if it would be lost on the droid.

Before it could answer, your question was answered.

“I did.”

The voice that came from behind you was silken, rising over the din background noise of the cantina. It caressed over your bones, those two simple words dripping like honey. Something tugged inside of you, pulled at that buried kernel of power.

You turned on your stool, looking for the owner of such a magnetic voice.

There, behind you, sat a figure.

Decked in an expensive looking cloak lined with golden thread, lounging back in his seat like he didn’t have a care in the world. You could see the edge of a hilt peeping above broad shoulders, something drawing you to look at it but you couldn’t see it properly.

You blinked again, raising an eyebrow, “Sorry?”

The figure leant forward, “I paid for your drinks.” He lifted a pair of gloved hands and pushed back his hood.

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#the mandalorian x force sensitive! reader #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x you #din djarin x force sensitive! reader #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #the mandalorian #rogue #force #star wars

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jonnnysuh · 3 years

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Never Not - Park Jinyoung

Pairing: idol!Jinyoung x gender neutral reader

Summary: Your bad day is turned around when your childhood best friend, Jinyoung, returns to your hometown and takes you on a tour of your favourite memories together.

Genre: angst, fluff, friends to lovers

Warnings: suggested sexual experience

Word Count: 4.3k

Requested by: Anon

A/N: Hi guysssss. I took a small break from tumblr bc I got super busy with work. I haven’t written something like this in a while, but I actually loved how it turned out. I recommend listening to Never Not by Lauv to get into the mood <33

Effort was hard to make these days. Even the way you walked had an unmistakable slouch. Your exhaustive strides were just a shallow reminder that there used to be a hop in your step. Five more minutes and you were free from the shackles of work. Free to figure out what to make for dinner, and appease the gurgles of your stomach.The seconds on the point of sale system didn't seem to move fast enough as you folded the customer's final item and shoved it into a bag.

When you were a kid, no one told you how exhausting being an adult was, and thus it became something to look forward to. You were so caught up on getting that first kiss, sneaking out to go to parties, seeing people that your parents didn't approve of, that you didn't realize that life didn't slow down from there. It was like you blinked, and you were no longer 16. Instead, you were twenty-something perpetually feeling like life was just an endless pit of "what ifs" and building up the courage to make something of yourself. Another mindless "Have a good day." escaped your lips as you bid a customer bye for the nth time that day. You wondered how many of your years would waste away telling others to have a good day, when you yourself hadn't had one in a while.

You pressed your fingers against your temple to sooth a small growing headache. Working in retail for as long as you had, you knew that the s-curved line of people didn't stop for your discomfort. With a fake smile on your face, you welcomed the next few customers as your eyes wandered around the store looking for the person who was going to take over for the next hour. Fifteen minutes past the hour, your replacement finally came. Externally, you wanted to scream and ask them what took you so long? but you knew that would only make you as good as the worst customer. Graciously, you nodded at them, before walking away to the back room to fetch your things and head out.

...

You stood against the wall at the bus shelter shivering from the cool summer breeze that was disguising just how rapidly autumn was truly coming. Today probably wasn't the best day to forget your coat. You rubbed your arms for warmth, taking micro footsteps in place. The pain in your feet made you romanticize the comfort of the sturdy old bus seats as a place of rest. You felt your phone in your pocket vibrate, but you let it ring out. You were determined to get a seat on this bus. A deep sigh escaped you as you surveyed the density of the crowd on the platform- the ride home was definitely going to be longer than usual. When the bus arrived, you queued behind a long line of people. Your phone rang a second time, at this point the crowd was getting larger and you knew you weren't going to get a seat on this bus.

PRIVATE CALLER

"Hello?" you pressed your phone to your ear. Sometimes your mother used phone booths to reach you, so you expected her voice to be on the other end of the line. "I'm offended I had to call you twice for you to pick up." The voice was much deeper, and the delivery much more lighthearted than anything that would've came out of your mother. The absence of a greeting was distinct and direct, but no matter, you knew exactly who this was.

You felt the tenseness of your shoulders drop with just the sound of this voice. "If I had definitely known it was you, I wouldn't have picked up, Mr. Private caller." you jest with the phone pressed between your ear and the crook of your shoulder.

"You know, I was gonna suggest that I pick you up, but just for that comment, I change my mind."

You poke your tongue at your cheek, coyly. For all the changes that occurred in your life, for some reason you could depend on Jinyoung's quick wit and humour to hit the spot even after all this time.

"That's fine, I just finished work so I was thinking of just going home anyways." You had no idea he was even back in South Korea. Last you heard, he was on tour somewhere in North America. More than that, you couldn't even remember when the last time you actually talked was. You were curious about what he was up to these days, but you you knew any hint of urgency in your voice would lead to incessant teasing on his part. The line progressed slightly, but you still didn't feel any closer to the entrance of the bus.

"I'm about to get on a bus home."

"Well, don't get on."

"If I don't get on then you're gonna have to repay me for the fare I paid to even get here." You eyed the bus reaching its capacity, and stepped aside. You twisted your fingers in hope that he was being 100% serious, otherwise you were going to have to wait out for the 6:30pm bus.

"I can't believe the cost of your attention is only $2. Do better." the voice quipped.

"Okay, Jinyoung I guess I'll just get on, then." you threatened, although you had no intention of boarding the departing bus.

"Fine, fine. I'll pay for your fare. Just wait for me."

...

The sky had darkened tenfold since you hung up from Jinyoung's impromptu call. The streetlights glowed gold against the lavender backdrop of the sky. You sat on the bus shelter bench, swinging your feet back and forth as you waited for him. If he took even a minute longer, you vowed to somehow become the president of the Park Jinyoung hate club. Of course, you wouldn't actually, but the idea became more appealing the longer you waited.

You weren't one to go on spontaneous outings- at least not since your teenage years. Recently, you followed the strict routine of work, home, sleep, and to stray from it seemed pointless. But the fact that he even thought of you when he came back home to South Korea was still not something you could wrap your head around.

In the distance, a glow of headlights appeared, stopping perfectly adjacent to your bus stop. The window rolled down, and there appeared Jinyoung's face in all its glory. To say all the words in your vocabulary disappeared would be an understatement. A part of you doubted he would even follow through. Without missing a beat, he returned a look to you. "You just gonna stare at me, or are you gonna get in the car?"

...

Your backpack was sitting atop your lap, bouncing with the movement of the car. Jinyoung hung one hand over the steering wheel. The orange and purple of the sky twisting, and creating a brand new colour that only seemed to grace the skies at this hour. The music was unidentifiable, but the volume was low enough that you didn't even bother trying to figure it out.

"So what'd you do today?" he asked.

"I worked, I told you that." you replied, matter-of-factly.

"And how was it?"

"I honestly can't tell the difference between this week and last week. Or even last month. Same old, same old. Annoying customers, stale lunch, forgot my jacket at home even though it's 15 fucking degrees outside."

"Do you still work at that clothing store you started at when we were 20?"

Your eyes shifted, following the ever-changing scenery of the highway. No idea where he was bringing you, and yet you were brought to comfort by Jinyoung's habits. You knew he didn't have a drug deal, or a random party planned. Jinyoung was always the type to be home before midnight. He was a self-proclaimed goody-two-shoes, but you weren't completely fooled. You knew he could bend the rules if it seemed to serve him.

"That exact same one."

"Anything else?"

You looked at him, the shock settling in that he was really right next to you-- no longer just a figure on a billboard that you used to know. The changes of his physicality were subtle; his face was more defined, but his cheeks still carried the baby fat that had been there since childhood. The shadow of his facial hair loomed on his smooth skin. The mole on the top of his lip, not necessarily gone, but faded. He looked older, but the aura of his presence remained the same.

"And then I was dumb enough to get into a car with a stranger because he said he'd give me $2."

Jinyoung side eyed you, causing you to erupt in laughter. His glare was also unchanging. "Stranger? Your memory's fading already?" He shook his head disappointedly. "I thought you still had a few good years left."

"Oh yeahhhhhh. Sorry Jinyoungie. Didn't recognize you with all the fame." you pinched and pulled on his ear- both things a relic of your grade school years. When you were kids, you never let him forget the age gap. Granted, it was only 3 days, but that gave you the freedom to refer to him however you pleased, while he was stuck with the honorifics.

As you let go, the curve of his ear flushed red. "OWW.” he cried, swatting your hand away. “You’re lucky I’m driving otherwise I would pull your hair.”

Being raised with Jinyoung meant that you were inseparable but kind of in the worst way. If Jinyoung got a good mark on a test, his parents would immediately flaunt it to yours. If you wanted to sneak out, he was on your tail telling you to go back home. And if he knew you liked someone, then that person would know soon enough by the words of Jinyoung. All of that warranted ear pulling, and if you did something in retaliation he would pull your hair.

He was one of the few people in your life, who encapsulated a certain time of your life. The time in your life when you were young, and the world felt so big and everything was possible.

The car rocked back and forth as it shifted into the elevated ramp of a parking lot. Your eyes widened as you realized where you were. He lingered in his seat before popping his seatbelt off and exiting the car. You followed him, swinging the passenger door open.

"So you randomly called me because you wanted to hang out at the...convenience store?" you gestured to the old, orangey building. The bricks were chipped, and the fluorescent lights illuminated the outside through the big glass window. You remember the days when you and Jinyoung would sit on the parking blocks and split a bag of chips until you were chased off the property by the owner. He pulled on the store door, pressing his back to it and letting you enter first.

"Well, I wasn't going to come here until you started yanking my ears. That's when I knew you were hungry."

Without stopping, you weaved through the store until you reached aisle 3- the snack aisle had become a home to you and Jinyoung when you were growing up. In grade school, you were both fearful of what was beyond the boundaries of your home and school so you indulged in after school snacks at the convenience to talk about the latest happenings in your life. As you aged, it became the place of solace after exams, or the meetup location for last minute plans.

He picked up a package of gummy worms, and shook them in your face. "Do you remember what happened the last time we ate theseeee?" Jinyoung smirked. For a moment, you were taken aback by how much he had grown. In your teens, you and Jinyoung met eye to eye. Now, you felt like you had to look up at him in order to be taken seriously.

You crossed your arms, "Yeah, we ate them in the parking lot and you made me confess who I had a crush on."

"Chan, right?"

You nodded, with a sulk as you reminisced. "That wasn't fair."

"Why? Do you still have a crush on him?"

"I haven't thought about him in so long. You really think I'd have a lingering crush on a guy I haven't seen in years?"

Jinyoung shrugged, and shifted his feet. "You had a huge crush on him, though. You even stared at him like this." He rested his palm to his cheek, letting out a deep sigh while trying to maintain an enamoured expression. You snorted, hitting him on the chest. "You'd write his name all over your notebooks AND you bullied me into giving you one of my new ones." he added.

You let out a belly laugh. "And then I wrote his name all over that one too."

Jinyoung rolled his eyes. "They were premium quality notebooks. My aunt sent me them from the states!"

"You had a kabillion of them. Besides, you pestered me for-like-ever to know who I liked, but you never even told me who you had a crush on." You grabbed the bag of gummy worms from his hand and placed it in your shopping basket. Your attention shifted, as you realized you should be in search of your favourite chocolates. You knew that you were far too old to be eating junk food for dinner, but there was something familiar about being hyped up on food that you knew would rot your insides. Your eyes landed on the top row of the wall, and before you could grab your favourite chocolates, Jinyoung stripped it from the wall and dropped it into the basket. He piled on a bag of sour cream and onion chips, and then you both ventured to the drink refrigerators.

Both of you stared deeply at your drink options. On each level of the fridge, stood several different colourful drinks. If you knew Jinyoung, then you knew he would pick a Coke- it was something he swore by in your younger years. You hummed, mentally deciding between an iced tea or a vitamin water. You weren't sure why it bothered you when Jinyoung picked up a Sprite, but you tried to hide your dismay. With an ice tea in hand, and a basket full of both of your favourite things, you made your way to the cashier.

At the last moment, Jinyoung placed a bright yellow umbrella on the checkout counter. He looked down at you, surely, “You never know when it’s gonna rain.”

...

The following car ride to your next destination only lasted about 3 minutes before he parked on the side of the road and dragged you down the street, with the plastic bag full of your foods in hand.

"I should've known you were going to bring me here." you said, strolling down the familiar gravel pathway towards your elementary school. All colour in the sky had disappeared now, finding it hard to see anything but the outline of each other and some features.

Both of you settled on the grass field, onlooking the tall school building that was the foundation of your formal years. As soon as you opened the bag of chips, you found yourselves deep in conversation, talking about what life had been for him the last few years. You couldn't help but be in awe when he explained the rush he got when he got on stage, and how he got anxiety when he thought he wasn’t doing his best. The candidacy of his thoughts drew you in and you were surprised that he trusted you with his secrets.

All these years, you had always wondered what he was up to, if he was living a life far better than the one he left at home. To everyone else, he was this huge pop star that had travelled the world 3 times over, but to you, he was your best friend who left home at 16. You had seen him through the bad hair phases, the adolescent temper tantrums, the voice cracks, and the questionable fashion choices both your parents had put you in.

He leaned back on his arms as he gazed at the school. "Are you afraid of change?" You were silent for a moment as you thought. "On a scale of 1-10?" you rocked your head back and forth. "It's a 15."

Jinyoung raised his eyebrows. You held your legs to your chest, and looked at him. "Why?"

He opened his mouth, but quickly closed it and looked smugly in the other direction. "Heyyy." you poked him repeatedly. "You can't just ask me that and not tell me why."

He enclosed his hand around your finger, forcing your poking to come to a halt. It felt like he was studying your face. Never in your life had you ever felt like you were under the scope of Jinyoung's gaze. The darkness of the sky acted as a mask, hiding your blushing face.

"It was the last thing I asked you before I left." he admitted. "I asked you that when things were about to change big time for us… I always wondered if you resented me for leaving you behind."

The last day before Jinyoung left to become a full-time trainee, you two snuck on to this very same field. Both of you ran across the grass, picking up dandelions; believing that if you gathered enough and blew on them, that they would fuel your wishes.

“You thought I could resent you?” He nodded. “Well, for starters, I hate your guts.” You replied sarcastically, causing him to look at the ground with embarrassment and your face softened at the sight of it.

“You know what I wished for on all of those dandelions, Jinyoung?”

“Not to fail the math exam.” Even in a soft moment, he couldn’t help but be sly. “No!” You exclaimed.

“Well, you should’ve. You got a 48.” He sensed your killer look on him. “So what’d you wish for?”

You played with your fingers. You thought you’d take this secret to the grave. “I wished that you’d be successful in whatever you chose to do.” His eyes enlarged, alarmed at your confession. “but maybe I should’ve wished for the math thing.”

Jinyoung giggled, inching closer to you so your legs were pressed against each other.

“What did you wish for?” You asked. He smiled with the side of his mouth, shaking his head.

“I wished that I’d always find my way back home.” “Oh goddd.” You gagged. “you’re so corny.”

“What about you, huh? You used your wish on me!” he bellowed, his voice echoing against the school playground.

“Hey, I might just be the reason why you’re famous.” You fought back.

You flipped your phone over, 7:53, the brightness of it only barely illuminating the dark. You thought about what you would be doing at this moment if you weren’t here, if he hadn’t picked you up. Mmm probably falling asleep to a tv show. Probably dreading tomorrow. Probably not as happy.

"But what did I say? You know… the first time you asked me that question?” You couldn’t even begin to imagine how 16-year-old you answered.

"You said you were excited to see who we were going to become.” The words of your younger self were so hopeful, yet your current self felt hopeless. Your expression sank, and Jinyoung offered a small smile to revive it. He felt guilty having asked you the question in the first place.

You sat in silence for a bit, dwelling on the excitement for life that you once had. Where was it? And how could you get it back?

“I feel like I’ve let myself down. I don’t even know who I am now.”

Jinyoung blinked slowly, watching his childhood best friend crumble. He rested a hand on your shoulder. "I just look at you, and in so many ways you're the same. I still know what makes you laugh, and the way you say things. I can still pick out your favourite snacks, and know you’re gonna pull my ears when I do something to piss you off.” he yanked on yours softly. "Everything about you feels just how I left you. I feel my youth when I'm with you. But at the same time I’m comforted by how much you’ve changed.”

“I don’t think I’ve changed much.”

“You don’t see it, do you?” You shook your head no. “Do you remember how scared you were to even leave the house when we were kids? Now you live on your own. You never took anything seriously back then, but you’re now one of the hardest working people I know…” his voice softened. “And you let yourself be vulnerable with me when it used to take hours to drag it out of you.” You laid on his shoulder, and he rested his head on top of yours, snuggling closer. “You fear change, yet you’re changing right before your own eyes. And maybe one day, I’ll come back here, and I won’t even be able to recognize who you’ve become.” You sniffled, the idea of Jinyoung not remembering you broke your heart. You held your chest. “But if that day does come, it’ll be okay. Because I know that the person that you’ve become will have it all figured out. I’ll always be rooting for every single version of yourself even if it doesn’t include me.” You sobbed quietly, interlocking your fingers with his. He held your hand tightly, rubbing his thumb against the back of your hand. For once, there was an action not done out of habit or relic. It was an action evoked just for this moment, and it was a change that you didn’t mind.

…

Jinyoung held your hand, leading you down a narrow road a few minutes away. The sound of crickets, barking dogs, and distant vehicles could be heard as you stood in the middle of the road of your childhood neighbourhood.

You hadn’t been here since you moved in 2016. You looked up at the large modern house that sat on what used to be two lots. Yours and Jinyoung’s childhood homes were purchased by a wealthy business man and demolished to build the business man’s dream home. You stared at the foreign house that sat on the place of your childhood dreams and frustrations.

Jinyoung placed his hands on your shoulders and stopped you at the exact halfway point between what was once his house and your house. You rubbed your arms as a gust of wind rushed by. Without thinking, Jinyoung slipped off his hoodie and placed it on top of your shoulders.

“I remember racing you down this street.” You piped up, pointing down the end of the road. Jinyoung always won that race. No one was faster than him on this street.

“I remember finding that stray puppy and fighting over who got to keep it.” He responded.

“It should’ve been me.” You bickered. Jinyoung laughed, amused at how you were always one to hold a grudge.

“Do you remember that day when it started raining soooo hard and we had to walk shoulder to shoulder under my umbrella?”

You nodded. “Ya, that was the same day with the gummy worms, you dummy.”

“So do you remember what happened right here?” He pointed at the exact spot you were standing. You racked your head for a memory, but nothing stood out to you clearly. You shook your head no. “We always said bye to one another here...but…?” you trailed off.

He took a step forward, both of you standing directly under the streetlight now. You watched his face light up as he likely played the moment back in his head. “So that day, standing under my umbrella, we were about to go our separate ways. You turned into me.”

He took another step closer, popping open the bright yellow convenience store umbrella and holding it over your heads.

You could see it now. It was drizzling so hard, even your hair wasn’t protected from getting soaked. You wrapped your hands around the handle, just like how you did back then. Chest to chest, huddled under the umbrella. Jinyoung locked eyes with you, your heart beat faster.

“And you looked at me, and I swear I was going to say everything I wanted to tell you right then and there.” Your mouth opened in shock. “This was the place where I almost told you I loved you.”

You studied the eyes of the boy you watched grow up. He looked scared, but sure. There was no doubt in your mind that Jinyoung meant what he said. He lowered the umbrella, not letting his gaze veer from you.

Your life was just a build up of what if’s and trying to gain the courage to make something of yourself… but you didn’t want that anymore. With your heart beating out of control, you leaned into him, taking the risk and kissing his lips. He wrapped his arms around your waist, deepening the heat of the kiss.

A round of thunder boomed above you, and little by little, raindrops began to pour from the sky.

You and Jinyoung separated to look up at the sky. “I did say, you never know when it’s gonna rain.”

You both ran for the car, shoulder to shoulder, under the umbrella. From your heads to your toes, you were soaked in the rain, but neither of you cared. You silently thanked the world for every bad thing that happened to you today that led to this.

…

You blinked your eyes awake, surveying the damp clothes strewn across your living room floor, and the heat of the bare body laying next to you on the couch. You stared at your sleepy childhood best friend, a smile spreading across your lips. This was a change you were ready for.

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voltimer · 3 years

Text

'The Magic of Johto's Level Curve'

(or, 'a leisurely analysis of the singleplayer balance of Pokemon GSC and HGSS')

The Johto games - especially HeartGold and SoulSilver - seem to have a very good reputation. Some often put the aforementioned HGSS into their top 3 or describe it as the core Pokemon experience. I personally agree with this sentiment and HGSS is either #2 or #1 depending on my mood (it usually competes with Black 2 and White 2).

Despite all its praise though, there seems to be an incredibly consistent point raised against it: the level curve. I see it described as unbalanced, janky, and generally bad.

There are two main problems people tend to cite. First is the level progression in Johto itself, with Gyms 5, 6, and 7 not exactly being a smooth progression upwards and then Team Rocket's Archer and the 8th Gym having a notable level spike compared to those last three. Wild Pokemon levels are also usually a lot lower than the major boss fights they are ahead of, making raising new 'mons harder and grinding for boss fights longer. The other problem is Kanto, whose problems can essentially be said to take Johto's levelling issues and ramp them up. The jump from fighting Blue to the Elite Four rematches and Red is also very significant.

What I'm not going to do here is refute that the above isn't true - these level scaling inconsistencies are certainly present. It's also very different to the vast majority of main series entries, whose level curves are more linear and gradual. Gens 5 and 7 even have a feature which multiplies exp gain based on how much lower or higher you are than the Pokemon you defeat which in a way acts like a rubber band around each game's level curve, ensuring you can catch up easily but not go too overlevelled either. Playing GSC and HGSS when the rest of those entries are like that is a bit jarring. Pokemon is so well-known for having quite a formulaic design across its main series and when compared to that formula with regards to level progression and the like, the Johto games do seem a bit off-colour.

What I am going to do though is try to explain why this so-called bad level curve is at the very least not actually that bad, or, if I can convince you well enough, that the Johto games actually have a unique and (what I call) magical singleplayer game design not properly replicated in any other entry. It goes to the core essence of Pokemon's theming, and it fits with the fact that Johto's narrative also happens to put the most focus on those themes than the rest of the series.

When I say the core essence of theming, I mean the very basics of every Pokemon adventure: you, the player, leave home to go on a journey around your region, meeting various people and overcoming various challenges along the way together with your partner Pokemon. Challenges you overcome are all thanks to the bonds you share with your partners and how you raise them with love and care. As you get older, this is the sort of thing in Pokemon that you probably end up taking for granted. It's typical "power of friendship" stuff, and most people will tend to come to conclude through learning about the game mechanics that this sort of thing is superficial and that stats are all that matter in the end. The more modern Pokemon games also have such a big focus on larger-than-life stories with big climaxes featuring the box Legendaries that it's easy to lose this basic level, down-to-earth narrative theming.

Johto is significant for not having any larger-than-life aspects overshadowing its core. Instead, the core takes centre stage. There is no real overarching story besides your adventure. Team Rocket's antics take a sub-plot role but in the end act as a foil to your story, being one of the more major obstacles you overcome. Catching Ho-oh or Lugia is no cataclysm either, but rather a reward for your achievements throughout the game and thanks to your good and pure heart - recognised by the Legendary in question. Moments throughout the game like how you deal with the situation at the Lake of Rage, or the Dragon's Den trial where you're asked questions to test your ideals as a trainer (which, of course, you pass with flying colours) all contribute to this core as well.

The way Professor Oak congratulates you after defeating Lance ties the knot perfectly on the main campaign:

"Ah, <player>! It's been a long while. You certainly look more impressive. Your conquest of the League is just fantastic! Your dedication, love, and trust for your Pokémon made this happen. Your Pokémon were outstanding, too. Because they believed in you as a Trainer, they persevered. Congratulations, <player>!"

These are just examples of the main story events, though,and Johto has a lot more than that. The region is filled with things to do beside the main campaign - Berries/Apricorns, Pokegear calls, the Ruins of Alph and other optional caves, the Bug Catching Contest, and (in HGSS) the Pokeathlon and Safari Zone, just to name a few of the more notable ones. Tama Hero's review of Pokemon GSC talks a lot about this and it's well-worth a watch even beyond the section describing the games' breadth of side content.

Tama Hero also touches upon the supposed level scaling issue, and her response to the complaints is that there is a "sprinkling" of opportunities for small bits of exp gain throughout the game which should help you stay on track in most cases, and where you can't match levels, you can outplay your opponent.

I certainly agree with the latter. It always feels entirely possible to beat bosses at a level deficit throughout Johto. The Johto League is one of the key cases where you'll probably end up at level disadvantage, but I've consistently been able to defeat it with a team of lv 40s on average (so nearly 10 levels behind Lance's peak), and I'm pretty certain that my not-even-10-year-old self did so as well, even though it took me many, many attempts. From various people I've talked to and bits of let's plays I've seen over the years, this seems to be the common experience too. I think only a minority of people have had to grind to match Lance's levels in order to beat him at all. Granted, it might take you a couple of tries at that level disadvantage (or a great couple of tries more, like little ol' me), but that's surely not an unreasonable expectation. The concept of getting stuck at a difficult stage in a game could be called a universal one, and I think most people agree that it's always pretty satisfying to finally surmount a challenge like that. This can even be said about other Pokemon games - Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh also all have large level spikes at the end. In fact, at least when it comes to the end of the maingame, I'd argue Hoenn and Sinnoh have a larger level spike than Johto, but they're not considered impossible or anything

Regardless, though: it's certainly possible to win difficult battles in Pokemon at a level disadvantage. Tama Hero argues that the strategy required to do so isn't something the game teaches you very well, but I think this is a tad pessimistic. In the end I think that most wins will just come down to understanding of more fundamental skills that you've probably learned through the course of the game naturally - using type matchups (gyms are all type themed), using moves with stat changes (the earlygame is full of moves like Growl and Tail Whip), using status moves (no doubt you're going to see the effects of Paralysis and Burns throughout the game at least), and apt use of items (bosses always use potions and often use held items). Players also have more control over the battle than the enemy, with the default Switch mode and a huge amount more items available. It's true that the games don't teach you the deeper, untold mechanics very well, but learning about those only unlock even more ways to succeed for the numbers-minded veterans.

On the topic of those deeper, untold mechanics I also want to talk about something which Tama Hero doesn't mention at all - Effort Values, or EVs. Most of you reading will probably know about these by now, but for those who don't, EVs are hidden values which can increase a Pokemon's raw stats by a certain amount based on the other Pokemon they defeat. They were present in a slightly different form in Gens 1 and 2 in the form of "stat exp" but the premise was the same: your Pokemon grow twofold when you defeat Pokemon, by gaining visible exp for levelling up and visibly gaining stats every time that exp bar fills, but also by gaining stats little by little every time they defeat any Pokemon. Your Pokemon's EVs weren't visible to you in-game until Gen 6 with the Super Training graphic, and numerically weren't until Gen 7 where you can press X on the Pokemon's stat screen to show what are called "base stats".

EV optimisation is crucial to competitive play because the stat boosts they give are quite significant. Competitive players will "min-max" spreads, putting as much as possible into 2 stats to maximise strengths and not wasting any on stats they aren't making use of. In maingame playthroughs, though, EVs will usually end up being a balanced spread because you'll invetivably be facing a variety of Pokemon with different EV yields throughout the game. EVs can also be increased with the Vitamin items (Protein, Calcium, etc.) which you find a handful of throughout the game (and can buy at a premium) and can be used to manually raise EVs, though only to a certain point.

In Gens 3 and onward, a Pokemon can have up to 252 EVs in 1 stat, and 510 in total. At Lv 100, 4 EVs in a stat grant 1 point extra to it. For the singleplayer campaign the conditions are a bit different, but if we assume as a standard that by the Elite Four your EV total is maxed out and you have an even spread, your stats will all be up to 10 points higher than they would be without EVs. In Gens 1 and 2, you can actually max out all of a Pokemon's stat exp values but you're unlikely to cap them all for a good while beyond the maingame so we can consider them about the same as in the later gens for this.

But why is this important?

Firstly, the difference EVs make in the above scenario account for what is usually about 5 levels' worth of stats. Depending on your exact distribution, it could be a couple more or less levels' worth in each stat but the bottom line is that they make your Pokemon's strength higher than it may seem based on level alone.

This means that the wild Pokemon grinding that is criticised for being too tedious in Johto as a result of low levels is also better than it seems because even when you don't level up, you're gaining EVs for every one of those you defeat. The stagnant levels in the midgame of Johto also contribute more to your Pokemon's growth than it may seem from the slow level gain. The Pokegear rematches which you gain access to after defeating Team Rocket before Gym 8 may also be a little infrequent, but they also very often give you Vitamins afterwards to add to all of this.

Secondly is what seems to be a fairly unknown fact: in-game trainers do not have any EV spreads. Thanks to the work of speedrunners, we have exact data of enemy trainers' Pokemon to show this. Trainers do have IV spreads based on their "AI level" (more 'advanced' AI levels will have up to 30 IVs across the board) but the difference near-perfect IVs will have on their Pokemon is not as great as the combination of random IV spreads and relatively balanced EV spreads yours.

That 10 level deficit vs Lance is suddenly more like 5 in practice. Some of his Pokemon also happen to have pretty high stats naturally in Gyarados and the Dragonites, and the level deficit will still be slightly present, but once we factor in strategy again, you can abuse their type weaknesses and make good use of items, status and whatever else have you to swing the odds in your favour.

The only way you can find out anything about EVs in Johto is from a NPC in Blackthorn City who gives your Pokemon the Effort Ribbon if they have reached their total of 510, and the only practical way for a player without the technical knowledge to have achieved this is to have spent time throughout the game doing lots of little bits of training - in other words, putting in the effort - to have incidentally capped their Pokemon's EV total. It's only fitting that you find this NPC towards the end of the Johto campaign because it's likely that by this point a couple of your team members will be eligible for the ribbon.

This finally ties back to the point of core theming. EVs are an invisible stat giving your Pokemon an extra edge over their in-game opponents, or, at worst, one closing a gap in strength between them, as a result of all of the time you've spent raising those Pokemon throughout the game. In other words, EVs are essentially the statistical representation of the "dedication, love, and trust" you have for your Pokemon which gets you through seemingly difficult challenges. Levels, then, are only a surface representation of your Pokemon's strength: they create the feeling of an uphill battle, but you can win against the odds by believing in yourself and your partners. It's probably exactly what you thought as the naive and uncynical child playing through a Pokemon game for the first time, and probably one of the ways you made such fond memories of it. In hindsight, this is definitely how it was for me. It is a sort of magic, really.

There is still a big Red elephant in the room, and I do think that the level gap between the end of the Kanto Gyms and Red is maybe too hard to go and beat immediately after even with the power of EVs and such, but Red is by all means a superboss and final challenge of the Johto games, and I don't think it's unreasonable to have to grind for a while to build up for and to finally be able to take his team of Lv 80s on. The same can be said about the Elite Four Rematches in this game and others, Steven in Emerald, or that one Barry fight in Platinum if you do decide to beat the E4 rematches 20 times to make his levels nearly match Red's. If you're setting out to fight a superboss like this, the grind is part of the prerequesites. It's definitely still possible to beat someone like Red with a 10 or even 20 level deficit if you play well, though. I admit, I haven't beaten Red in a long time, but I have beaten Emerald Steven with a ~15 level gap before. Tama Hero also said she has beaten Red with a team of level 50s in Crystal in the review.

I said before that the other games in the series haven't replicated this sort of thing as well. Gen 5 was the beginning of a marked shift away from this design, with its overarching story-driven style and a change to exp gain which would honestly be incompatible with the level curve in Johto. Gen 6, whilst returning to the exp system without level deficit multipliers, saw different means of statistical representations of the 'dedication, love and trust' trio in Pokemon Amie, which can break the game almost as much as the Exp Share when enough Affection is built up. Gen 7 brings back Gen 5's exp system whilst retaining the Exp Share and Affection systems, and actually ends up even diverging from the EV design which went before by having in-game trainers and Totem Pokemon with competitive, min-maxed EV spreads from as early as the Trainer's School. Whilst I am yet to play Let's Go and Sword and Shield, their Exp system with a 'permanent Exp Share' of sorts makes it a huge amount different and from what I've seen and heard, overlevelling is quite easy despite the game being designed around the feature. I really hope that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl at least return to Gen 6's exp mechanics, or better, reunite us with the held-item version of the Exp Share which doesn't make me feel like I'm cheating whenever I use it.

Before I go too off-topic, though, I should probably return to the original thread of this post to make some concluding remarks. What can't be denied that the way GSC and HGSS are designed may not be for everyone. I know for sure that a lot of people prefer to be able to breeze through a Pokemon game at a brisk pace without many roadblocks, but as someone who in recent years has come to appreciate much slower-paced and immersive singleplayer Pokemon playthroughs, I can't help but love the way GSC and HGSS are designed in the way I've explained, or appreciate their unique identity amongst the rest of the series. Coming to think about this has also shed light on why I adored HeartGold as much as I did when I first played it way back 11 years ago. I poured hours and hours into the game, and as a result, its magical design put me under its spell.

_____________________________________________________________

Though I linked to the references I did use when they appeared, here they are again. Do check them out if they're of interest to you!

Tama Hero's GSC review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgtMVKP2T6Y

speedrun.com trainer data for HGSS: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnhgss/guide/k2zij

speedrun.com trainer data for SuMo: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnsunmoon/guide/d2683

Tama Hero (YT) is one of the few people I know who actually makes longer-form Pokemon analysis content besides Aleczandxr (also YT), who whilst not being a 'PokeTuber' has made some brilliant analyses of storytelling through setting in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, and just recently, Unova. I did not refer to them here but I can highly recommend their content, at least.

Thank you very much for reading to the very bottom here. This is my first time writing something like this and I appreciate it.

#voltimer longpost #pokemon #gsc #gen 2 #gold and silver #crystal #gen 4 #heartgold and soulsilver #analysis #hgss

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duhragonball · 3 years

Text

Battle Tendency Liveblog: JJBA Ch. 71-76

Let the joy of love give you an answer

And I will hold you when you're lost Just walk on to the light 1938 Bizarre Summer Every road will lead us to a memory of

Great Days

When I started reading the Battle Tendency Manga, one of my goals was to find connections between Part 2 and the others, because I feel like Part 2 is sort of isolated from the rest. You never hear anyone talk about the Pillar Men in Part 3 or 4, and Joseph Joestar never appears again, save for an entry on a genealogy seen in JoJolion.

But thematically, there’s a lot of connective tissue here. I already pointed out the scene where Smokey steals Joseph’s wallet in his first appearance, echoing Joseph’s final appearance, where Josuke steals his wallet in Part 4. And I already mentioned the Italian connection. Hirohiko Araki’s love for Italy is pretty well-known in the fandom, but only two JoJo parts have the distinction of taking place on Italian soil: 2 and 5.

But there’s other, subtler connections. Joseph’s Clacker Volley relies on angular momentum, much like the “Spin” techniques used in Part 7. But then you also have this moment in Battle Tendency where Caesar explains Hamon to Joseph, and compares it to the way a discus thrower spins around to gain distance on his throw. In the same vein, the fictional Ripple techniques used by all the good guys is just an extension of something natural. Everyone gains energy from respiration and blood circulation, but Hamon users can amplify that many times over to do amazing things with that energy. It’s very similar to the lessons Johnny Joestar learns about “Spin” in Part 7. I never really thought “Spin” had much to do with Hamon, and conceptually they may not be related, but the way they’re presented to the audience is very similar.

More Part 5 connections, you ask? Well how about a trip from Rome to Venice? No assassins on the train this time, so Joseph doesn’t have to steal 100 cars to finish the journey.

And how about a meeting with a mysterious person wearing a strange disguise...

Who turns out to be a lady? What’s weird about this is that when I went through JoJo in order back in 2017, I never noticed the Lisa Lisa/Trish connection. There was just so much crazy stuff happening in Parts 3 and 4 that I forgot all about how Lisa Lisa debuted.

So yeah, let’s get back to the main plot. I mean, I was going to talk about some connections with Part 6, but I seem to be drawing a blank. Joseph’s parents died when he was very little, so there’s no way for him to have a contentious reunion with an absent parent. There’s no way for his mom or dad to reveal that they were looking out for him this whole time, but they couldn’t tell him how or why. I mean, Lisa Lisa kind of reminds me of Jotaro. They’re both stoic badasses who smoke cigarettes. But that’s kind of a stretch.

Anyway, Joseph convinced the Pillar Men to let him live for another month so that he could give them a better fight later on. To hold him to that promise, they implanted poison rings in his body, which will kill him in exactly 33 days, unless he defeats the Pillar Men and receives the antidote. Caesar realizes that they both need more training to face the Pillar Men again, so he takes Joseph to Venice to meet his Hamon Master, for more training. That’s Lisa Lisa.

I’m confused as to why Lisa Lisa wasn’t brought in a long time ago. The plot progression of Part 2 implies that she only heard about this crisis when Caesar contacted her for more training, but we’ll soon see that the Ripple Clan has known about the Pillar Men for thousands of years, just as the Pillar Men knew about them.

Actually, now that I think about it, why didn’t Straizo recognize the Pillar Man in Mexico then? You’d think he would have taken one look at the guy and said “Oh shit, these dudes are back,” and forgotten all about his dreams of becoming a vampire like Dio. Maybe Straizo had just lost all perspective by then. Well, we’ll see if that gets explained later.

Anyway, Lisa Lisa starts the training immediately, by putting a mask on Joseph to control his breathing, which is a vital component of Ripple/Hamon stuff. One thing Caesar explained to Joseph before they left for Venice is that their Hamon powers were about equal. The only reason Caesar’s seems stronger is because he’s learned to concentrate it into smaller points, like his fingertips. Joseph, on the other hand, has to express his Hamon power through his entire hand, which reduces its effectiveness. Caesar compares this to the spray of water from a water pistol. The smaller the nozzle, the more powerful the stream.

As for Speedwagon, well he just flew back to New York. Joseph forbade him from telling Erina about the bind he’s in, so Speedwagon simply tells her that he’s bumming around Italy for a month. Meanwhile, Lisa wants the boys to climb the Hell Climb Pillar.

So the Ripple Clan has this island castle off the coast of Venice, which they built in 39AD to train their students. This was after the Pillar Men wiped out most of their guys, so I guess they wanted to really ramp up their training for the future. Lisa opens the front gate and the first step inside takes you into this big pit full of oil, and she just kicks them inside without a word. Ha ha, Lisa Lisa is awesome!

So the object of the Hell Climb Pillar is just to climb out of the pit. Except the only way to do that is by clinging to a sheer pillar in the center and ascending 24 meters (about 79 feet). Oh, and there’s some sort of fountain built into the pillar that keeps it covered with oil at all times. The only way to make this work is by using Hamon power to cling to the oil and work your way up.

Caesar is familiar with this test, and he at least has a general idea of how to do it, but he’s never attempted it before, and he knows a lot of students have died in the attempt. The first thing he figures out is that it’s such an exhausting process that if you fall off part way, you won’t have enough stamina to start over, so you really only get one try at this.

He spends most of his climb, however, worrying about Joseph, because Joseph’s Hamon skills are so rudimentary that he doesn’t even know how to cling to the pillar in the first place. Fortunately...

Hermit Purple? In my Battle Tendency? It’s more likely than you think. Joseph tries ripping his shirt and fashioning a makeshift rope for himself, but Lisa cuts it with a dagger before he can even try to use it. I’m somewhat skeptical that this would have worked anyway. She may have only foiled his attempt for his own benefit. Joseph might have wasted a lot of precious energy trying to use this trick before giving up and doing it correctly.

So, after all other options are exhausted, Joseph finally follows directions. He watches Caesar for a while, then realizes that Caesar has been clinging to the oil with his fingertips, and not his palms. It looks precarious, but Joseph remembers what Caesar told him about the water pistol and figures out that this is an application of that concept. So he quickly catches up to Caesar, only to discover that the pillar gets harder to climb around the 18 meter mark.

Around that elevation, the Pillar “protrudes”. I think that means that it gently widens as you go up, something you can’t really see until you’re already climbing up there. So now you’re not climbing straight up any more at a 90-degree angle to the ground, you’re more like 95 or 100 degrees, making it that much more of a struggle to hold on.

But things get even worse when Joseph discovers a small crack in the pillar. It’s the only handhold on the entire pillar, so he figures he can get a firmer grip on that and rest a bit. Big mistake, because it’s booby-trapped, and when he touches the crack, it turns on this high-pressure stream of oil at the 20-meter level. Oil just spews out from all sides of the pillar, and the pressure is so intense that when Caesar sticks a pen into it the oil stream cuts it in half.

Joseph thinks Caesar is angry at him for his blunder, but Caesar’s actually worried for Joseph’s safety. He only knows one way to get past the oil stream, and he isn’t sure Joseph has the skill necessary to pull it off. See, you can use Hamon to cling to the oil, but you can also use it to repel the oil, and protect yourself from the high-pressure stream. But Caesar now has to use use both of those principles simultaneously. He has to cling to the pillar while moving through the stream. He ends up doing this mid-air jump thing, and it works, but now he has to haul ass to get to the top of the pillar. It’s not just for his own sake, but Caesar feels that he has to convince Lisa Lisa to call off the test to save Joseph’s life. He doesn’t know how to do the trick Caesar pulled off, and Joseph’s the kind of guy who might get desperate or frustrated enough to do something drastic and get himself killed. But when he reaches the top, there’s no one around.

But he needn’t have worried, because Joseph’s drastic idea actually works. He apparently can’t repel and cling at the same time like Caesar, so instead he just clings. Instead of passing through the oil stream, he clings to it, sliding across the flow of oil to the edge of the current, then flipping over it, where the pressure is low enough that it won’t hurt him. Then he bounces off the top side of the oil stream and clings to the outer wall of the pit.

Everyone is impressed, except the walls of the pit are even harder to climb than the pillar, and Joseph can’t quite make it to the top. Caesar saves him with just 10 cm to go.

Joseph is still sore at Lisa Lisa for putting him through all of that, but she tosses him an upside-down glass of water and Joseph is surprised to find that he can hold the water inside the glass with his Hamon, something he couldn’t do back in Rome, when Caesar told him they needed to train. So now Joseph’s finally on board with all of this, and Lisa introduces the boys to he assistants, Messina and Loggins. They put Caesar and Joseph through a grueling three weeks of training montage, until finally...

...They go shopping! Some guy with a pompodour tries to steal a necklace from Lisa, but she catches him and lets Joseph deal with the guy. Joseph covers the dude in mustard and then he complains about her carrying around a bright red stone like that for pickpockets to see. Wait... red stone? Yeah, it’s the Red Stone of Aja.

On their way back home, Lisa explains the backstory of the Pillar Men. They created the Stone Masks to improve themselves, and tested the technology on humans. No one knows how the Stone Masks work, but the “bones” that jut out of them somehow bring out “latent power” in the human brain and it turns them into vampires.

I never really considered that before, but I suppose the bony spikes in the masks are kind of analogous to the effect of being pierced by the arrows in Parts 4, 5, and 6. Part 5 offers a partial explanation for the Stand Arrows by saying the heads of the arrows were carved from a meteorite found in Greenland, and there was an alien virus in the meteorite. You get cut by this metal, and get sick from the virus, and you either recover with a Stand power or you die. There was a text piece in Part 7 that tried to connect the Stand concept with Hamon, the Stone Masks, and “Spin”, suggesting that the latter three were attempts to achieve what Stands can do, and I guess that makes sense. Maybe the Stone Masks were the Pillar Men attempting to invent whatever the alien meteor was supposed to do. Except it’s not as advanced, so it can only do vampires instead of Stands.

Eventually, Kars’ experiments led him to the discovery of a particular stone that amplifies and focuses light. He believed that if he could work that into his Stone Mask technology, then he could create a more powerful mask that would bring about greater improvements into his own body. The problem was that he needed a bigger, more flawless stone than the ones that were available to him. And that’s why they went to Rome to find one. The 1st Century B.C. Ripple Clan couldn’t stop the Pillar Men, but they did manage to secure the stone they were looking for, and it’s been in their possession ever since. Lisa Lisa holds it up to the sun and blows up part of her boat just to show off what it can do.

Joseph suggests that they just destroy the thing. After all, it does them no good, and it means everything to their enemies, so why keep it around? But there’s some legend that says it will be impossible to defeat the Pillar Men if the Red Stone of Aja is destroyed.

This seemed kind of hokey to me at first. Lisa Lisa even admits that she doesn’t understand what that legend means, but she’s convinced that she has to protect the stone anyway. But then I remembered Tonpetty, the leader of the Ripple Clan in Part 1. He taught Will A. Zeppeli how to use Hamon, but warned him that it would lead to Will’s gruesome death. Presumably, Tonpetty had some sort of gift of prophecy, and maybe it’s not far-fetched to think that others in the Ripple Clan had the same ability. So maybe someone, a long time ago, foretold the ultimate fate of the Red Stone of Aja, and the Ripple Clan has been following that vague counsel ever since.

This might explain how the Ripple Clan knows so much about the Pillar Men in the first place. It never made much sense to me how the Pillar Men would travel to Rome and this secret band of warriors would be there ready to oppose them. It’s also kind of convenient that the Ripple Clan knows so much about the Pillar Men’s Stone Mask research. I mean, the Pillar Men barely acknowledge humans as it is, so why would Kars deign to explain anything to them?

Now that I think about it, this might be why the Ripple Clan turned to divination in the first place. Their enemies were so mysterious and their motives so baffling that they may have had no choice but to consult fortune-tellers and psychics for insight. And, one way or another, they managed to get some solid intel this way. Kars really was doing R&D on Stone Masks. He really did go to Rome in search of a “Super Aja”. Will Zeppeli did die, as Tonpetti warned him. Kars really did return in 1938, as the Aztec’s predicted. And it really will be impossible to defeat the Pillar Men without the Red Stone of Aja. Lisa doesn’t know how that works yet, but she knows it’s true.

But that’s not important right now. For now, it’s time for Joseph and Caesar to complete their training by heading back to base for a final showdown with their instructors. Joseph’s final test will be a battle with Loggins, so I assume Caesar has to take on Messina. But when Joseph shows up for his test...

He finds two people on the battlefield. One is Loggins, and the other guy is killing him.

And yeah, it’s Esidisi. Who invited him? Well, Joseph was going to fight him in a week or so anyway, so why put off tomorrow what you can do today?

#jojo's bizarre adventure #battle tendency #joseph joestar #lisa lisa #caesar zeppeli #esidisi #robert e o speedwagon #erina joestar #loggins #messina

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3pirouette · 3 years

Text

Fic: The Honey Trap (7/?)

Title: The Honey Trap By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette Disclaimer: They're not mine. Distribution: AO3 Anyone else please ask first :)

Story Summary: Peggy’d lost count. She wasn’t sure if she was a double or triple agent at this point, and in the end, it didn’t matter. What mattered was getting out of this alive.

A/N: Sorry that this chapter seems shorter, but that’s where the natural break was. I’m going to work on getting back onto a regular posting schedule, and may even try to get some mid-week posts in as I now have several WIPs thanks to Steggy Week *facepalm*

Fun fact: This afternoon I totally scrapped the ending I had originally planned because I think it fits much better with one of my other WIPs. So… now we’re all gonna find out where this goes together!

Chapter 7: Turning the Tables

January 3, 1945

Wallace stared at her, eyes cold and dead. “You could have jeopardized everything.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Peggy nearly laughed, lounging back on his bed. They faked a fight from the moment she showed up at the door, Wallace playing the jealous boyfriend to Peggy’s unbothered tone, but the fake fight died down the moment they stepped into the un-bugged bedroom. That didn’t mean Wallace was fully on board with her pretending to have an affair behind his back.

Though Peggy was now 100% sure that his bedroom was bugged, too. She was going to check the next time he stepped out to the loo.

Peggy stood and started to pace. “He’s Steve Rogers. Captain America.” She laughed and looked at Wallace, but just rolled her eyes when he stayed stoic. “Our cover story is that they were caught and separated. Not that one of us broke up with the other, or cheated, or any horrible thing. We were wretched apart by the military.” She sighed heavily, sitting back on the bed. “Of course, we’d get back together, Richard.”

Wallace crossed his arms like an angry toddler. “So how does this help us?” He pushed away from where he’d been leaning against the wall and stepped into her space. “How does this give us more advantage?”

“It means we’re not passing notes like school girls,” Peggy said sharply, stepping back and reclaiming her own space. “Steve and I can talk, face to face, and strategize.”

“We’re already getting plenty of information. If Hydra starts to think I’m not competent or that you’ve turned back…”

“They won’t.” She could barely keep from smiling. “I can get more details now, like that they haven’t quite had the time to take the base over six clicks down on the French border.”

“The—”

Peggy felt a pang of victory at the way he had to hide his surprise. “Why, surely you know if it? The one Phillips plans to use as a base?”

“Of course!” he covered quickly, nodding and walking away to try to hide his concern. She saw the moment he came the conclusion she wanted him to, and the way his eyes brightened when he thought he had her cornered.

Oh, she thought, if only the little rat knew…

~*~ January 9, 1945

The Pub was busy, but she found Steve quickly in the back corner. Peggy didn’t waste a moment, but slipped into the chair across from him quickly, taking his hand in hers. “Darling,” she whispered, a smile on her face.

Steve, likewise, didn’t waste a second. He stood, pulling her right back up with him and out the back door. He stopped, kissed her fiercely and quickly, then looked her up and down. “Are you ok?”

She nodded, still surprised. “Yes, but, Steve—”

‘Wire?’ he asked with only the slightest hint of volume to his voice.

“No,” Peggy replied, loud and clear. “No surveillance on me that I’m aware except the man at the bar.”

“Good.” He pulled her farther past the trash cans to a bike hidden behind the next store over’s dumpster, and he swiftly settled her behind him before pulling out into the alley. After a complicated series of turns he slowed, and drove them up the back ramp of a parked delivery truck.

Peggy tightened her hold against him as the evening darkness turned to pitch black in the back of the truck. She heard the grunts as the ramp was pulled back into the truck and the back hatch was closed. She knew she had nothing to be afraid of, but the situation made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, anyway.

She heard the sizzle of a match as the truck lurched forward, and quickly two lamps were lit.

She’d never been happier to be in the back of a truck as the light touched the faces of Stark and Barnes. Steve set the stand on the bike and stood, helping her off. “Hope you don’t mind, we needed to get our heads together.”

Peggy looked at Barnes and Stark and Steve, all bouncing in the back of the truck along with her, and smiled. “It’s a risk, but for friendly faces? I’d say it’s worth it.”

The truck ride lasted all of five minutes, just enough time for Howard to arm her with a pen camera, a bug detector disguised as a lipstick, a compact that hid a new encryption key behind the mirror, a cigarette case that was actually a wireless telegraph, and a perfume bottle whose lid was actually an emergency beacon. As little was said as possible, and time was of the essence. Before she knew it, they’d parked again and Steve was lifting the motorcycle and turning it to face the ramp again.

Steve slid them back off the ramp of the truck and onto the streets of London smoothly, the gadgets safely in her purse and the short meeting enough to buoy her spirits. Holding tight to him as they weaved in and out of traffic, she couldn’t deny there was still fear simmering in her that this wouldn’t work, that they’d be outed, but it had been significantly quieted by the feeling of having a team with her.

Steve stopped them in the alley just across the street from Hydra’s favorite pub and French Bistro, in full view of the little apartment full of surveillance equipment. He gunned the engine once before shutting it down, making just enough ruckus that the curtains moved on her least favorite apartment.

They were being watched, and it was perfect.

Peggy slid off the bike and slipped around the front, settling herself in his lap. While the thought of kissing Steve for show wasn’t exactly enticing, they’d both done far worse things and the feel of his lips on hers, the way his hands gripped at her hips, made her heart beat faster.

“You think Wallace knows?” he asked, kissing his way down her neck.

“He knows I saw you once,” she said, struggling to make the words louder than a whisper. “He was quite sore at that.” They were barely close enough to be in range of the listening devices Hydra could use from the apartment, and she didn’t want them to miss a word. “But that I’m meeting you again? No.”

“Keep it that way,” he demanded, taking her lips again.

He slipped a hand up her thigh and she moaned, trying to climb higher into his lap. She lost herself in him for a while, relishing in the feel of his body under hers, the scent of the soap from the base that permeated his skin, the bulk of him wrapped around her. Even with Hydra only feet away, watching, she’d never felt safer. If there was going to be one good thing about this godforsaken assignment, this was going to be it.

She pulled away, breathless, and used her thumb to wipe the lipstick off his lip. “I’d usually make you buy me dinner first, soldier.”

He laughed, brushing the hair from her face. “Most places are closed by now, but we could try if you like.”

She smirked, running her finger over his cheek. “I should make you take me home, then.”

He turned and kissed the tip of her finger, then took her hand in his. “Worried about your virtue?”

She didn’t even have to try to hide the hunger for him in her eyes. “Worried about yours.”

Steve licked his lips, his voice low and hoarse. “Don’t tempt me.” He looked away to collect himself, then pulled a letter out of his pocket and slipped it down the front of her dress. “For later.”

Peggy couldn’t tell which she was more impressed by: the fact that he’d found a way to slip her a letter in such a way that was so conspicuous that there was no way the Hydra agents didn’t see it, or that the same man she’d met in the back of that car who could barely stutter a response to a woman was being so suave with her. She bit her lip as his fingers hovered at the edge of her cleavage, very carefully not touching skin. She knew he could see every idea in her eyes of what she’d like to do if they weren’t being watched. “I should go,” she whispered, knowing full well it was what neither of them wanted.

“I could take you…” The offer was both play and real, the fear starting to show in his eyes now that he had to let her out of his sight.

“I’m just a few blocks over, wouldn’t want to get anyone suspicious.” She gently untangled herself from him, Steve helping to balance her as she shifted off the bike. She leaned over and kissed him softly one last time. “Same time next week?”

He nodded, one hand coming up to cup her cheek gently. “Yeah. Same place, ok?”

Peggy hated walking away from him. She felt his eyes on her every step it took to get to the small apartment building she called her own, and being on her own suddenly made her feel a little less sure about the whole thing.

But things were on her terms now, and they were going to bring Hydra down.

#Steggy Fic #Steggy #3P's Fic

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